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Chin. Phys. B, 2026, Vol. 35(6): 063201    DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/ae4e8d
SPECIAL TOPIC — Advances in thorium nuclear optical clocks Prev   Next  

Robust excitation of 229Th via generalized composite pulses: Compensating generic errors across arbitrary pulse shapes

Rui Zhao(赵睿)1,2, and Yingdan Wang(王颖丹)1,†
1 Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;
2 School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Abstract  High-fidelity coherent control is a universal challenge due to complex errors and imperfect pulse shapes. Here, we propose a generalized composite pulses scheme independent of pulse profile to correct generic errors. This approach could simultaneously compensate for pulse area errors, detuning, and phase imperfections. We demonstrate its application in the direct laser excitation of the 229Th nucleus isomer state, and show a significant improvement in the robustness against various operation errors, such as detuning, phase error, and pulse area error.
Keywords:  thorium-229      isomeric state      nuclear excitation      composite pulses  
Received:  19 January 2026      Revised:  28 February 2026      Accepted manuscript online:  07 March 2026
PACS:  32.80.Qk (Coherent control of atomic interactions with photons)  
  06.30.Ft (Time and frequency)  
  03.67.Bg (Entanglement production and manipulation)  
Fund: Project supported by the Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Frontier Research Priority Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB0920000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 12275331), and the Fund from the Penghuanwu Innovative Research Center (Grant No. 12447101).
Corresponding Authors:  Yingdan Wang     E-mail:  yingdan.wang@itp.ac.cn

Cite this article: 

Rui Zhao(赵睿), and Yingdan Wang(王颖丹) Robust excitation of 229Th via generalized composite pulses: Compensating generic errors across arbitrary pulse shapes 2026 Chin. Phys. B 35 063201

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