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Photodriven quantum teleportation of an electron spin state in a covalent donor–acceptor–radical system

Nature Chemistry volume 11, pages 981–986 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Quantum teleportation transfers the quantum state of a system over an arbitrary distance from one location to another through the agency of quantum entanglement. Because quantum teleportation is essential to many aspects of quantum information science, it is important to establish this phenomenon in molecular systems whose structures and properties can be tailored by synthesis. Here, we demonstrate electron spin state teleportation in an ensemble of covalent organic donor–acceptor–stable radical (D–A–R•) molecules. Following preparation of a specific electron spin state on R• in a magnetic field using a microwave pulse, photoexcitation of A results in the formation of an entangled electron spin pair D•+–A•−. The spontaneous ultrafast chemical reaction D•+–A•−–R• → D•+–A–R− constitutes the Bell state measurement step necessary to carry out spin state teleportation. Quantum state tomography of the R• and D•+ spin states using pulse electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy shows that the spin state of R• is teleported to D•+ with high fidelity.

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Fig. 1: Electron spin state teleportation protocol.
Fig. 2: FS-ESE spectra and transient nutation data.
Fig. 3: Quantum state tomography.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and analysed in the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation under grant no. CHE-1565925.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Brandon K. Rugg, Matthew D. Krzyaniak, Brian T. Phelan, Mark A. Ratner, Ryan M. Young & Michael R. Wasielewski

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  1. Brandon K. Rugg
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Contributions

M.R.W. conceived of the project. B.K.R. synthesized the molecules, performed EPR experiments and analysed the data. B.T.P. performed the transient optical spectroscopy and B.K.R. analysed the results with input from B.T.P., R.M.Y. and M.R.W. M.D.K. designed and implemented AWG upgrades to the Q-band EPR spectrometer, obtained EPR data and, along with B.K.R. and M.R.W., analysed the data. M.A.R. provided theory input for data analysis. B.K.R., M.D.K. and M.R.W. wrote the manuscript with input and edits from all authors.

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Correspondence to Michael R. Wasielewski.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Methods, Supplementary Characterization, Supplementary Data, Supplementary Figs. 1–7, Supplementary Tables 1–3.

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Rugg, B.K., Krzyaniak, M.D., Phelan, B.T. et al. Photodriven quantum teleportation of an electron spin state in a covalent donor–acceptor–radical system. Nat. Chem. 11, 981–986 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-019-0332-8

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