Assembly and coherent control of a register of nuclear spin qubits

The generation of a register of highly coherent, but independent, qubits is a prerequisite to performing universal quantum computation. Here we introduce a qubit encoded in two nuclear spin states of a single Sr-87 atom and demonstrate coherence approaching the minute-scale within an assembled register of individually-controlled qubits. While other systems have shown impressive coherence times through some combination of shielding, careful trapping, global operations, and dynamical decoupling, we achieve comparable coherence times while individually driving multiple qubits in parallel. We highlight that even with simultaneous manipulation of multiple qubits within the register, we observe coherence in excess of 10(5) times the current length of the operations, with T-2(echo) = (40 +/- 7) seconds. We anticipate that nuclear spin qubits will combine readily with the technical advances that have led to larger arrays of individually trapped neutral atoms and high-fidelity entangling operations, thus accelerating the realization of intermediate-scale quantum information processors.

Automated summary

This study introduces a qubit encoded in the nuclear spin states of a single Sr-87 atom and demonstrates long coherence time in a register of individually-controlled qubits. The researchers achieve comparable coherence times while driving multiple qubits in parallel. They suggest that nuclear spin qubits will combine with technical advances to accelerate the realization of intermediate-scale quantum information processors.