Pulse control protocols for preserving coherence in dipolar-coupled nuclear spin baths

Abstract

Coherence of solid state spin qubits is limited by decoherence and random fluctuations in the spin bath environment. Here we develop spin bath control sequences which simultaneously suppress the fluctuations arising from intrabath interactions and inhomogeneity. Experiments on neutral self-assembled quantum dots yield up to a five-fold increase in coherence of a bare nuclear spin bath. Numerical simulations agree with experiments and reveal emergent thermodynamic behaviour where fluctuations are ultimately caused by irreversible conversion of coherence into many-body quantum entanglement. Simulations show that for homogeneous spin baths our sequences are efficient with non-ideal control pulses, while inhomogeneous bath coherence is inherently limited even under ideal-pulse control, especially for strongly correlated spin-9/2 baths. These results highlight the limitations of self-assembled quantum dots and advantages of strain-free dots, where our sequences can be used to control the fluctuations of a homogeneous nuclear spin bath and potentially improve electron spin qubit coherence.