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
21
Aug
2017
Parity-engineered light-matter interaction
The concept of parity describes the inversion symmetry of a system and is of fundamental relevance in the standard model, quantum information processing, and field theory. In quantum
electrodynamics, parity is conserved and selection rules (SRs) appear when matter is probed with electromagnetic radiation. However, typically large field gradients are required to engineer the parity of the light-matter interaction operator for natural atoms. In this work, we instead irradiate a specifically designed superconducting artificial atom with spatially shaped microwave fields to select the interaction parity in situ. In this way, we observe dipole and quadrupole SRs for single state transitions and induce transparency via longitudinal coupling. Furthermore, we engineer an artificial potassium-like atom with adjustable wave function parity originating from an artificial orbital momentum provided by a resonator. Our work advances light-matter interaction to a new level with promising application perspectives in simulations of chemical compounds, quantum state engineering, and relativistic physics.
19
Aug
2017
An Introduction to Superconducting Qubits and Circuit Quantum Electrodynamics
A subset of the concepts of circuit quantum electrodynamics are reviewed as a reference to the Axion Dark Matter Experiment (ADMX) community as part of the proceedings of the 2nd Workshop
on Microwave Cavities and Detectors for Axion Research. The classical Lagrangians and Hamiltonians for an LC circuit are discussed along with black box circuit quantization methods for a weakly anharmonic qubit coupled to a resonator or cavity.
Gradual partial-collapse theory for ideal nondemolition measurements of qubits in circuit QED
The conventional method of qubit measurements in circuit QED is employing the dispersive regime of qubit-cavity coupling, which results in an approximated scheme of quantum nondemolition
(QND) readout. However, this scheme breaks down owing to the Purcell effect in the case of strong coupling and/or strong measurement drive. To remove the drawbacks of the dispersive readout, a recent proposal by virtue of longitudinal coupling suggests a new scheme to realize fast, high-fidelity and ideal QND readout of qubit state. In the present work, following dispersive readout, we construct the gradual partial-collapse theory for this new measurement scheme, in terms of both the quantum trajectory equation and quantum Bayesian approach. The longitudinal coupling provides as well a convenient method of cavity reset. In combination with the reset procedure, the established theory is expected to be useful for such as measurement-based feedback control and many other quantum applications associated with partial-collapse weak measurements.
16
Aug
2017
Inductively shunted transmon qubit with tunable transverse and longitudinal coupling
We present the design of an inductively shunted transmon qubit with flux-tunable coupling to an embedded harmonic mode. This circuit construction offers the possibility to flux-choose
between pure transverse and pure longitudinal coupling, that is coupling to the σx or σz degree of freedom of the qubit. While transverse coupling is the coupling type that is most commonly used for superconducting qubits, the inherently different longitudinal coupling has some remarkable advantages both for readout and for the scalability of a circuit. Being able to choose between both kinds of coupling in the same circuit provides the flexibility to use one for coupling to the next qubit and one for readout, or vice versa. We provide a detailed analysis of the system’s behavior using realistic parameters, along with a proposal for the physical implementation of a prototype device.
14
Aug
2017
Three-qubit direct dispersive parity measurement with Tunable Coupling Qubits
We consider the direct three-qubit parity measurement scheme with two measurement resonators, using circuit quantum electrodynamics to analyze its functioning for several different
types of superconducting qubits. We find that for the most common, transmon-like qubit, the presence of additional qubit-state dependent coupling terms of the two resonators hinders the possibility of performing the direct parity measurement. We show how this problem can be solved by employing the Tunable Coupling Qubit (TCQ) in a particular designed configuration. In this case, we effectively engineer the original model Hamiltonian by cancelling the harmful terms. We further develop an analysis of the measurement in terms of information gains and provide some estimates of the typical parameters for optimal operation with TCQs.
Qubit compatible superconducting interconnects
We present a fabrication process for fully superconducting interconnects compatible with superconducting qubit technology. These interconnects allow for the 3D integration of quantum
circuits without introducing lossy amorphous dielectrics. They are composed of indium bumps several microns tall separated from an aluminum base layer by titanium nitride which serves as a diffusion barrier. We measure the whole structure to be superconducting (transition temperature of 1.1K), limited by the aluminum. These interconnects have an average critical current of 26.8mA, and mechanical shear and thermal cycle testing indicate that these devices are mechanically robust. Our process provides a method that reliably yields superconducting interconnects suitable for use with superconducting qubits.
High-Kinetic Inductance Additive Manufactured Superconducting Microwave Cavity
Investigations into the microwave surface impedance of superconducting resonators have led to the development of single photon counters that rely on kinetic inductance for their operation.
While concurrent progress in additive manufacturing, `3D printing‘, opens up a previously inaccessible design space for waveguide resonators. In this manuscript, we present results from the first synthesis of these two technologies in a titanium, aluminum, vanadium (Ti-6Al-4V) superconducting radio frequency resonator which exploits a design unattainable through conventional fabrication means. We find that Ti-6Al-4V has two distinct superconducting transition temperatures observable in heat capacity measurements. The higher transition temperature is in agreement with DC resistance measurements. While the lower transition temperature, not previously known in literature, is consistent with the observed temperature dependence of the superconducting microwave surface impedance. From the surface reactance, we extract a London penetration depth of 8±3μm – roughly an order of magnitude larger than other titanium alloys and several orders of magnitude larger than other conventional elemental superconductors. This large London penetration depth suggests that Ti-6Al-4V may be a suitable material for high kinetic inductance applications such as single photon counting or parametric amplification used in quantum computing.
09
Aug
2017
Coherence properties of the 0-π qubit
Superconducting circuits rank among the most interesting architectures for the implementation of quantum information processing devices. The recently proposed 0-π qubit [Brooks et
al., Phys. Rev. A 87, 52306 (2013)] promises increased protection from spontaneous relaxation and dephasing. In practice, this ideal behavior is only realized if the parameter dispersion among nominally identical circuit elements vanishes. In this paper we present a theoretical study of the more realistic scenario of slight variations in circuit elements. We discuss how the coupling to a spurious, low-energy mode affects the coherence properties of the 0-π device, investigate the relevant decoherence channels, and present estimates for achievable coherence times in multiple parameter regimes.
08
Aug
2017
The upside of noise: engineered dissipation as a resource in superconducting circuits
Historically, noise in superconducting circuits has been considered an obstacle to be removed. A large fraction of the research effort in designing superconducting circuits has focused
on noise reduction, with great success, as coherence times have increased by four orders of magnitude in the past two decades. However, noise and dissipation can never be fully eliminated, and further, a rapidly growing body of theoretical and experimental work has shown that carefully tuned noise, in the form of engineered dissipation, can be a profoundly useful tool in designing and operating quantum circuits. In this article, I review important applications of engineered dissipation, including state generation, state stabilization, and autonomous quantum error correction, where engineered dissipation can mitigate the effect of intrinsic noise, reducing logical error rates in quantum information processing. Further, I provide a pedagogical review of the basic noise processes in superconducting qubits (photon loss and phase noise), and argue that any dissipative mechanism which can correct photon loss errors is very likely to automatically suppress dephasing. I also discuss applications for quantum simulation, and possible future research directions.
Theory of the Josephson Junction Laser
We develop an analytic theory for the recently demonstrated Josephson Junction laser (Science 355, p. 939, 2017). By working in the time-domain representation (rather than the frequency-domain)
a single non-linear equation is obtained for the dynamics of the device, which is fully solvable in some regimes of operation. The nonlinear drive is seen to lead to mode-locked output, with a period set by the round-trip time of the resonant cavity.