Dynamics revealed by correlations of time-distributed weak measurements of a single spin

Abstract

We show that the correlations in stochastic outputs of timedistributed weak measurements can be used to study the dynamics of an individual quantum object, with a proof-of-principle setup based on small Faraday rotation caused by a single spin in a quantum dot. In particular, the third-order correlation can reveal the 'true' spin decoherence, which would otherwise be concealed by the inhomogeneous broadening effect in the secondorder correlations. The viability of such approaches lies in the fact that (i) in weak measurement the state collapse that would disturb the system dynamics occurs at a very low probability and (ii) a shot of measurement projecting the quantum object to a known basis state serves as a starter or stopper of the evolution without pumping or coherently controlling the system as otherwise required in conventional spin echo. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.