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Micromotion-based DC sensing using continuously tracked trajectories of dipolar coupled nuclear spins

Ozgur Sahin1,*, Hawraa Al Asadi1,*, Paul M. Schindler2,*, Arjun Pillai1, Erica Sanchez1, Matthew Markham3, Mark Elo4, Maxwell McAllister1, Emanuel Druga1 et al.

Christoph Fleckenstein5, Marin Bukov2,6, and Ashok Ajoy1,7

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043272 – Published 9 December, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/bgdc-rgkd

Abstract

We report an experimental approach to excite, stabilize, and continuously track Bloch sphere trajectories of dipolar-coupled nuclear spins in a solid. We demonstrate these capabilities on a model system of hyperpolarized C13 nuclear spins in diamond. We elucidate a method to drive, and preserve, the motion of spins in complex three-dimensional trajectories for over T2′>27s even in the presence of interspin coupling. Indeed, without quantum control, interspin interactions lead to rapid spin decay in T2*≈1.5ms. Furthermore, we show that the motion of the spins can be continuously tracked in three dimensions on the Bloch sphere for over 35s. During this time the spins complete >68000 closed precession orbits, exhibiting high stability and robustness against error. Leveraging these long-lived, robust spin trajectories we devise a novel nonequilibrium quantum sensing scheme for DC magnetic fields, based on micromotion dynamics, and without a static counterpart. Sensing here proceeds for the entire T2′ period, orders of magnitude longer than T2*, and operates in the dense sensor limit, yielding significant sensitivity improvements. Our results suggest new ways to stabilize and interrogate strongly coupled quantum systems through periodic driving and portend powerful applications of rigid spin orbits in quantum sensing.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043272– Published 9 December, 2025
  • Received 13 July 2022
  • Accepted 9 July 2025
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