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
Nov
2025
Experimental demonstration of non-local magic in a superconducting quantum processor
Magic is a non-classical resource whose efficient manipulation is fundamental to advancing efficient and scalable fault-tolerant quantum computing. Quantum advantage is possible only
if both magic and entanglement are present. Of particular interest is non-local magic- the fraction of the resource that cannot be distilled (or erased) by local unitary operations – which is a necessary feature for quantum complex behavior. We perform the first experimental demonstration of non-local magic in a superconducting Quantum Processing Unit (QPU). Direct access to the QPU device enables us to identify and characterize the dominant noise mechanisms intrinsic to the quantum hardware. We observe excellent agreement between theory and experiment without the need for any free parameter in the noise modeling of our system and shows the experimental capability of harnessing both local and non-local magic resources separately, thereby offering a promising path towards more reliable pre-fault-tolerant quantum devices and to advance hardware-aware research in quantum information in the near term. Finally, the methods and tools developed in this work are conducive to the experimental realization of efficient purity estimation (featuring exponential speedup) and the decoding of Hawking radiation from a toy-model of a Black Hole.
Synthetic areas spread in two-dimensional Superconducting Quantum Interference Arrays
Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs), formed by incorporating Josephson junctions into loops of superconducting material, are the backbone of many modern quantum sensing
systems. It has been demonstrated that, by combining multiple SQUID loops into a two-dimensional (2D) array, it is possible to fabricate ultra-high-performing Radio frequency sensors. However, to function as absolute magnetometers, current-in-use arrays require the area of each SQUID loop in the array to be incommensurate and, in turn, forbid the achievement of their full potential in terms of quantum-limited performances. This is because imposing incommensurability in the areas contrasts with optimised performance in each single SQUID loop. In this work, we report that by selectively inserting bare sections of a superconducting circuit with no Josephson junctions, 2D SQUID arrays can operate as an absolute magnetometer even when no physical area spread is applied. Based on a generalisation of current available theories, a complete analytical formulation for the one-to-one correspondence between the distribution of these bare loops and what we call a synthetic area spread is unveiled. This synthetic spread represents the equivalent physical spread of incommensurate SQUID loops that you will use to obtain the absolute Voltage-Magnetic Flux response if no bare loops were in use. Our work opens the way to a broader use of this technology for the fabrication of ultra-high-performance absolute quantum sensors. Our approach is also experimentally verified by fabricating several 2D SQUID arrays incorporating bare superconducting loops and by demonstrating that they behave in alignment with what is suggested by our theory.
18
Nov
2025
Measuring Reactive-Load Impedance with Transmission-Line Resonators Beyond the Perturbative Limit
We develop an analytic framework to extract circuit parameters and loss tangent from superconducting transmission-line resonators terminated by reactive loads, extending analysis beyond
the perturbative regime. The formulation yields closed-form relations between resonant frequency, participation ratio, and internal quality factor, removing the need for full-wave simulations. We validate the framework through circuit simulations, finite-element modeling, and experimental measurements of van der Waals parallel-plate capacitors, using it to extract the dielectric constant and loss tangent of hexagonal boron nitride. Statistical analysis across multiple reference resonators, together with multimode self-calibration, demonstrates consistent and reproducible extraction of both capacitance and loss tangent in close agreement with literature values. In addition to parameter extraction, the analytic relations provide practical design guidelines for maximizing energy participation ratio in the load and improving the precision of resonator-based material metrology.
Optimization of High-Fidelity Single-Qubit Gates for Fluxoniums Using Single-Flux Quantum Control
We present a gradient-based method to construct memory-efficient, high-fidelity, single-qubit gates for fluxonium qubits. These gates are constructed using a sequence of single-flux
quantum (SFQ) pulses that are sent to the qubit through either capacitive or inductive coupling. The schedule of SFQ pulses is constructed with an on-ramp and an off-ramp applied prior to and after a pulse train, where the pulses are spaced at intervals equal to the qubit period. We reduce the optimization problem to the scheduling of a fixed number of SFQ pulses in the on-ramp and solve it by relaxing the discretization constraint of the SFQ clock as an intermediate step, allowing the use of the Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno optimizer. Using this approach, gate fidelities of 99.99 % can be achieved for inductive coupling and 99.9 % for capacitive coupling, with leakage being the main source of coherent errors for both approaches.
17
Nov
2025
Effect of substrate miscut angle on critical thickness, structural and electronic properties of MBE-grown NbN films on c-plane sapphire
We report the structural and electronic properties of niobium nitride (NbN) thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy on c-plane sapphire with miscut angles of 0.5o, 2o, 4o, and 10o
towards m-axis. X-ray diffraction (XRD) scans reveal that the full width at half maximum of the rocking curves around the 1 1 1 reflection of these NbN films decreases with increasing miscut. Starting from 76 arcsecs on 0.5o miscut, the FWHM reduces to almost 20 arcsecs on 10o miscut sapphire indicating improved structural quality. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images indicate that NbN on c-sapphire has around 10 nm critical thickness, irrespective of the substrate miscut, above which it turns columnar. The improved structural property is correlated with a marginal increment in superconducting transition temperature Tc from 12.1 K for NbN on 0.5o miscut sapphire to 12.5 K for NbN on 10o miscut sapphire.
13
Nov
2025
Hardware-Efficient Bosonic Module for Entangling Superconducting Quantum Processors via Optical Networks
Scaling superconducting quantum processors beyond single dilution refrigerators requires efficient optical interconnects, yet integrating microwave-to-optical (M2O) transducers poses
challenges due to frequency mismatches and qubit decoherence. We propose a modular architecture using SNAIL-based parametric coupling to interface Brillouin M2O transducers with long-lived 3D cavities, while maintaining plug-and-play compatibility. Through numerical simulations incorporating realistic noises, including laser heating, propagation losses, and detection inefficiency, we demonstrate raw entangled bit fidelities of F~0.8 at kHz-level rates over 30 km using the Duan-Lukin-Cirac-Zoller (DLCZ) protocol. Implementing asymmetric entanglement pumping tailored to amplitude damping errors, we achieve purified fidelities F~0.94 at 0.2 kHz rates. Our cavity-based approach outperforms transmon schemes, providing a practical pathway for distributed superconducting quantum computing.
12
Nov
2025
Liquid metal printing for superconducting circuits
Superconducting circuits are a promising platform for implementing fault-tolerant quantum computers, quantum limited amplifiers, ultra-low power superconducting electronics, and sensors
with ultimate sensitivity. Typically, circuit fabrication is realized by standard nanolithography, generally associated with a high level of control over defects and contaminants. Additive approaches have not been used so far since they are expected to be inferior in terms of superconducting properties or quantum coherence. This work shows that liquid-metal based micro-pipette printing is suited for fabricating superconducting lumped-element resonators with high internal quality factors. The applicability of our technique for low-loss superconducting device fabrication and the possibility to locally add metal structures, without affecting any preexisting circuit elements, is a further advantage. Our results open up new avenues in the hardware implementation of scaled-up superconducting quantum computers.
11
Nov
2025
Fidelity sweet spot in transmon qubit rings under strong connectivity noise
We investigate the fidelity of quantum operations in transmon qubit systems, focusing on both SWAP and general gate operations. Our results reveal a distinct fidelity sweet spot that
emerges even under strong noise, indicating that optimal circuit depth can enhance gate performance. We further demonstrate that specific initial states, particularly those with favorable symmetry or entanglement structure, yield higher fidelity, reaching levels compatible with quantum error-correction thresholds. Finally, we introduce a supervised machine-learning framework capable of predicting the positions of fidelity sweet spots, enabling efficient optimization of circuit durations across different device configurations.
09
Nov
2025
Flux-modulated tunable interaction regimes in two strongly nonlinear oscillators
The ability to efficiently simulate a variety of interacting quantum systems on a single device is an overarching goal for digital and analog quantum simulators. In circuit quantum
electrodynamical systems, strongly nonlinear superconducting oscillators are typically realized using transmon qubits, featuring a wide range of tunable couplings that are mainly achieved via flux-dependent inductive elements. Such controllability is highly desirable both for digital quantum information processing and for analog quantum simulations of various physical phenomena, such as arbitrary spin-spin interactions. Furthermore, broad tunability facilitates the study of driven-dissipative oscillator dynamics in previously unexplored parameter regimes. In this work, we demonstrate the ability to selectively activate different dynamical regimes between two strongly nonlinear oscillators using parametric modulation. In particular, our scheme enables access to regimes that are dominated by photon-hopping, two-mode squeezing, or cross-Kerr interactions. Finally, we observe level repulsion and attraction between Kerr-nonlinear oscillators in regimes where the nonlinearities exceed the coupling strengths and decay rates of the system. Our results could be used for realizing purely analog quantum simulators to study arbitrary spin systems as well as for exploring strongly nonlinear oscillator dynamics in previously unexplored interaction regimes.
07
Nov
2025
Mapping the positions of Two-Level-Systems on the surface of a superconducting transmon qubit
The coherence of superconducting quantum computers is severely limited by material defects that create parasitic two-level-systems (TLS). Progress is complicated by lacking understanding
how TLS are created and in which parts of a qubit circuit they are most detrimental. Here, we present a method to determine the individual positions of TLS at the surface of a transmon qubit. We employ a set of on-chip gate electrodes near the qubit to generate local DC electric fields that are used to tune the TLS‘ resonance frequencies. The TLS position is inferred from the strengths at which TLS couple to different electrodes and comparing them to electric field simulations. We found that the majority of detectable surface-TLS was residing on the leads of the qubit’s Josephson junction, despite the dominant contribution of its coplanar capacitor to electric field energy and surface area. This indicates that the TLS density is significantly enhanced near shadow-evaporated electrodes fabricated by lift-off techniques. Our method is useful to identify critical circuit regions where TLS contribute most to decoherence, and can guide improvements in qubit design and fabrication methods.