Entanglement-based dc magnetometry with separated ions

Abstract: We demonstrate sensing of inhomogeneous dc magnetic fields by employing entangled trapped ions, which are shuttled in a segmented Paul trap. As \textit{sensor states}, we use Bell states of the type $\left|\uparrow\downarrow\right>+\text{e}^{\text{i}\varphi}\left|\downarrow\uparrow\right>$ encoded in two $^{40}$Ca$^+$ ions stored at different locations. Due to the linear Zeeman effect, the relative phase $\varphi$ serves to measure the magnetic field difference between the constituent locations, while common-mode fluctuations are rejected. Consecutive measurements on sensor states encoded in the $\text{S}{1/2}$ ground state and in the $\text{D}{5/2}$ metastable state are used to separate an ac Zeeman shift from the linear dc Zeeman effect. We measure magnetic field differences over distances of up to $6.2~\text{mm}$, with accuracies of around 300~fT, sensitivities down to $12~\text{pT} / \sqrt{\text{Hz}}$, and spatial resolutions down to $10~\text{nm}$. For optimizing the information gain while maintaining a high dynamic range, we implement an algorithm for Bayesian frequency estimation.