Quantum control using sequences of simple control pulses

Structured decompositions of a desired unitary operator are employed to derive control schemes that achieve certain control objectives for finite-level quantum systems using only sequences of simple control pulses such as square waves with finite rise and decay times or Gaussian wavepackets. The technique is applied to find control schemes that achieve population transfers for pure-state systems, complete inversions of the ensemble populations for mixed-state systems, create arbitrary superposition states and optimize the ensemble average of observables.