Dynamic quantum-enhanced sensing without entanglement in central spin systems

Abstract

We propose a dynamic quantum sensing scheme by using a quantum many-spin system composed of a central spin interacting with many surrounding spins. Starting from a generalized Ising ring model, we investigate the error propagation formula of the central spin, and it indicates that Heisenberg scaling can be reached while the probe state only needs to be a product state. Particularly, we derive an analytical form of the dynamic quantum Fisher information in a limit case, which explicitly exhibits the Heisenberg scaling. By comparing with numerical results, we demonstrate that the general case can be well approximated by the analytical result when the coupling strength among the surrounding spins is much weaker than the coupling strength between the central and surrounding spins. This analytic result guides us to find the appropriate probe state and the proper measurement time to achieve the Heisenberg scaling in realistic situations. Furthermore, we investigate various effects which are important in practical quantum systems, including the central spin Zeeman term, the anisotropy of the hyperfine interaction and the inhomogeneity of the hyperfine coupling strength. Our result indicates that the dynamic quantum-enhanced sensing scheme seems feasible in realistic quantum central spin systems, like semiconductor quantum dots.