Optimal control of a nitrogen-vacancy spin ensemble in diamond for sensing in the pulsed domain

Understand

Defects in solid state materials provide an ideal, robust platform for quantum sensing.

• To deliver maximum sensitivity, a large ensemble of non-interacting defects hosting coherent quantum states are required.
• Control of such an ensemble is challenging due to the spatial variation in both the defect energy levels and in any control field across a macroscopic sample.
• In this work we experimentally demonstrate that we can overcome these challenges using Floquet theory and optimal control optimization methods to efficiently and coherently control a large defect ensemble, suitable for sensing.