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
Aug
2022
Long-distance transmon coupler with CZ gate fidelity above 99.8%
Tunable coupling of superconducting qubits has been widely studied due to its importance for isolated gate operations in scalable quantum processor architectures. Here, we demonstrate
a tunable qubit-qubit coupler based on a floating transmon device which allows us to place qubits at least 2 mm apart from each other while maintaining over 50 MHz coupling between the coupler and the qubits. In the introduced tunable-coupler design, both the qubit-qubit and the qubit-coupler couplings are mediated by two waveguides instead of relying on direct capacitive couplings between the components, reducing the impact of the qubit-qubit distance on the couplings. This leaves space for each qubit to have an individual readout resonator and a Purcell filter needed for fast high-fidelity readout. In addition, the large qubit-qubit distance reduces unwanted non-nearest neighbor coupling and allows multiple control lines to cross over the structure with minimal crosstalk. Using the proposed flexible and scalable architecture, we demonstrate a controlled-Z gate with (99.81±0.02)% fidelity.
11
Aug
2022
Transmon qubit readout fidelity at the threshold for quantum error correction without a quantum-limited amplifier
High-fidelity and rapid readout of a qubit state is key to quantum computing and communication, and it is a prerequisite for quantum error correction. We present a readout scheme for
superconducting qubits that combines two microwave techniques: applying a shelving technique to the qubit that effectively increases the energy-relaxation time, and a two-tone excitation of the readout resonator to distinguish among qubit populations in higher energy levels. Using a machine-learning algorithm to post-process the two-tone measurement results further improves the qubit-state assignment fidelity. We perform single-shot frequency-multiplexed qubit readout, with a 140ns readout time, and demonstrate 99.5% assignment fidelity for two-state readout and 96.9% for three-state readout – without using a quantum-limited amplifier.
10
Aug
2022
Erasure qubits: Overcoming the T1 limit in superconducting circuits
The amplitude damping time, T1, has long stood as the major factor limiting quantum fidelity in superconducting circuits, prompting concerted efforts in the material science and design
of qubits aimed at increasing T1. In contrast, the dephasing time, Tϕ, can usually be extended above T1 (via, e.g., dynamical decoupling), to the point where it does not limit fidelity. In this article we propose a scheme for overcoming the conventional T1 limit on fidelity by designing qubits in a way that amplitude damping errors can be detected and converted into erasure errors. Compared to standard qubit implementations our scheme improves the performance of fault-tolerant protocols, as numerically demonstrated by the circuit-noise simulations of the surface code. We describe two simple qubit implementations with superconducting circuits and discuss procedures for detecting amplitude damping errors, performing entangling gates, and extending Tϕ. Our results suggest that engineering efforts should focus on improving Tϕ and the quality of quantum coherent control, as they effectively become the limiting factor on the performance of fault-tolerant protocols.
08
Aug
2022
Fast and Robust Geometric Two-Qubit Gates for Superconducting Qubits and Beyond
Quantum protocols based on adiabatic evolution are remarkably robust against imperfections of control pulses and system uncertainties. While adiabatic protocols have been successfully
implemented for quantum operations such as quantum state transfer and single-qubit gates, their use for geometric two-qubit gates remains a challenge. In this paper, we propose a general scheme to realize robust geometric two-qubit gates in multi-level qubit systems where the interaction between the qubits is mediated by an auxiliary system (such as a bus or coupler). While our scheme utilizes Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passage (STIRAP), it is substantially simpler than STIRAP-based gates that have been proposed for atomic platforms, requiring fewer control tones and ancillary states, as well as utilizing only a generic dispersive interaction. We also show how our gate can be accelerated using a shortcuts-to-adiabaticity approach, allowing one to achieve a gate that is both fast and relatively robust. We present a comprehensive theoretical analysis of the performance of our two-qubit gate in a parametrically-modulated superconducting circuits comprising two fluxonium qubits coupled to an auxiliary system.
04
Aug
2022
Novel architectures for noise-resilient superconducting qubits
Great interest revolves around the development of new strategies to efficiently store and manipulate quantum information in a robust and decoherence-free fashion. Several proposals
have been put forward to encode information into qubits that are simultaneously insensitive to relaxation and to dephasing processes. Among all, given their versatility and high-degree of control, superconducting qubits have been largely investigated in this direction. Here, we present a survey on the basic concepts and ideas behind the implementation of novel superconducting circuits with intrinsic protection against decoherence at a hardware level. In particular, the main focus is on multi-mode superconducting circuits, the paradigmatic example being the so-called 0−π circuit. We report on their working principle and possible physical implementations based on conventional Josephson elements, presenting recent experimental realizations, discussing both fabrication methods and characterizations.
03
Aug
2022
Wideband Josephson Parametric Amplifier with Integrated Transmission Line Transformer
We describe a wide-band Josephson Parametric Amplifier (JPA) that is impedance-matched using an integrated compact superconducting transmission line transformer. The impedance transformer
consists of two broadside coupled transmission lines configured in a Ruthroff topology which enables a wide matching bandwidth from 2 to 18 GHz, reducing the input line impedance and the device resonance quality factor by a factor of 4. This enables gain flatness and flexibility in the choice of the amplifier’s tuning range. The amplifier has up to 20dB gain, with less than 1 dB of ripple, 2-3 GHz gain-bandwidth product and -126 dBm input 1-dB compression point. Moreover, the device active area fits into a 1mm x 1mm space, thus easing integration into large quantum systems.
02
Aug
2022
Enhancing the Coherence of Superconducting Quantum Bits with Electric Fields
In the endeavour to make quantum computers a reality, integrated superconducting circuits have become a promising architecture. A major challenge of this approach is decoherence originating
from spurious atomic tunneling defects at the interfaces of qubit electrodes, which may resonantly absorb energy from the qubit’s oscillating electric field and reduce the qubit’s energy relaxation time T1. Here, we show that qubit coherence can be improved by tuning dominating defects away from the qubit resonance using an applied DC-electric field. We demonstrate a method that optimizes the applied field bias and enhances the average qubit T1 time by 23%. We also discuss how local gate electrodes can be implemented in superconducting quantum processors to enable simultaneous in-situ coherence optimization of individual qubits.
01
Aug
2022
Bound states in microwave QED: Crossover from waveguide to cavity regime
Light-matter interaction at the single-quantum level is the heart of many regimes of high fundamental importance to modern quantum technologies. Strong interaction of a qubit with a
single photon of an electromagnetic field mode is described by the cavity/circuit electrodynamics (QED) regime which is one of the most advanced platforms for quantum computing. The opposite regime of the waveguide QED, where qubits interact with a continuum of modes in an infinite one-dimensional space, is also at the focus of recent research revealing novel quantum phenomena. Despite the demonstration of several key features of waveguide QED, the transition from an experimentally realizable finite-size system to the theoretically assumed infinite device size is neither rigorously justified nor fully understood. In this paper, we formulate a unifying theory which under a minimal set of standard approximations accounts for physical boundaries of a system in all parameter domains. Considering two qubits in a rectangular waveguide which naturally exhibits a low frequency cutoff we are able to account for infinite number of modes and obtain an accurate description of the waveguide transmission, a life-time of a qubit-photon bound state and the exchange interaction between two qubit-photon bounds states. For verification, we compare our theory to experimental data obtained for two superconducting qubits in a rectangular waveguide demonstrating how the infinite size limit of waveguide QED emerges in a finite-size system. Our theory can be straightforwardly extended to other waveguides such as the photonic crystal and coupled cavity arrays.
27
Jul
2022
Non-Hermitian topological phases in traveling-wave parametric amplifiers
We study the phenomena of topological amplification in one-dimensional traveling-wave parametric amplifiers. We find two phases of topological amplification, both with directional transport
and exponential gain with the number of sites, and one of them featuring squeezing. We also find a topologically trivial phase with zero-energy modes which produces amplification but lacks topological protection. We characterize the resilience to disorder of the different phases, their stability, gain and noise-to-signal ratio. Finally, we discuss their experimental implementation with state-of-the-art techniques.
Directional Josephson traveling-wave parametric amplifier via non-Hermitian topology
Low-noise microwave amplification is crucial for detecting weak signals in quantum technologies and radio astronomy. An ideal device must amplify a broad range of frequencies while
adding minimal noise, and be directional, so that it favors the observer’s direction while protecting the source from its environment. Current amplifiers do not satisfy all these requirements, severely limiting the scalability of superconducting quantum devices. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of building a near-ideal quantum amplifier using a homogeneous Josephson junction array and the non-trivial topology of its dynamics. Our design relies on breaking time-reversal symmetry via a non-local parametric drive, which induces directional amplification in a way similar to edge states in topological insulators. The system then acquires unprecedented amplifying properties, such as a gain growing exponentially with system size, exponential suppression of back-wards noise, and topological protection against disorder. We show that these features allow a state-of-the-art superconducting device to manifest near-quantum-limited directional amplification with a gain largely surpassing 20 dB and -30 dB of reverse attenuation over a large bandwidth of GHz. This opens the door for integrating near-ideal and compact pre-amplifiers on the same chip as quantum processors.