Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

F. Yan

Publications and source records attributed to F. Yan.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

An enhanced slope in the transmission spectrum of the hot Jupiter WASP-104b

We present the optical transmission spectrum of the hot Jupiter WASP-104b based on one transit observed by the blue and red channels of the DBSP spectrograph at the Palomar 200-inch telescope and 14 transits observed by the MuSCAT2 four-channel imager at the 1.52 m Telescopio Carlos Sanchez. We also analyse 45 additional K2 transits, after correcting for the flux contamination from a companion star. Together with the transit light curves acquired by DBSP and MuSCAT2, we are able to revise the system parameters and orbital ephemeris, confirming that no transit timing variations exist. Our DBSP and MuSCAT2 combined transmission spectrum reveals an enhanced slope at wavelengths shorter than 630 nm and suggests the presence of a cloud deck at longer wavelengths. While the Bayesian spectral retrieval analyses favour a hazy atmosphere, stellar spot contamination cannot be completely ruled out. Further evidence, from transmission spectroscopy and detailed characterisation of the host star's activity, is required to distinguish the physical origin of the enhanced slope.

astro-ph.EP↗

A data-driven approach to constraining the atmospheric temperature structure of KELT-9b

Context. Observationally constraining the atmospheric temperature-pressure (TP) profile of exoplanets is an important step forward for improving planetary atmosphere models, further enabling one to place the detection of spectral features and the measurement of atomic and molecular abundances through transmission and emission spectroscopy on solid ground. Aims. The aim is to constrain the TP profile of the ultra-hot Jupiter KELT-9b by fitting synthetic spectra to the observed H$α$ and H$β$ lines and identify why self-consistent planetary TP models are unable to fit the observations. Methods. We construct 126 one-dimensional TP profiles varying the lower and upper atmospheric temperatures, as well as the location and gradient of the temperature rise. For each TP profile, we compute transmission spectra of the H$α$ and H$β$ lines employing the Cloudy radiative transfer code, which self-consistently accounts for non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) effects. Results. The TP profiles leading to best fit the observations are characterised by an upper atmospheric temperature of 10000-11000 K and by an inverted temperature profile at pressures higher than 10$^{-4}$ bar. We find that the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) leads to overestimate the level population of excited hydrogen by several orders of magnitude, and hence to significantly overestimate the strength of the Balmer lines. The chemical composition of the best fitting models indicate that the high upper atmospheric temperature is most likely driven by metal photoionisation and that FeII and FeIII have comparable abundances at pressures lower than 10$^{-6}$ bar, possibly making the latter detectable. Conclusions. Modelling the atmospheres of ultra-hot Jupiters requires one to account for metal photoionisation. [abridged]

astro-ph.EP↗

The widest broadband transmission spectrum (0.38-1.71 $μ$m) of HD 189733b from ground-based chromatic Rossiter-McLaughlin observations

Multiband photometric transit observations (spectro-photometric) have been used mostly so far to retrieve broadband transmission spectra of transiting exoplanets in order to study their atmospheres. An alternative method was proposed, and has only been used once, to recover broadband transmission spectra using chromatic Rossiter-McLaughlin observations. We use the chromatic Rossiter-McLaughlin technique on archival and new observational data obtained with the HARPS and CARMENES instruments to retrieve transmission spectra of HD 189733b. The combined results cover the widest retrieved broadband transmission spectrum of an exoplanet obtained from ground-based observation. Our retrieved spectrum in the visible wavelength range shows the signature of a hazy atmosphere, and also includes an indication for the presence of sodium and potassium. These findings all agree with previous studies. The combined visible and near-infrared transmission spectrum exhibits a strong steep slope that may have several origins, such as a super-Rayleigh slope in the atmosphere of HD 189733b, an unknown systematic instrumental offset between the visible and near-infrared, or a strong stellar activity contamination. The host star is indeed known to be very active and might easily generate spurious features in the retrieved transmission spectra. Using our CARMENES observations, we assessed this scenario and place an informative constraint on some properties of the active regions of HD 189733. We demonstrate that the presence of starspots on HD 189733 can easily explain our observed strong slope in the broadband transmission spectrum.

astro-ph.EP↗

LBT transmission spectroscopy of HAT-P-12b: confirmation of a cloudy atmosphere with no significant alkali features

The hot sub-Saturn-mass exoplanet HAT-P-12b is an ideal target for transmission spectroscopy because of its inflated radius. We observed one transit of the planet with the multi-object double spectrograph (MODS) on the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) with the binocular mode and obtained an atmosphere transmission spectrum with a wavelength coverage of $\sim$ 0.4 -- 0.9 $\mathrmμ$m. The spectrum is relatively flat and does not show any significant sodium or potassium absorption features. Our result is consistent with the revised Hubble Space Telescope (HST) transmission spectrum of a previous work, except that the HST result indicates a tentative detection of potassium. The potassium discrepancy could be the result of statistical fluctuation of the HST dataset. We fit the planetary transmission spectrum with an extensive grid of cloudy models and confirm the presence of high-altitude clouds in the planetary atmosphere. The fit was performed on the combined LBT and HST spectrum, which has an overall wavelength range of 0.4 -- 1.6 $\mathrmμ$m. The LBT/MODS spectrograph has unique advantages in transmission spectroscopy observations because it can cover a wide wavelength range with a single exposure and acquire two sets of independent spectra simultaneously.

astro-ph.EP↗

A temperature inversion with atomic iron in the ultra-hot dayside atmosphere of WASP-189b

Temperature inversion layers are predicted to be present in ultra-hot giant planet atmospheres. Although such inversion layers have recently been observed in several ultra-hot Jupiters, the chemical species responsible for creating the inversion remain unidentified. Here, we present observations of the thermal emission spectrum of an ultra-hot Jupiter, WASP-189b, at high spectral resolution using the HARPS-N spectrograph. Using the cross-correlation technique, we detect a strong Fe I signal. The detected Fe I spectral lines are found in emission, which is direct evidence of a temperature inversion in the planetary atmosphere. We further performed a retrieval on the observed spectrum using a forward model with an MCMC approach. When assuming a solar metallicity, the best-fit result returns a temperature of $4320_{-100}^{+120}$ K at the top of the inversion, which is significantly hotter than the planetary equilibrium temperature (2641 K). The temperature at the bottom of the inversion is determined as $2200_{-800}^{+1000}$ K. Such a strong temperature inversion is probably created by the absorption of atomic species like Fe I.

astro-ph.EP↗

A He I upper atmosphere around the warm Neptune GJ 3470b

High resolution transit spectroscopy has proven to be a reliable technique for the characterization of the chemical composition of exoplanet atmospheres. Taking advantage of the broad spectral coverage of the CARMENES spectrograph, we initiated a survey aimed at characterizing a broad range of planetary systems. Here, we report our observations of three transits of \tplanet with CARMENES in search of \het\ absorption. On one of the nights, the He~{\sc i} region was heavily contaminated by OH$^-$ telluric emission and, thus, it was not useful for our purposes. The remaining two nights had a very different signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) due to weather. They both indicate the presence of \het\ absorption in the transmission spectrum of \tplanet, although a statistically valid detection can only be claimed for the night with higher S/N. For that night, we retrieved a 1.5$\pm$0.3\% absorption depth, translating into a $R_p(λ)/R_p = 1.15\pm 0.14$ at this wavelength. Spectro-photometric light curves for this same night also indicate the presence of extra absorption during the planetary transit with a consistent absorption depth. The \het\ absorption is modeled in detail using a radiative transfer code, and the results of our modeling efforts are compared to the observations. We find that the mass-loss rate, \mlr, is confined to a range of 3\,$\times\,10^{10}$\,\gs\ for $T$ = 6000\,K to 10\,$\times\,10^{10}$\,\gs\ for $T$ = 9000\,K. We discuss the physical mechanisms and implications of the He~{\sc i} detection in \tplanet and put it in context as compared to similar detections and non-detections in other Neptune-size planets. We also present improved stellar and planetary parameter determinations based on our visible and near-infrared observations.

astro-ph.EP↗

Detection of Fe I and Fe II in the atmosphere of MASCARA-2b using a cross-correlation method

Ultra-hot Jupiters are gas giants planets whose dayside temperature, due to the strong irradiation received from the host star, is greater than 2200 K. These kind of objects are perfect laboratories to study chemistry of exoplanetary upper atmospheres via transmission spectroscopy. Exo-atmospheric absorption features are buried in the noise of the in-transit residual spectra. However we can retrieve the information of hundreds of atmospheric absorption lines by performing a cross-correlation with an atmospheric transmission model, which allows us to greatly increase the exo-atmospheric signal. At the high-spectral resolution of our data, the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect and centre-to-limb variation have a strong contribution. Here, we present the first detection of Fe I and the confirmation of absorption features of Fe II in the atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter MASCARA-2b/KELT-20b, by using three transit observations with HARPS-N. After combining all transit observations we find a high cross-correlation signal of Fe I and Fe II with signal-to-noise ratios of 10.5 +/- 0.4 and 8.6 +/- 0.5, respectively. The peak absorption for both species appear to be blue-shifted with velocities of -6.3 +/- 0.8 km/s for Fe I and -2.8 +/- 0.8 km/s for Fe II, suggesting the presence of winds from the day- to night-side of the planet's atmosphere. These results confirm previous studies of this planet and add a new atomic species (Fe I) to the long list of detected species in the atmosphere of MASCARA-2b, making it, together with KELT-9b, the most feature-rich ultra-hot Jupiter to date.

astro-ph.EP↗

Is there NaI in the atmosphere of HD 209458b? Effect of the centre-to-limb variation and Rossiter-McLaughlin effect in transmission spectroscopy studies

HD 209458b was the first transiting planet discovered, and the first for which an atmosphere, in particular NaI, was detected. With time, it has become one of the most frequently studied planets, with a large diversity of atmospheric studies using low- and high-resolution spectroscopy. Here, we present transit spectroscopy observations of HD 209458b using the HARPS-N and CARMENES spectrographs. We fit the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect by combining radial velocity data from both instruments (nine transits in total), measuring a projected spin-orbit angle of $-1.6\pm0.3~{\rm deg}$. We also present the analysis of high-resolution transmission spectroscopy around the NaI region at $590~{\rm nm}$, using a total of five transit observations. In contrast to previous studies where atmospheric NaI absorption is detected, we find that for all of the nights, whether individually or combined, the transmission spectra can be explained by the combination of the centre-to-limb variation and the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. This is also observed in the time-evolution maps and transmission light curves, but at lower signal-to-noise ratio. Other strong lines such as H$α$, CaII IRT, the MgI triplet region, and KI D1 are analysed, and are also consistent with the modelled effects, without considering any contribution from the exoplanet atmosphere. Thus, the transmission spectrum reveals no detectableNaI absorption in HD 209458b. We discuss how previous pioneering studies of this benchmark object may have overlooked these effects. While for some star-planet systems these effects are small, for other planetary atmospheres the results reported in the literature may require revision.

astro-ph.EP↗

Detection of Na, K, and H$α$ absorption in the atmosphere of WASP-52b using ESPRESSO

WASP-52b is a low density hot Jupiter orbiting a moderately active K2V star. Previous low-resolution studies have revealed a cloudy atmosphere and found atomic Na above the cloud deck. Here we report the detection of excess absorption at the Na doublet, the H$α$ line, and the K D$_1$ line. We derived a high-resolution transmission spectrum based on three transits of WASP-52b, observed with the ultra stable, high-resolution spectrograph ESPRESSO at the VLT. We measure a line contrast of $1.09\pm 0.16$% for Na D$_1$, $1.31\pm 0.13$% for Na D$_2$, $0.86\pm 0.13$% for H$α$, and $0.46\pm 0.13$% for K D$_1$, with a line FWHM range of 11-22 km s$^{-1}$. We also find that the velocity shift of these detected lines during the transit is consistent with the planet orbital motion, thus confirming their planetary origin. We do not observe any significant net blueshift or redshift that can be attributed to planetary winds. We use activity indicator lines as control but find no excess absorption. However, we do notice signatures arising from the Center-to-Limb variation (CLV) and the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect at these control lines. This highlights the importance of the CLV+RM correction in correctly deriving the transmission spectrum, which, if not corrected, could resemble or cancel out planetary absorption in certain cases. WASP-52b is the second non-ultra-hot Jupiter to show excess H$α$ absorption, after HD 189733b. Future observations targeting non-ultra-hot Jupiters that show H$α$ could help reveal the relation between stellar activity and the heating processes in the planetary upper atmosphere.

astro-ph.EP↗

Ionized calcium in the atmospheres of two ultra-hot exoplanets WASP-33b and KELT-9b

Ultra-hot Jupiters are emerging as a new class of exoplanets. Studying their chemical compositions and temperature structures will improve the understanding of their mass loss rate as well as their formation and evolution. We present the detection of ionized calcium in the two hottest giant exoplanets - KELT-9b and WASP-33b. By utilizing transit datasets from CARMENES and HARPS-N observations, we achieved high confidence level detections of Ca II using the cross-correlation method. We further obtain the transmission spectra around the individual lines of the Ca II H&K doublet and the near-infrared triplet, and measure their line profiles. The Ca II H&K lines have an average line depth of 2.02 $\pm$ 0.17 % (effective radius of 1.56 Rp) for WASP-33b and an average line depth of 0.78 $\pm$ 0.04 % (effective radius of 1.47 Rp) for KELT-9b, which indicates that the absorptions are from very high upper atmosphere layers close to the planetary Roche lobes. The observed Ca II lines are significantly deeper than the predicted values from the hydrostatic models. Such a discrepancy is probably a result of hydrodynamic outflow that transports a significant amount of Ca II into the upper atmosphere. The prominent Ca II detection with the lack of significant Ca I detection implies that calcium is mostly ionized in the upper atmospheres of the two planets.

astro-ph.EP↗

Remote sensing of exoplanetary atmospheres with ground-based high-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy

Thanks to the advances in modern instrumentation we have learned about many exoplanets that span a wide range of masses and composition. Studying their atmospheres provides insight into planetary origin, evolution, dynamics, and habitability. Present and future observing facilities will address these important topics in great detail by using more precise observations, high-resolution spectroscopy, and improved analysis methods. We investigate the feasibility of retrieving the vertical temperature distribution and molecular number densities from expected exoplanet spectra in the near-infrared. We use the test case of the CRIRES+, instrument at the Very Large Telescope which will operate in the near-infrared between 1 and 5 micron and resolving powers of R=100000 and R=50000. We also determine the optimal wavelength coverage and observational strategies for increasing accuracy in the retrievals. We used the optimal estimation approach to retrieve the atmospheric parameters from the simulated emission observations of the hot Jupiter HD~189733b. The radiative transfer forward model is calculated using a public version of the tauREx software package. Our simulations show that we can retrieve accurate temperature distribution in a very wide range of atmospheric pressures between 1 bar and $10^{-6}$ bar depending on the chosen spectral region. Retrieving molecular mixing ratios is very challenging, but a simultaneous observations in two separate infrared regions around 1.6 micron and 2.3 micron helps to obtain accurate estimates; the exoplanetary spectra must be of relatively high signal-to-noise ratio S/N>10, while the temperature can already be derived accurately with the lowest value that we considered in this study (S/N=5).

astro-ph.EP↗

Atmospheric characterization of the ultra-hot Jupiter MASCARA-2b/KELT-20b

Ultra hot Jupiters orbit very close to their host star and consequently receive strong irradiation that makes their atmospheric chemistry different from the common gas giants. Here, we study the atmosphere of one of these particular hot planets, MASCARA-2b/KELT-20b, using four transit observations with high resolution spectroscopy facilities. Three of these observations were performed with HARPS-N and one with CARMENES. We simultaneously observed one of the transits with MuSCAT2 to monitor possible spots in the stellar surface. At high resolution, the transmission residuals show the effects of Rossiter-McLaughlin and center-to-limb variations from the stellar lines profiles, which we correct to finally extract the transmission spectra of the planet. We clearly observe absorption of CaII, FeII, NaI, H$α$ and H$β$ in the atmosphere of MASCARA-2b, and indications of H$γ$ and MgI at low SNR. The results obtained with CARMENES and HARPS-N are consistent, measuring an H$α$ absorption depth of $0.68\pm0.05\%$ and $0.59\pm0.07\%$, and NaI absorption of $0.11\pm0.04\%$ and $0.09\pm0.05\%$ ($0.75Å$ passband), in both instruments respectively. For H$β$ only HARPS-N covers this wavelength range, measuring $0.28\pm0.06\%$ of absorption. The CaII is only covered with CARMENES, measuring an average absorption of $0.32\pm0.05\%$. Three additional FeII lines are observed in the transmission spectrum by HARPS-N, with mean absorption depth of $0.08\pm0.04\%$. The results presented here are consistent with theoretical models of ultra hot Jupiters atmospheres, suggesting the emergence of an ionised gas on the day-side of such planets. Ca and Fe, with other elements, are expected to be singly ionised at these temperatures and be more numerous than its neutral state. The CaII triplet lines are detected here for the first time in transmission in an exoplanet atmosphere.

astro-ph.EP↗

Detection of He I $\lambda10830$ Å absorption on HD 189733 b with CARMENES high-resolution transmission spectroscopy

We present three transit observations of HD 189733 b obtained with the high-resolution spectrograph CARMENES at Calar Alto. A strong absorption signal is detected in the near-infrared He I triplet at 10830 Å in all three transits. During mid-transit, the mean absorption level is $0.88\pm0.04$ % measured in a $\pm$10 km s$^{-1}$ range at a net blueshift of $-3.5\pm0.4$ km s$^{-1}$ (10829.84--10830.57 Å). The absorption signal exhibits radial velocities of $+6.5\pm3.1$ km s$^{-1}$ and $-12.6\pm1.0$ km s$^{-1}$ during ingress and egress, respectively; measured in the planetary rest frame. We show that stellar activity related pseudo-signals interfere with the planetary atmospheric absorption signal. They could contribute as much as 80% of the observed signal and might also affect the radial velocity signature, but pseudo-signals are very unlikely to explain the entire signal. The observed line ratio between the two unresolved and the third line of the He I triplet is $2.8\pm0.2$, which strongly deviates from the value expected for an optically thin atmospheres. When interpreted in terms of absorption in the planetary atmosphere, this favors a compact helium atmosphere with an extent of only 0.2 planetary radii and a substantial column density on the order of $4\times 10^{12}$ cm$^{-2}$. The observed radial velocities can be understood either in terms of atmospheric circulation with equatorial superrotation or as a sign of an asymmetric atmospheric component of evaporating material. We detect no clear signature of ongoing evaporation, like pre- or post-transit absorption, which could indicate material beyond the planetary Roche lobe, or radial velocities in excess of the escape velocity. These findings do not contradict planetary evaporation, but only show that the detected helium absorption in HD 189733 b does not trace the atmospheric layers that show pronounced escape signatures.

astro-ph.EP↗

Na I and H$α$ absorption features in the atmosphere of MASCARA-2b/KELT-20b

We have used the HARPS-North high resolution spectrograph ($\mathcal{R}$=115 000) at TNG to observe one transit of the highly irradiated planet MASCARA-2b/KELT-20b. Using only one transit observation, we are able to clearly resolve the spectral features of the atomic sodium (Na I) doublet and the H$α$ line in its atmosphere, measuring absorption depths of 0.17$\pm$0.03$\%$ and 0.59$\pm$0.08$\%$ for a 0.75 $Å$ passband, respectively. These absorptions are corroborated with the transmission measured from their respective transmission light curves, which show a large Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. In case of H$α$, this absorption corresponds to an effective radius of $R_λ/R_P$=1.20$\pm$0.04. While the S/N of the final transmission spectrum is not sufficient to adjust different temperature profiles to the lines, we find that higher temperatures than the equilibrium are needed to explain the lines contrast. Particularly, we find that the Na I lines core require a temperature of T=4210$\pm$180K and that H$α$ requires T=4330$\pm$520K. MASCARA-2b, like other planets orbiting A-type stars, receives a large amount of UV energy from its host star. This energy excites the atomic hydrogen and produces H$α$ absorption, leading to the expansion and abrasion of the atmosphere. The study of other Balmer lines in the transmission spectrum would allow the determination of the atmospheric temperature profile and the calculation of the lifetime of the atmosphere. In the case of MASCARA-2b, residual features are observed in the H$β$ and H$γ$ lines, but they are not statistically significant. More transit observations are needed to confirm our findings in Na I and H$α$, and to build up enough S/N to explore the presence of H$β$ and H$γ$ planetary absorptions.

astro-ph.EP↗

Detection of sodium in the atmosphere of WASP-69b

Transit spectroscopy is one of the most commonly used methods to characterize exoplanets atmospheres. From the ground, these observations are very challenging due to the terrestrial atmosphere and its intrinsic variations, but high-spectral resolution observations overcome this difficulty by resolving the spectral lines and taking advantage of the different Doppler velocities of the Earth, the host star and the exoplanet. We analyze the transmission spectrum around the Na I doublet at 589 nm of the exoplanet WASP-69b, a hot Jupiter orbiting a K-type star with a period of 3.868 days, and compare the analysis to that of the well-know hot Jupiter HD 189733b. We also present the analysis of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for WASP-69b. Two transits of WASP-69b were observed with the HARPS-North spectrograph (R = 115 000) at the TNG telescope. We perform a telluric contamination subtraction based on the comparison between the observed spectra and a telluric water model. Then, the common steps of the differential spectroscopy are followed to extract the transmission spectrum. The method is tested with archival transit data of the extensively studied exoplanet HD 189733b, obtained with the HARPS-South spectrograph at ESO 3.6m telescope, and then applied to WASP-69b data. For HD 189733b, we spectrally resolve the Na I doublet and measure line contrasts of $0.72\pm0.05\%$ (D2) and $0.51\pm0.05\%$ (D1), and FWHMs of $0.64\pm0.04$Å (D2) and $0.60\pm0.06$Å (D1), in agreement with previously published results. A net blueshift of ${\sim}0.04$Å is measured. For WASP-69b only the contrast of the D2 line is measured ($5.8\pm0.3\%$). Even if this corresponds to a detection at the $5σ$-level of excess absorption of $0.5\pm0.1\%$ in a passband of $1.5$Å, more transits are needed to fully characterize the lines profiles and retrieve accurate atmospheric properties.

astro-ph.EP↗

3D integrated superconducting qubits

As the field of superconducting quantum computing advances from the few-qubit stage to larger-scale processors, qubit addressability and extensibility will necessitate the use of 3D integration and packaging. While 3D integration is well-developed for commercial electronics, relatively little work has been performed to determine its compatibility with high-coherence solid-state qubits. Of particular concern, qubit coherence times can be suppressed by the requisite processing steps and close proximity of another chip. In this work, we use a flip-chip process to bond a chip with superconducting flux qubits to another chip containing structures for qubit readout and control. We demonstrate that high qubit coherence ($T_1$, $T_{2,\rm{echo}} > 20\,μ$s) is maintained in a flip-chip geometry in the presence of galvanic, capacitive, and inductive coupling between the chips.

quant-ph↗

The Flux Qubit Revisited to Enhance Coherence and Reproducibility

The scalable application of quantum information science will stand on reproducible and controllable high-coherence quantum bits (qubits). Here, we revisit the design and fabrication of the superconducting flux qubit, achieving a planar device with broad frequency tunability, strong anharmonicity, high reproducibility, and relaxation times in excess of $40\,μ$s at its flux-insensitive point. Qubit relaxation times $T_1$ across 22 qubits are consistently matched with a single model involving resonator loss, ohmic charge noise, and 1/f flux noise, a noise source previously considered primarily in the context of dephasing. We furthermore demonstrate that qubit dephasing at the flux-insensitive point is dominated by residual thermal photons in the readout resonator. The resulting photon shot noise is mitigated using a dynamical decoupling protocol, resulting in $T_2\approx 85\,μ$s, approximately the $2T_1$ limit. In addition to realizing an improved flux qubit, our results uniquely identify photon shot noise as limiting $T_2$ in contemporary qubits based on transverse qubit-resonator interaction.

quant-ph↗

Rotating-frame relaxation as a noise spectrum analyzer of a superconducting qubit undergoing driven evolution

Gate operations in a quantum information processor are generally realized by tailoring specific periods of free and driven evolution of a quantum system. Unwanted environmental noise, which may in principle be distinct during these two periods, acts to decohere the system and increase the gate error rate. While there has been significant progress characterizing noise processes during free evolution, the corresponding driven-evolution case is more challenging as the noise being probed is also extant during the characterization protocol. Here we demonstrate the noise spectroscopy (0.1 - 200 MHz) of a superconducting flux qubit during driven evolution by using a robust spin-locking pulse sequence to measure relaxation (T1rho) in the rotating frame. In the case of flux noise, we resolve spectral features due to coherent fluctuators, and further identify a signature of the 1MHz defect in a time-domain spin-echo experiment. The driven-evolution noise spectroscopy complements free-evolution methods, enabling the means to characterize and distinguish various noise processes relevant for universal quantum control.

quant-ph↗