arXiv subjects

Helena Knowles

Publications and source records attributed to Helena Knowles.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Ancilla mediated steady-state engineering in open quantum systems

Engineering the properties of a reservoir and its coupling to a quantum system is a powerful tool for simulating quantum thermodynamic processes and for generating otherwise inaccessible steady states. Yet tailoring both the reservoir and its coupling within a single platform remains challenging. Here we introduce a platform, in which an ancilla qubit mediates the coupling of a target system to a reservoir, providing independent control over the interaction form, coupling strength, and effective reservoir temperature. Our implementation uses the electron spin of a single nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond as the ancilla and a proximal $^{13}$C nuclear spin as the target. By alternating engineered unitary interactions with dissipative ancilla resets, we realize dynamics naturally described by a collision model, enabling straight-forward tracking of the work, heat, coherence, and entropy generated at every collision. We experimentally demonstrate conventional thermalization and also realize anti-thermalization: the stabilization of the target system in a temperature opposite to that of its reservoir. Finally, harnessing this steady-state engineering, we utilize the nuclear spin as a quantum battery, achieving a steady-state ergotropy exceeding $70\%$ of the theoretical maximum.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

High Fidelity Qubit Control in a Natural Si-MOS Quantum Dot using a 300 mm Silicon on Insulator Wafer

We demonstrate high-fidelity single qubit control in a natural Si-MOS quantum dot fabricated in an industrial 300 mm wafer process on a silicon on insulator (SOI) wafer using electron spin resonance. A relatively high optimal Rabi frequency of 5 MHz is achieved, dynamically decoupling the electron spin from its 29-Si environment. Tracking the qubit frequency reduces the impact of low frequency noise in the qubit frequency and improves the $T^{Rabi}$ from 7 to 11 $\mu$s at a Rabi frequency of 5 MHz, resulting in Q-factors exceeding 50. Randomized benchmarking returns an average single gate control fidelity of 99.5 $\pm$ 0.3%. As a result of pulse-area calibration, this fidelity is limited by the Rabi Q-factor. These results show that a fast Rabi frequency, low charge noise, and a feedback protocol enable high fidelity in these Si-MOS devices, despite the low-frequency magnetic noise.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Uncovering domain morphology in an unconventional magnet with scanning diamond quantum magnetometry

Unconventional magnetic materials including non-collinear antiferromagnets, p-wave magnets and altermagnets, are an emerging frontier for quantum spintronics and hybrid quantum devices. Critical to the application of these materials is control over the magnetic domain state, as their unique, symmetry-driven properties vanish in a multi-domain limit. However, the mechanisms governing domain formation in materials with compensated local moments remain poorly understood. In this work, we examine the ferrimagnetic to non-collinear antiferromagnetic phase transition of Mn3NiN using scanning nitrogen-vacancy centre magnetometry. We provide nanoscale mapping of the magnetic domain evolution on cooling and correlate the local stray fields with global magnetometry and anomalous Hall effect measurements. We observe the formation of a disordered, dendritic domain structure whose roughness is quantified using its fractal dimension. The fractal dimension steadily increases on cooling through the transition, saturating at a value of ~ 1.55 in the non-collinear phase, but the domain area distribution does not show any significant changes. We show this behaviour cannot be explained by the balance of demagnetisation energy and domain wall energy, and conclude elastic contributions and defects are a critical factor to explain the domain size.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗