Accelerated quantum control in a three-level system by jumping along the geodesics

By applying a driving field along discrete points of a geodesic path, the authors achieve quantum-state transfer in the electronic ground-state triplet of a nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond, which surpasses the traditional stimulated-Raman-adiabatic-passage protocol. This method can provide a higher transfer fidelity in a shorter time and shows a stronger robustness against control-field perturbations as well as external magnetic-field noise.