Quantum Sensing and Control of Spin-State Dynamics in the Radical-Pair Mechanism

Abstract

Radical pairs and the dynamics they undergo are prevalent in many chemical and biological systems. Specifically, it has been proposed that the radical pair mechanism results from a relatively strong hyperfine interaction with its intrinsic nuclear spin environment. While the existence of this mechanism is undisputed, the nanoscale details remain to be experimentally shown. We analyze here the role of a quantum sensor in detecting the spin dynamics (non-Markovian) of individual radical pairs in the presence of a weak magnetic field. We show how quantum control methods can be used to set apart the dynamics of radical pair mechanism at various stages of the evolution. We envisage these findings having far-reaching implications to the understanding of the physical mechanism in magnetoreception and other bio-chemical processes with a microscopic detail.