Breakthrough procedure opens new opportunities in quantum research

USC researchers have demonstrated a new quantum sensing technique that widely surpasses conventional methods, potentially accelerating advances in fields ranging from medical imaging to foundational physics research, as shown in a new study published Tuesday in Nature Communications.

For decades, the performance of quantum sensors has been limited by decoherence, which is unpredictable behavior caused by environmental noise. “Decoherence causes the state of a quantum system to become randomly scrambled, erasing any quantum sensing signal,” said Eli Levenson-Falk, senior author of the study, associate professor of physics and astronomy at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

Quantum sensing is the use of quantum systems such as atoms, light particles or qubits as sensors to measure physical quantities (such as brain activity, ultra-precise clocks or gravity anomalies) with extreme precision, often surpassing the limits of classical sensors. Sensing devices use quantum properties — like superposition, entanglement and coherence — to detect tiny signals that would otherwise be drowned out by noise.

“Think of it as trying to hear a faint whisper in a noisy space,” said Malida Hecht, a USC Dornsife doctoral student in physics and lead author of the study. “Quantum sensing devices detect things that are too small or faint for normal measuring tools to notice.”

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