Strategies for implementing quantum error correction in molecular rotation

Quantum 8, 1578 (2024).

https://doi.org/10.22331/q-2024-12-27-1578

The rotation of trapped molecules offers a promising platform for quantum technologies and quantum information processing. In parallel, quantum error correction codes that can protect quantum information encoded in rotational states of a single molecule have been developed. These codes are currently an abstract concept, as no implementation strategy is yet known. Here, we present a step towards experimental implementation of one family of such codes, namely absorption-emission codes. We first construct architecture-agnostic check and correction operators. These operators are then decomposed into elements of the quantum logic spectroscopy toolbox that is available for molecular ions. We then describe and analyze a measurement-based sequential as well as an autonomous implementation strategy in the presence of thermal background radiation, a major noise source for rotation in polar molecules. The presented strategies and methods might enable robust sensing or even fault-tolerant quantum computing using the rotation of individual molecules.