Xin-Yu Pan

Noise-resilient quantum evolution steered by dynamical decoupling

Realistic quantum computing is subject to noise. Therefore, an important frontier in quantum computing is to implement noise-resilient quantum control over qubits. At the same time, dynamical decoupling can protect the coherence of qubits. Here we demonstrate non-trivial quantum evolution steered by dynamical decoupling control, which simultaneously suppresses noise effects. We design and implement a self-protected controlled-NOT gate on the electron spin of a nitrogen-vacancy centre and a nearby carbon-13 nuclear spin in diamond at room temperature, by employing an engineered dynamical decoupling control on the electron spin. Final state fidelity of 0.91(1) is observed in preparation of a Bell state using the gate. At the same time, the qubit coherence time is elongated at least 30 fold. The design scheme does not require the dynamical decoupling control to commute with the qubit interaction and therefore works for general qubit systems. This work marks a step towards implementing realistic quantum computing systems.

Solid-state optimal phase-covariant quantum cloning machine

Here, we report an experimental realization of optimal phase-covariant quantum cloning machine with a single electron spin in solid state system at room temperature. The involved three states of two logic qubits are encoded physically in three levels of a single electron spin with two Zeeman sub-levels at a nitrogen-vacancy defect center in diamond. The preparation of input state and the phase-covariant quantum cloning transformation is controlled by two independent microwave fields. The average experimental fidelity reaches 85.2% which is very close to theoretical optimal fidelity 85.4% and is beyond the bound 83.3% of universal cloning.

Demonstration of entanglement-enhanced phase estimation in solid

Precise parameter estimation plays a central role in science and technology. The statistical error in estimation can be decreased by repeating measurement, leading to that the resultant uncertainty of the estimated parameter is proportional to the square root of the number of repetitions in accordance with the central limit theorem. Quantum parameter estimation, an emerging field of quantum technology, aims to use quantum resources to yield higher statistical precision than classical approaches. Here we report the first room-temperature implementation of entanglement-enhanced phase estimation in a solid-state system: the nitrogen-vacancy centre in pure diamond. We demonstrate a super-resolving phase measurement with two entangled qubits of different physical realizations: an nitrogen-vacancy centre electron spin and a proximal 13C nuclear spin. The experimental data shows clearly the uncertainty reduction when entanglement resource is used, confirming the theoretical expectation. Our results represent an elemental demonstration of enhancement of quantum metrology against classical procedure.

Room-Temperature Quantum Cloning Machine with Full Coherent Phase Control in Nanodiamond

In contrast to the classical world, an unknown quantum state cannot be cloned ideally, as stated by the no-cloning theorem. However, it is expected that approximate or probabilistic quantum cloning will be necessary for different applications, and thus various quantum cloning machines have been designed. Phase quantum cloning is of particular interest because it can be used to attack the Bennett-Brassard 1984 (BB84) states used in quantum key distribution for secure communications. Here, we report the first room-temperature implementation of quantum phase cloning with a controllable phase in a solid-state system: the nitrogen-vacancy centre of a nanodiamond. The phase cloner works well for all qubits located on the equator of the Bloch sphere. The phase is controlled and can be measured with high accuracy, and the experimental results are consistent with theoretical expectations. This experiment provides a basis for phase-controllable quantum information devices.

Focused-ion-beam overlay-patterning of three-dimensional diamond structures for advanced single-photon properties

Sources of single photons are of fundamental importance in many applications as to provide quantum states for quantum communication and quantum information processing. Color centers in diamond are prominent candidates to generate and manipulate quantum states of light, even at room temperature. However, the efficiency of photon collection of the color centers in bulk diamond is greatly reduced by refraction at the diamond/air interface. To address this issue, diamond structuring has been investigated by various methods. Among them, focused-ion-beam (FIB) direct patterning has been recognized as the most favorable technique. But it has been noted that diamond tends to present significant challenges in FIB milling, e.g., the susceptibility of forming charging related artifacts and topographical features. In this work, periodically-positioned-rings and overlay patterning with stagger-superimposed-rings were proposed to alleviate some problems encountered in FIB milling of diamond, for improved surface morphology and shape control. Cross-scale network and uniform nanostructure arrays have been achieved in single crystalline diamond substrates. High quality diamond solid immersion lens and nanopillars were sculptured with a nitrogen-vacancy center buried at the desired position. Compared with the film counterpart, an enhancement of about ten folds in single photon collection efficiency was achieved with greatly improved signal to noise ratio. All these results indicate that FIB milling through over-lay patterning could be an effective approach to fabricate diamond structures, potentially for quantum information studies.

Effect of TaOx thickness on the resistive switching of Ta/Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3/Pt films

The influence of interfacial structure on the resistance switching behavior of Ta/Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3/Pt films was investigated by varying the reactive Ta electrode thickness. Structure and component analyses revealed that a TaOx layer formed at the interface and its thickness increased with the Ta thickness in the thin region while staying the same in the thick region. The similar thickness dependences of the negative differential resistance and resistance switching characteristics were observed and interpreted by the TaOx thickness dependent oxidization and reduction reaction across the interfacial region. This study demonstrates that the resistance switching characteristics could be improved by suitable interfacial engineering.

Controllable effects of quantum fluctuations on spin free-induction decay at room temperature

Fluctuations of local fields cause decoherence of quantum objects. Usually at high temperatures, thermal noises are much stronger than quantum fluctuations unless the thermal effects are suppressed by certain techniques such as spin echo. Here we report the discovery of strong quantum-fluctuation effects of nuclear spin baths on free-induction decay of single electron spins in solids at room temperature. We find that the competition between the quantum and thermal fluctuations is controllable by an external magnetic field. These findings are based on Ramsey interference measurement of single nitrogen-vacancy center spins in diamond and numerical simulation of the decoherence, which are in excellent agreement.

Large scale fabrication of nitrogen vacancy-embedded diamond nanostructures for single-photon source applications

Some color centers in diamond can serve as quantum bits which can be manipulated with microwave pulses and read out with laser, even at room temperature. However, the photon collection efficiency of bulk diamond is greatly reduced by refraction at the diamond/air interface. To address this issue, we fabricated arrays of diamond nanostructures, differing in both diameter and top end shape, with HSQ and Cr as the etching mask materials, aiming toward large scale fabrication of single-photon sources with enhanced collection efficiency made of nitrogen vacancy (NV) embedded diamond. With a mixture of O2 and CHF3 gas plasma, diamond pillars with diameters down to 45 nm were obtained. The top end shape evolution has been represented with a simple model. The tests of size dependent single-photon properties confirmed an improved single-photon collection efficiency enhancement, larger than tenfold, and a mild decrease of decoherence time with decreasing pillar diameter was observed as expected. These results provide useful information for future applications of nanostructured diamond as a single-photon source.

Impact of interfacial resistance switching on thermoelectric effect of Nb-doped SrTiO3 single crystalline

The thermoelectric properties of the bistable resistance states in Nb doped SrTiO3 single crystal have been investigated. The Seebeck coefficients for both low and high resistance states change linearly with temperature. The three-terminals contrast measurement demonstrates that a large fraction of the voltage drop is applied at the tiny volume near the bottom interface between the electrode and the oxide bulk. Therefore, the metallic oxide bulk plays a dominant role in the temperature dependence of Seebeck coefficients. The thermoelectric properties of new resistance switching (RS) devices with minimized non-RS volume could be exploited for the RS mechanism and novel applications.

Influence of Microwave Detuning on Ramsey Fringes of a Single Nitrogen Vacancy Center Spin in Diamond

We investigate the Ramsey fringes of a single electron spin of the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond with different microwave radiation frequency detunings. The fast Fourier transform demonstrates that the Ramsey fringes consist of three components caused by hyperfine interaction with 14N nuclear spin, and the Ramsey fringes cannot be well explained without the phase term of the three components, which has not been mentioned before. Each phase is determined by the microwave frequency detuning and the resonant Rabi frequency as well as the π/2 pulse.