Achieving the ultimate precision limit with a weakly interacting quantum probe

Abstract

The ultimate precision limit in estimating the Larmor frequency of N unentangled qubits is well established, and is highly important for magnetometers, gyroscopes, and other types of quantum sensors. However, this limit assumes perfect projective measurements of the quantum registers. This requirement is not practical in many physical systems, such as NMR spectroscopy, where a weakly interacting external probe is used as a measurement device. Here, we show that in the framework of quantum nano-NMR spectroscopy, in which these limitations are inherent, the ultimate precision limit is still achievable using control and a finely tuned measurement.