Improving the Coherence Time of a Quantum System via a Coupling to a Short-Lived System

Abstract

In this Letter, we propose a counterintuitive use of a hybrid system where the coherence time of a quantum system can be significantly improved by coupling it with a system of a shorter coherence time. Coupling a two-level system with a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV^{-}) center, a dark state of the NV^{-} center naturally forms after the hybridization. We show that this dark state becomes robust against noise due to the coupling even when the coherence time of the two-level system is much shorter than that of the NV^{-} center. Our proposal opens a new way to use a quantum hybrid system for the realization of robust quantum information processing.