I am going to post here all newly submitted articles on the arXiv related to superconducting circuits. If your article has been accidentally forgotten, feel free to contact me
19
Sep
2019
Hybrid Quantum Error Correction in Qubit Architectures
Noise and errors are inevitable parts of any practical implementation of a quantum computer. As a result, large-scale quantum computation will require ways to detect and correct errors
on quantum information. Here, we present such a quantum error correcting scheme for correcting the dominant error sources, phase decoherence and energy relaxation, in qubit architectures, using a hybrid approach combining autonomous correction based on engineered dissipation with traditional measurement-based quantum error correction. Using numerical simulations with realistic device parameters for superconducting circuits, we show that this scheme can achieve a 5- to 10-fold increase in storage-time while using only six qubits for the encoding and two ancillary qubits for the operation of the autonomous part of the scheme, providing a potentially large reduction of qubit overhead compared to typical measurement-based error correction schemes. Furthermore, the scheme relies on standard interactions and qubit driving available in most major quantum computing platforms, making it implementable in a wide range of architectures.
17
Sep
2019
Non-degenerate parametric amplifiers based on dispersion engineered Josephson junction arrays
Determining the state of a qubit on a timescale much shorter than its relaxation time is an essential requirement for quantum information processing. With the aid of a new type of non-degenerate
parametric amplifier, we demonstrate the continuous detection of quantum jumps of a transmon qubit with 90% fidelity in state discrimination. Entirely fabricated with standard two-step optical lithography techniques, this type of parametric amplifier consists of a dispersion engineered Josephson junction (JJ) array. By using long arrays, containing 103 JJs, we can obtain amplification at multiple eigenmodes with frequencies below 10 GHz, which is the typical range for qubit readout. Moreover, by introducing a moderate flux tunability of each mode, employing superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) junctions, a single amplifier device could potentially cover the entire frequency band between 1 and 10 GHz.
Josephson Array Mode Parametric Amplifier
We introduce a novel near-quantum-limited amplifier with a large tunable bandwidth and high dynamic range – the Josephson Array Mode Parametric Amplifier (JAMPA). The signal and
idler modes involved in the amplification process are realized by the array modes of a chain of 1000 flux tunable, Josephson-junction-based, nonlinear elements. The frequency spacing between array modes is comparable to the flux tunability of the modes, ensuring that any desired frequency can be occupied by a resonant mode, which can further be pumped to produce high gain. We experimentally demonstrate that the device can be operated as a nearly quantum-limited parametric amplifier with 20 dB of gain at almost any frequency within (4-12) GHz band. On average, it has a 3 dB bandwidth of 11 MHz and input 1 dB compression power of -108 dBm, which can go as high as -93 dBm. We envision the application of such a device to the time- and frequency-multiplexed readout of multiple qubits, as well as to the generation of continuous-variable cluster states.
16
Sep
2019
Dielectric loss extraction for superconducting microwave resonators
The investigation of two-level-state (TLS) loss in dielectric materials and interfaces remains at the forefront of materials research in superconducting quantum circuits. We demonstrate
a method of TLS loss extraction of a thin film dielectric by measuring a lumped element resonator fabricated from a superconductor-dielectric-superconductor trilayer. We extract the dielectric loss by formulating a circuit model for a lumped element resonator with TLS loss and then fitting to this model using measurements from a set of three resonator designs: a coplanar waveguide resonator, a lumped element resonator with an interdigitated capacitor, and a lumped element resonator with a parallel plate capacitor that includes the dielectric thin film of interest. Unlike other methods, this allows accurate measurement of materials with TLS loss lower than 10−6. We demonstrate this method by extracting a TLS loss of 1.02×10−3 for sputtered Al2O3 using a set of samples fabricated from an Al/Al2O3/Al trilayer. We observe a difference of 11% between extracted loss of the trilayer with and without the implementation of this method.
12
Sep
2019
Scalable nonadiabatic holonomic quantum computation on a superconducting qubit lattice
Geometric phase is an indispensable element for achieving robust and high-fidelity quantum gates due to its built-in noise-resilience feature. However, due to the complexity of manipulation
and the intrinsic leakage of the encoded quantum information to non-logical-qubit basis, the experimental realization of universal nonadiabatic holonomic quantum computation is very difficult. Here, we propose to implement scalable nonadiabatic holonomic quantum computation with decoherence-free subspace encoding on a two-dimensional square superconducting transmon-qubit lattice, where only the two-body interaction of neighbouring qubits, from the simplest capacitive coupling, is needed. Meanwhile, we introduce qubit-frequency driving to achieve tunable resonant coupling for the neighbouring transmon qubits, and thus avoiding the leakage problem. In addition, our presented numerical simulation shows that high-fidelity quantum gates can be obtained, verifying the advantages of the robustness and scalability of our scheme. Therefore, our scheme provides a promising way towards the physical implementation of robust and scalable quantum computation.
11
Sep
2019
A semiclassical analysis of dark state transient dynamics in waveguide circuit QED
The interaction between superconducting qubits and one-dimensional microwave transmission lines has been studied experimentally and theoretically in the past two decades. In this work,
we investigate the spontaneous emission of an initially excited artificial atom which is capacitively coupled to a semi-infinite transmission line, shorted at one end. This configuration can be viewed as an atom in front of a mirror. The distance between the atom and the mirror introduces a time-delay in the system, which we take into account fully. When the delay time equals an integer number of atom oscillation periods, the atom converges into a dark state after an initial decay period. The dark state is an effect of destructive interference between the reflected part of the field and the part directly emitted by the atom. Based on circuit quantization, we derive linearized equations of motion for the system and use these for a semiclassical analysis of the transient dynamics. We also make a rigorous connection to the quantum optics system-reservoir approach and compare these two methods to describe the dynamics. We find that both approaches are equivalent for transmission lines with a low characteristic impedance, while they differ when this impedance is higher than the typical impedance of the superconducting artificial atom.
09
Sep
2019
Faithful Simulation and Detection of Quantum Spin Hall Effect on Superconducting Circuits
Topological states of quantum matter %, originally discovered and investigated in condensed matter physics, have inspired both fascinating physics findings and exciting opportunities
for applications. Due to the over-complicated structure of, as well as interactions between, real materials, a faithful quantum simulation of topological matter is very important in deepening our understanding of these states. This requirement puts the quantum superconducting circuits system as a good option for mimicking topological materials, owing to their flexible tunability and fine controllability. As a typical example herein, we realize a Z2-type topological insulator featuring the quantum spin Hall effect state, using a coupled system of transmission-line resonators and transmons. The single-excitation eigenstates of each unit cell are used as a pseudo-spin 1/2 system. Time reversal symmetry of the system is proved, and the boundary of the topological phase transition is fixed in the phase diagram. Topological edge states are shown, which can be experimentally verified by detecting the population at the boundary of the plane. Compared to the previous simulations, this compositional system is fairly controllable, stable and less limited. Therefore, our scheme provides a reliable platform for faithful quantum simulations of topological matter.
04
Sep
2019
Modelling of TM Modes in Periodically-Shorted Cavities for Circuit QED
Electromagnetic cavities are ubiquitous in superconducting quantum circuit research, employed to control a circuit’s electromagnetic environment, suppress radiative loss, and
implement functionalities such as qubit readout and inter-qubit coupling. Here we consider the case of a rectangular cavity shorted by a periodic array of conducting cylinders. This is a potential enclosure geometry for large-scale quantum chips with many qubits. We develop simple, accurate models for the TM modes of the cavity, over a wide range of cylinder spacing and radii, using a plasma model and a coupled cavity array circuit model. We compare predictions with finite-element simulation and find good agreement. We investigate inter-qubit couplings mediated by such cavities for circuits at the 100-qubit scale, and discuss additional applications to circuit QED.
Tunable three-body coupler for superconducting flux qubits
The implementation of many-body interactions is relevant in various areas of quantum information. We present a superconducting device that implements a strong and tunable three-body
interaction between superconducting quantum bits, with vanishing two-body interactions and robustness against noise and circuit parameter variations. These properties are confirmed by calculations based on the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, a two-level model for the coupling circuit, and numerical diagonalization. This circuit behaves as an ideal computational basis ZZZ coupler in a simulated three-qubit quantum annealing experiment. This work will be relevant for advanced quantum annealing protocols and future developments of high-order many-body interactions in quantum computers and simulators.
03
Sep
2019
Millimeter-Wave Four-Wave Mixing via Kinetic Inductance for Quantum Devices
Millimeter-wave superconducting devices offer a platform for quantum experiments at temperatures above 1 K, and new avenues for studying light-matter interactions in the strong coupling
regime. Using the intrinsic nonlinearity associated with kinetic inductance of thin film materials, we realize four-wave mixing at millimeter-wave frequencies, demonstrating a key component for superconducting quantum systems. We report on the performance of niobium nitride resonators around 100 GHz, patterned on thin (20-50 nm) films grown by atomic layer deposition, with sheet inductances up to 212 pH/square and critical temperatures up to 13.9 K. For films thicker than 20 nm, we measure quality factors from 1-6×104, likely limited by two-level systems. Finally we measure degenerate parametric conversion for a 95 GHz device with a forward efficiency up to +16 dB, paving the way for the development of nonlinear quantum devices at millimeter-wave frequencies.