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
15
Jun
2024
Noise-induced quantum synchronization and maximally entangled mixed states in superconducting circuits
Random fluctuations can lead to cooperative effects in complex systems. We here report the experimental observation of noise-induced quantum synchronization in a chain of superconducting
transmon qubits with nearest-neighbor interactions. The application of Gaussian white noise to a single site leads to synchronous oscillations in the entire chain. We show that the two synchronized end qubits are entangled, with nonzero concurrence, and that they belong to a class of generalized Bell states known as maximally entangled mixed states, whose entanglement cannot be increased by any global unitary. We further demonstrate the stability against frequency detuning of both synchronization and entanglement by determining the corresponding generalized Arnold tongue diagrams. Our results highlight the constructive influence of noise in a quantum many-body system and uncover the potential role of synchronization for mixed-state quantum information science.
14
Jun
2024
Integration of through-sapphire substrate machining with superconducting quantum processors
We demonstrate a sapphire machining process integrated with intermediate-scale quantum processors. The process allows through-substrate electrical connections, necessary for low-frequency
mode-mitigation, as well as signal-routing, which are vital as quantum computers scale in qubit number, and thus dimension. High-coherence qubits are required to build fault-tolerant quantum computers and so material choices are an important consideration when developing a qubit technology platform. Sapphire, as a low-loss dielectric substrate, has shown to support high-coherence qubits. In addition, recent advances in material choices such as tantalum and titanium-nitride, both deposited on a sapphire substrate, have demonstrated qubit lifetimes exceeding 0.3 ms. However, the lack of any process equivalent of deep-silicon etching to create through-substrate-vias in sapphire, or to inductively shunt large dies, has limited sapphire to small-scale processors, or necessitates the use of chiplet architecture. Here, we present a sapphire machining process that is compatible with high-coherence qubits. This technique immediately provides a means to scale QPUs with integrated mode-mitigation, and provides a route toward the development of through-sapphire-vias, both of which allow the advantages of sapphire to be leveraged as well as facilitating the use of sapphire-compatible materials for large-scale QPUs.
Magnetic Field Tolerant Superconducting Spiral Resonators for Circuit QED
We present spiral resonators of thin film niobium (Nb) that exhibit large geometric inductance, high critical magnetic fields and high single photon quality factors. These low loss
geometric inductors can be a compelling alternative to kinetic inductors to create high-impedance superconducting devices for applications that require magnetic fields. By varying the spiral pitch, we realize resonators with characteristic impedances ranging from 3.25-7.09 k{\Omega}. We measure the temperature and magnetic field dependent losses and find that the high-impedance resonators maintain an intrinsic quality factor above {\sim} 10^5 for parallel magnetic fields of up to 1 T. These properties make spiral Nb resonators a promising candidate for quantum devices that require circuit elements with high impedance and magnetic field resilience.
10
Jun
2024
Macroscopic quantum superpositions in superconducting circuits
A possible route to test whether macroscopic systems can acquire quantum features using superconducting circuits is here presented. It is shown that under general assumptions a classical
test current pulse of fixed energy and adjustable length acquires quantum features after interacting with the quantum vacuum of the photon field. Further, it is shown that the mere existence of vacuum fluctuations can lead to the breakdown of energy and momentum conservation, and as the length of the pulse grows with respect to the characteristic size of the quantum system, the test pulse undergoes quantum-to-classical transition. This model differs from previous ones for its simplicity and points towards a new way of creating correlated systems suitable for quantum-based technology.
08
Jun
2024
Field-Based Formalism for Calculating Multi-Qubit Exchange Coupling Rates for Transmon Qubits
Superconducting qubits are one of the most mature platforms for quantum computing, but significant performance improvements are still needed. To improve the engineering of these systems,
3D full-wave computational electromagnetics analyses are increasingly being used. Unfortunately, existing analysis approaches often rely on full-wave simulations using eigenmode solvers that are typically cumbersome, not robust, and computationally prohibitive if devices with more than a few qubits are to be analyzed. To improve the characterization of superconducting circuits while circumventing these drawbacks, this work begins the development of an alternative framework that we illustrate in the context of evaluating the qubit-qubit exchange coupling rate between transmon qubits. This is a key design parameter that determines the entanglement rate for fast multi-qubit gate performance and also affects decoherence sources like qubit crosstalk. Our modeling framework uses a field-based formalism in the context of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics, which we use to show that the qubit-qubit exchange coupling rate can be related to the electromagnetic dyadic Green’s function linking the qubits together. We further show how the quantity involving the dyadic Green’s function can be related to the impedance response of the system that can be efficiently computed with classical computational electromagnetics tools. We demonstrate the validity and efficacy of this approach by simulating four practical multi-qubit superconducting circuits and evaluating their qubit-qubit exchange coupling rates. We validate our results against a 3D numerical diagonalization method and against experimental data where available. We also demonstrate the impact of the qubit-qubit exchange coupling rate on qubit crosstalk by simulating a multi-coupler device and identifying operating points where the qubit crosstalk becomes zero.
07
Jun
2024
Dispersive Qubit Readout with Intrinsic Resonator Reset
A key challenge in quantum computing is speeding up measurement and initialization. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a dispersive measurement method for superconducting qubits that
simultaneously measures the qubit and returns the readout resonator to its initial state. The approach is based on universal analytical pulses and requires knowledge of the qubit and resonator parameters, but needs no direct optimization of the pulse shape, even when accounting for the nonlinearity of the system. Moreover, the method generalizes to measuring an arbitrary number of modes and states. For the qubit readout, we can drive the resonator to ∼102 photons and back to ∼10−3 photons in less than 3κ−1, while still achieving a T1-limited assignment error below 1\%. We also present universal pulse shapes and experimental results for qutrit readout.
Slow and Stored Light via Electromagnetically Induced Transparency Using A Λ-type Superconducting Artificial Atom
Recent progresses in Josephson-junction-based superconducting circuits have propelled quantum information processing forward. However, the lack of a metastable state in most superconducting
artificial atoms hinders the development of photonic quantum memory in this platform. Here, we use a single superconducting qubit-resonator system to realize a desired Λ-type artificial atom, and to demonstrate slow light with a group velocity of 3.6 km/s and the microwave storage with a memory time extending to several hundred nanoseconds via electromagnetically induced transparency. Our results highlight the potential of achieving microwave quantum memory, promising substantial advancements in quantum information processing within superconducting circuits.
05
Jun
2024
In-operando microwave scattering-parameter calibrated measurement of a Josephson travelling wave parametric amplifier
Superconducting travelling wave parametric amplifiers (TWPAs) are broadband near-quantum limited microwave amplifiers commonly used for qubit readout and a wide range of other applications
in quantum technologies. The performance of these amplifiers depends on achieving impedance matching to minimise reflected signals. Here we apply a microwave calibration technique to extract the S-parameters of a Josephson junction based TWPA in-operando. This enables reflections occurring at the TWPA and its extended network of components to be quantified, and we find that the in-operation performance can be well described by the off-state measured S-parameters.
Hot Schrödinger Cat States
The observation of quantum phenomena often necessitates sufficiently pure states, a requirement that can be challenging to achieve. In this study, our goal is to prepare a non-classical
state originating from a mixed state, utilizing dynamics that preserve the initial low purity of the state. We generate a quantum superposition of displaced thermal states within a microwave cavity using only unitary interactions with a transmon qubit. We measure the Wigner functions of these „hot“ Schrödinger cat states for an initial purity as low as 0.06. This corresponds to a cavity mode temperature of up to 1.8 Kelvin, sixty times hotter than the cavity’s physical environment. Our realization of highly mixed quantum superposition states could be implemented with other continuous-variable systems e.g. nanomechanical oscillators, for which ground-state cooling remains challenging.
03
Jun
2024
Driving a Josephson Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifier into chaos: effects of a non-sinusoidal current-phase relation
In this work, we develop a comprehensive numerical analysis of the dynamic response of a Josephson Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifier (JTWPA) by varying the driving parameters, with
a focus on the pathways leading to chaotic behavior. By tuning the working conditions, we capture the broad spectrum of dynamical regimes accessible to JTWPAs, delineating the settings under which transition to chaos occurs. Furthermore, we extend our investigation to device formed by junctions characterized by a non–sinusoidal current phase relation (CPR) and exploring the impact of its shape on the amplifier’s performance. Through the study of gain characteristics, Poincaré sections, and Fourier spectra, we provide an in-depth understanding of how non-linearity and CPR nonsinusoidality influence the JTWPAs‘ operational effectiveness and stability. This investigation offers insights into optimizing the device designs for enhanced performance and robustness against chaotic disruptions, in order to establish a framework for predicting and controlling JTWPA behavior in practical applications. This effort will pave the way for the development of devices with tailored dynamic responses and for advancements in quantum computing and precision measurement technologies, where stability and high fidelity are of paramount importance.