Spontaneous Raman scattering from metastable states of
Phys. Rev. A 112, 033107 – Published 12 September, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/59jw-vycq
Abstract
Quantum logic gates performed via two-photon stimulated Raman transitions in ions and atoms are fundamentally limited by spontaneous scattering errors. Recent theoretical treatment of these processes has predicted no lower bound on the scattering-induced error rate of such gates when implemented with far-detuned lasers, while also providing an extension to metastable qubits. To validate this theoretical model, we provide experimental measurements of Raman scattering rates due to near- and far-detuned lasers for initial states in the metastable level of . The measured spontaneous Raman scattering rate is consistent with the theoretical prediction and suggests that metastable-level two-qubit gates with an error rate approximately equal to are possible with laser excitation detuned by tens of terahertz or more.
