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
28
Nov
2023
Selective-Area-Grown PbTe-Pb Planar Josephson Junctions for Quantum Devices
Planar Josephson junctions are predicted to host Majorana zero modes. The material platforms in previous studies are two dimensional electron gases (InAs, InSb, InAsSb and HgTe) coupled
to a superconductor such as Al or Nb. Here, we introduce a new material platform for planar JJs, the PbTe-Pb hybrid. The semiconductor, PbTe, was grown as a thin film via selective area epitaxy. The Josephson junction was defined by a shadow wall during the deposition of the superconductor Pb. Scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals a sharp semiconductor-superconductor interface. Gate-tunable supercurrent and multiple Andreev reflections are observed. A perpendicular magnetic field causes interference patterns of the switching current, exhibiting Fraunhofer-like and SQUID-like behaviors. We further demonstrate a prototype device for Majorana detection, wherein phase bias and tunneling spectroscopy are applicable.
02
Nov
2023
Fast ZZ-Free Entangling Gates for Superconducting Qubits Assisted by a Driven Resonator
Engineering high-fidelity two-qubit gates is an indispensable step toward practical quantum computing. For superconducting quantum platforms, one important setback is the stray interaction
between qubits, which causes significant coherent errors. For transmon qubits, protocols for mitigating such errors usually involve fine-tuning the hardware parameters or introducing usually noisy flux-tunable couplers. In this work, we propose a simple scheme to cancel these stray interactions. The coupler used for such cancellation is a driven high-coherence resonator, where the amplitude and frequency of the drive serve as control knobs. Through the resonator-induced-phase (RIP) interaction, the static ZZ coupling can be entirely neutralized. We numerically show that such a scheme can enable short and high-fidelity entangling gates, including cross-resonance CNOT gates within 40 ns and adiabatic CZ gates within 140 ns. Our architecture is not only ZZ free but also contains no extra noisy components, such that it preserves the coherence times of fixed-frequency transmon qubits. With the state-of-the-art coherence times, the error of our cross-resonance CNOT gate can be reduced to below 1e-4.
01
Nov
2023
Error-disturbance uncertainty relations in a superconducting quantum processor
We experimentally test the error-disturbance uncertainty relation (EDR) in generalized, variable strength measurements of superconducting qubits on a NISQ processor. Making use of sequential
weak measurements that keeps the initial signal state practically unchanged prior to the main measurement, we demonstrate that the Heisenberg EDR is violated, yet the Ozawa and Branciard EDRs are valid throughout the range of measurement strengths from no measurement to projection measurement. Our results verify that universal EDRs are valid even in a noisy quantum processor and will stimulate research on measurement-based quantum information and communication protocols using a NISQ processor.
29
Okt
2023
Stochastic modeling of superconducting qudits in the dispersive regime
The field of superconducting quantum computing, based on Josephson junctions, has recently seen remarkable strides in scaling the number of logical qubits. In particular, the fidelities
of one- and two-qubit gates have reached the breakeven point with the novel error mitigation and correction methods. Parallel to these advances is the effort to expand the Hilbert space within a single junction or device by employing high-dimensional qubits, otherwise known as qudits. Research has demonstrated the possibility of driving higher-order transitions in a transmon or designing innovative multimode superconducting circuits, termed multimons. These advances can significantly expand the computational basis while simplifying the interconnects in a large-scale quantum processor. In this work we extend the measurement theory of a conventional superconducting qubit to that of a qudit, focusing on modeling the dispersive quadrature measurement in an open quantum system. Under the Markov assumption, the qudit Lindblad and stochastic master equations are formulated and analyzed; in addition, both the ensemble-averaged and the quantum-jump approach of decoherence analysis are detailed with analytical and numerical comparisons. We verify our stochastic model with a series of experimental results on a transmon-type qutrit, verifying the validity of our high-dimensional formalism.
26
Okt
2023
Driving superconducting qubits into chaos
Kerr parametric oscillators are potential building blocks for fault-tolerant quantum computers. They can stabilize Kerr-cat qubits, which offer advantages towards the encoding and manipulation
of error-protected quantum information. Kerr-cat qubits have been recently realized with the SNAIL transmon superconducting circuit by combining nonlinearities and a squeezing drive. These superconducting qubits can lead to fast gate times due to their access to large anharmonicities. However, we show that when the nonlinearities are large and the drive strong, chaos sets in and melts the qubit away. We provide an equation for the border between regularity and chaos and determine the regime of validity of the Kerr-cat qubit, beyond which it disintegrates. This is done through the quantum analysis of the quasienergies and Floquet states of the driven system, and is complemented with classical tools that include Poincaré sections and Lyapunov exponents. By identifying the danger zone for parametric quantum computation, we uncover another application for driven superconducting circuits, that of devices to investigate quantum chaos.
24
Okt
2023
Nonlinear response theory for lossy superconducting quantum circuits
We introduce a numerically exact and yet computationally feasible nonlinear response theory developed for lossy superconducting quantum circuits based on a framework of quantum dissipation
in a minimally extended state space. Starting from the Feynman–Vernon path integral formalism for open quantum systems with the system degrees of freedom being the nonlinear elements of the circuit, we eliminate the temporally non-local influence functional of all linear elements by introducing auxiliary harmonic modes with complex-valued frequencies coupled to the non-linear degrees of freedom of the circuit. In our work, we propose a concept of time-averaged observables, inspired by experiment, and provide an explicit formula for producing their quasiprobability distribution. Furthermore, we systematically derive a weak-coupling approximation in the presence of a drive, and demonstrate the applicability of our formalism through a study on the dispersive readout of a superconducting qubit. The developed framework enables a comprehensive fully quantum-mechanical treatment of nonlinear quantum circuits coupled to their environment, without the limitations of typical approaches to weak dissipation, high temperature, and weak drive. Furthermore, we discuss the implications of our findings to the quantum measurement theory.
20
Okt
2023
Characterization of Broadband Purcell Filters with Compact Footprint for Fast Multiplexed Superconducting Qubit Readout
Engineering the admittance of external environments connected to superconducting qubits is essential, as increasing the measurement speed introduces spontaneous emission loss to superconducting
qubits, known as Purcell loss. Here, we report a broad bandwidth Purcell filter design within a small footprint, which effectively suppresses Purcell loss without losing the fast measurement speed. We characterize the filter’s frequency response at 4.3 K and also estimate Purcell loss suppression by finite-element-method simulations of superconducting planar circuit layouts with the proposed filter design. The measured bandwidth is over 790 MHz within 0.29 mm2 while the estimated lifetime enhancement can be over 5000 times with multiple Purcell filters. The presented filter design is expected to be easily integrated on existing superconducting quantum circuits for fast and multiplexed readout without occupying large footprint.
19
Okt
2023
Landau-Zener transition rates of superconducting qubits and absorption spectrum in quantum dots
We derive new exact formulas for systems involving Landau-Zener transition rates and for absorption spectra in quantum dots and discuss their physical implications.
18
Okt
2023
Embedding networks for ideal performance of a travelling-wave parametric amplifier
We investigate the required embedding networks to enable ideal performance for a high-gain travelling-wave parametric amplifier (TWPA) based on three-wave mixing (3WM). By embedding
the TWPA in a network of superconducting diplexers and hybrid couplers, the amplifier can deliver a high stable gain with near-quantum-limited noise performance, with suppressed gain ripples, while eliminating the reflections of the signal, the idler and the pump as well as the transmission of all unwanted tones. We demonstrate a configuration where the amplifier can isolate. We call this technique Wideband Idler Filtering (WIF). The theory is supported by simulations that predict over 20 dB gain in the band 4-8 GHz with 10 dB isolation for a single amplifier and 30 dB isolation for two cascaded amplifiers. We demonstrate how the WIF-TWPAs can be used to construct switchable isolators with over 40 dB isolation over the full band 4-8 GHz. We also propose an alternative design where the WIF can be implemented without diplexers. Finally we show how, with small modifications, the technique can be implemented for four-wave mixing (4WM) TWPAs as well.
Native two-qubit gates in fixed-coupling, fixed-frequency transmons beyond cross-resonance interaction
Fixed-frequency superconducting qubits demonstrate remarkable success as platforms for stable and scalable quantum computing. Cross-resonance gates have been the workhorse of fixed-coupling,
fixed-frequency superconducting processors, leveraging the entanglement generated by driving one qubit resonantly with a neighbor’s frequency to achieve high-fidelity, universal CNOTs. Here, we use on-resonant and off-resonant microwave drives to go beyond cross-resonance, realizing natively interesting two-qubit gates that are not equivalent to CNOTs. In particular, we implement and benchmark native ISWAP, SWAP, ISWAP‾‾‾‾‾‾‾√, and BSWAP gates. Furthermore, we apply these techniques for an efficient construction of the B-gate: a perfect entangler from which any two-qubit gate can be reached in only two applications. We show these native two-qubit gates are better than their counterparts compiled from cross-resonance gates. We elucidate the resonance conditions required to drive each two-qubit gate and provide a novel frame tracking technique to implement them in Qiskit.