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
13
Jan
2022
Fundamental limits of superconducting quantum computers
The Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) model is an alternative formulation of quantum mechanics which introduces a noise coupled non linearly to the wave function to account
for its collapse. We consider CSL effects on quantum computers made of superconducting transmon qubits. As a direct effect CSL reduces quantum superpositions of the computational basis states of the qubits: we show the reduction rate to be negligibly small. However, an indirect effect of CSL, dissipation induced by the noise, also leads transmon qubits to decohere, by generating additional quasiparticles. Since the decoherence rate of transmon qubits depends on the quasiparticle density, by computing their generation rate induced by CSL, we can estimate the corresponding quasiparticle density and thus the limit set by CSL on the performances of transmon quantum computers. We show that CSL could spoil the quantum computation of practical algorithms on large devices. We further explore the possibility of testing CSL effects on superconducting devices.
12
Jan
2022
Self phase-matched broadband amplification with a left-handed Josephson transmission line
Josephson Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifiers (J-TWPAs) are promising platforms for realizing broadband quantum-limited amplification of microwave signals. However, substantial gain
in such systems is attainable only when strict constraints on phase matching of the signal, idler and pump waves are satisfied — this is rendered particularly challenging in the presence of nonlinear effects, such as self- and cross-phase modulation, which scale with the intensity of propagating signals. In this work, we present a simple J-TWPA design based on `left-handed‘ (negative-index) nonlinear Josephson metamaterial, which realizes autonomous phase matching \emph{without} the need for any complicated circuit or dispersion engineering. The resultant efficiency of four-wave mixing process can implement gains in excess of 20 dB over few GHz bandwidths with much shorter lines than previous implementations. Furthermore, the autonomous nature of phase matching considerably simplifies the J-TWPA design than previous implementations based on `right-handed‘ (positive index) Josephson metamaterials, making the proposed architecture particularly appealing from a fabrication perspective. The left-handed JTL introduced here constitutes a new modality in distributed Josephson circuits, and forms a crucial piece of the unified framework that can be used to inform the optimal design and operation of broadband microwave amplifiers.
11
Jan
2022
Full-Wave Methodology to Compute the Spontaneous Emission Rate of a Transmon Qubit
The spontaneous emission rate (SER) is an important figure of merit for any quantum bit (qubit), as it can play a significant role in the control and decoherence of the qubit. As a
result, accurately characterizing the SER for practical devices is an important step in the design of quantum information processing devices. Here, we specifically focus on the experimentally popular platform of a transmon qubit, which is a kind of superconducting circuit qubit. Despite the importance of understanding the SER of these qubits, it is often determined using approximate circuit models or is inferred from measurements on a fabricated device. To improve the accuracy of predictions in the design process, it is better to use full-wave numerical methods that can make a minimal number of approximations in the description of practical systems. In this work, we show how this can be done with a recently developed field-based description of transmon qubits coupled to an electromagnetic environment. We validate our model by computing the SER for devices similar to those found in the literature that have been well-characterized experimentally. We further cross-validate our results by comparing them to simplified lumped element circuit and transmission line models as appropriate.
06
Jan
2022
Circuit quantization with time-dependent flux:the parallel-plate SQUID
Quantum circuit theory has emerged as an essential tool for the study of the dynamics of superconducting circuits. Recently, the problem of accounting for time-dependent driving via
external magnetic fields was addressed by Riwar-DiVincenzo in their paper – ‚Circuit quantization with time-dependent magnetic fields for realistic geometries‘ in which they proposed a technique to construct a low-energy Hamiltonian for a given circuit geometry, taking as input the external magnetic field interacting with the geometry. This result generalises previous efforts that dealt only with discrete circuits. Moreover, it shows through the example of a parallel-plate SQUID circuit that assigning individual, discrete capacitances to each individual Josephson junction, as proposed by treatments of discrete circuits, is only possible if we allow for negative, time-dependent and even singular capacitances. In this report, we provide numerical evidence to substantiate this result by performing finite-difference simulations on a parallel-plate SQUID. We furnish continuous geometries with a uniform magnetic field whose distribution we vary such that the capacitances that are to be assigned to each Josephson junction must be negative and even singular. Thus, the necessity for time-dependent capacitances for appropriate quantization emerges naturally when we allow the distribution of the magnetic field to change with time.
05
Jan
2022
Nitrogen Plasma Passivated Niobium Resonators for Superconducting Quantum Circuits
Microwave loss in niobium metallic structures used for superconducting quantum circuits is limited by a native surface oxide layer formed over a timescale of minutes when exposed to
an ambient environment. In this work, we show that nitrogen plasma treatment forms a niobium nitride layer at the metal-air interface which prevents such oxidation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirms the doping of nitrogen more than 5 nm into the surface and a suppressed oxygen presence. This passivation remains stable after aging for 15 days in an ambient environment. Cryogenic microwave characterization shows an average filling factor adjusted two-level-system loss tangent FδTLS of (2.9±0.5)⋅10−7 for resonators with 3 μm center strip and (1.0±0.3)⋅10−7 for 20 μm center strip, exceeding the performance of unpassivated samples by a factor of four.
03
Jan
2022
Proposal for generating complex microwave graph states using superconducting circuits
Microwave photonic graph states provide a promising approach for robust quantum communication between remote superconducting chips using microwave photons. Recently, Besse et al. [Nat.
Commun. 11, 4887 (2020)] demonstrated that 1D graph states can be generated using two transmon qubits. In this paper, we propose to use transmon qubits combined with other microwave devices to construct more complex graph states. Specifically, we consider 2D lattice and tree-like graph states. We compare the performance using fixed- versus tunable-frequency transmon qubits and also for different photonic qubit encodings. In each case, we estimate the fidelity of the resulting microwave graph state assuming current experimental parameters and identify the main factors that limit performance.
30
Dez
2021
Current biased gradiometric flux qubit in a circuit-QED architecture
We propose a scheme for controlling the gradiometric flux qubit (GFQ) by applying an ac bias current in a circuit-QED architecture. The GFQ is insensitive to the magnetic flux fluctuations,
which at the same time makes it challenging to manipulate the qubit states by an external magnetic field. In this study, we demonstrate that an ac bias current applied to the α-junction of the GFQ can control the qubit states. Further, the present scheme is robust against the charge fluctuation as well as the magnetic flux fluctuations, promising a long coherence time for quantum gate operations. We introduce a circuit-QED architecture to perform the single and two-qubit operations with a sufficiently strong coupling strength.
23
Dez
2021
Preparing ground states of the XXZ model using the quantum annealing with inductively coupled superconducting flux qubits
Preparing ground states of Hamiltonians is important in the condensed matter physics and the quantum chemistry. The interaction Hamiltonians typically contain not only diagonal but
also off-diagonal elements. Although quantum annealing provides a way to prepare a ground state of a Hamiltonian, we can only use the Hamiltonian with Ising interaction by using currently available commercial quantum annealing devices. In this work, we propose a quantum annealing for the XXZ model, which contains both Ising interaction and energy-exchange interaction, by using inductively coupled superconducting flux qubits. The key idea is to use a recently proposed spin-lock quantum annealing where the qubits are driven by microwave fields. As long as the rotating wave approximation is valid, the inductive coupling between the superconducting flux qubits produces the desired Hamiltonian in the rotating frame, and we can use such an interaction for the quantum annealing while the microwave fields driving play a role of the transverse fields. To quantify the performance of our scheme, we implement numerical simulations, and show that we can prepare ground states of the two-dimensional Heisenberg model with a high fidelity.
22
Dez
2021
Tuning superinductors by quantum coherence effects for enhancing quantum computing
Research on spatially inhomogeneous weakly-coupled superconductors has recently received a boost of interest because of the experimental observation of a dramatic enhancement of the
kinetic inductance with relatively low losses. Here, we study the kinetic inductance and the quality factor of a strongly-disordered weakly-coupled superconducting thin film. We employ a gauge-invariant random-phase approximation capable of describing collective excitations and other fluctuations. In line with the experimental findings, in the range of frequencies of interest, we have found that an exponential increase of the kinetic inductance with disorder coexists with a still large quality factor ∼105. More interestingly, on the metallic side of the superconductor-insulator transition, we have identified a range of frequencies and temperatures, well below the critical one, where quantum coherence effects induce a broad statistical distribution of the quality factor with an average value that increases with disorder. We expect these findings to further stimulate experimental research on the design and optimization of superinductors for a better performance and miniaturization of quantum devices such as qubits circuits and microwave detectors.
Multipartite entanglement in a microwave frequency comb
Significant progress has been made with multipartite entanglement of discrete qubits, but continuous variable systems may provide a more scalable path toward entanglement of large ensembles.
We demonstrate multipartite entanglement in a microwave frequency comb generated by a Josephson parametric amplifier subject to a bichromatic pump. We find 64 correlated modes in the transmission line using a multifrequency digital signal processing platform. Full inseparability is verified in a subset of seven modes. Our method can be expanded to generate even more entangled modes in the near future.