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
04
Sep
2024
Blochnium-Based Josephson Junction Parametric Amplifiers: Superior Tunability and Linearity
The weak quantum signal amplification is an essential task in quantum computing. In this study, a recently introduced structure of Josephson junctions array called Blochnium (N series
Quarton structure) is utilized as a parametric amplifier. We begin by theoretical deriving the system’s Lagrangian, quantum Hamiltonian, and then analyze the dynamics using the quantum Langevin equation. By transforming these equations into the Fourier domain and employing the input-output formalism, leading metric indicators of the parametric amplifier become calculated. The new proposed design offers significant advantages over traditional designs due to its ability to manipulate nonlinearity. This premier feature enhances the compression point (P1dB) of the amplifier dramatically, and also provides its tunability across a broad band. The enhanced linearity, essential for quantum applications, is achieved through effective nonlinearity management, which is theoretically derived. Also, the ability to sweep the C-band without significant spectral overlap is crucial for frequency multiplexing in scalable quantum systems. Simulation results show that Blochnium parametric amplifiers can reach to a signal gain around 25 dB with a compression point better than of -92 dBm. Therefore, our proposed parametric amplifier, with its superior degree of freedom, surpasses traditional designs like arrays of Josephson junctions, making it a highly promising candidate for advanced quantum computing applications.
30
Aug
2024
Modeling flux tunability in Josephson Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifiers with an open-source frequency-domain simulator
Josephson Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifiers (JTWPAs) are integral parts of many experiments carried out in quantum technologies. Being composed of hundreds of Josephson junction-based
unit cells, such devices exhibit complex nonlinear behavior that typically cannot be fully explained with simple analytical models, thus necessitating the use of numerical simulators. A very useful characteristic of JTWPAs is the possibility of being biased by an external magnetic flux, allowing insitu control of the nonlinearity. It is therefore very desirable for numerical simulators to support this feature. Open-source numerical tools that allow to model JTWPA flux biasing, such as WRSPICE or PSCAN2, are based on time-domain approaches,which typically require long simulation times to get accurate results. In this work, we model the gain performance in a prototypical flux-tunable JTWPA by using JosephsonCircuits.jl,a recently developed frequency-domain open-source numerical simulator, which has the benefit of simulation times about 10,000 faster than time-domain methods. By comparing the numerical and experimental results, we validate this approach for modeling the flux dependent behavior of JTWPAs.
Nonequilibrium regimes for quasiparticles in superconducting qubits
Qubits with gap asymmetry larger than their transition energy are less susceptible to quasiparticle decoherence as the quasiparticles are mostly trapped in the low-gap side of the junction.
Because of this trapping, the gap asymmetry can contribute to maintaining the quasiparticles out of equilibrium. Here we address the temperature evolution of the quasiparticle densities in the two sides of the junction. We show that four qualitatively different regimes are possible with increasing temperature: i) nonequilibrium, ii) local quasiequilibrium, iii) global quasiequilibrium, and iv) full equilibrium. We identify shortcomings in assuming global quasiequilibrium when interpreting experimental data, highlighting how measurements in the presence of magnetic field can aid the accurate determination of the junction parameters, and hence the identification of the nonequilibrium regimes.
29
Aug
2024
Circuit QED Emission Spectra in the Ultrastrong Coupling Regime: How They Differ from Cavity QED
Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) studies the interaction between resonator-confined radiation and natural atoms or other formally equivalent quantum excitations, under conditions
where the quantum nature of photons is relevant. Phenomena studied in cavity QED can also be explored using superconducting artificial atoms and microwave photons in superconducting resonators. These circuit QED systems offer the possibility to reach the ultrastrong coupling regime with individual artificial atoms, unlike their natural counterparts. In this regime, the light-matter coupling rate reaches a considerable fraction of the bare resonance frequencies in the system. Here, we provide a careful analysis of the emission spectra in circuit QED systems consisting of a flux qubit interacting with an LC resonator. Despite these systems can be described by the quantum Rabi model, as the corresponding cavity QED ones, we find distinctive features, depending on how the system is coupled with the output port, which become evident in the ultrastrong coupling regime.
Josephson Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifiers with Plasma oscillation phase-matching
High gain and large bandwidth of traveling-wave parametric amplifier exploiting the nonlinearity of Josephson Junctions can be achieved by fulfilling the so-called phase-matching condition.
This condition is usually addressed by placing resonant structures along the waveguide or by periodic modulations of its parameters, creating gaps in the waveguide’s dispersion. Here, we propose to employ the Josephson junctions, which constitute the centerline of the amplifier, as resonant elements for phase matching. By numerical simulations in JoSIM (and WRspice) software, we show that Josephson plasma oscillations can be utilized to create wavevector mismatch sufficient for phase matching as well as to prevent the conversion of the pump energy to higher harmonics. The proposed TWPA design has a gain of 15 dB and a 3.5 GHz bandwidth, which is comparable to the state-of-the-art TWPAs.
27
Aug
2024
Comprehensive explanation of ZZ coupling in superconducting qubits
A major challenge for scaling up superconducting quantum computers is unwanted couplings between qubits, which lead to always-on ZZ couplings that impact gate fidelities by shifting
energy levels conditional on qubit states. To tackle this challenge, we introduce analytical and numerical techniques, including a diagrammatic perturbation theory and a state-assignment algorithm, as well as a refined intuitive picture for the workings of the ZZ coupling. Together, these tools enable a deeper understanding of the mechanisms behind the ZZ coupling and facilitate finding parameter regions of weak and strong ZZ coupling. We showcase these techniques for a system consisting of two fixed-frequency transmon qubits connected by a flux-tunable transmon coupler. There, we find three types of parameter regions with zero or near-zero ZZ coupling, all of which are accessible with current technology. We furthermore find regions of strong ZZ coupling nearby, which may be used to implement adiabatic controlled-phase gates. Our methods are applicable to many types of qubits and open up for the design of large-scale quantum computers with improved gate fidelities.
26
Aug
2024
Dynamic compensation for pump-induced frequency shift in Kerr-cat qubit initialization
The noise-biased Kerr-cat qubit is an attractive candidate for fault-tolerant quantum computation; however, its initialization faces challenges due to the squeezing pump-induced frequency
shift (PIFS). Here, we propose and demonstrate a dynamic compensation method to mitigate the effect of PIFS during the Kerr-cat qubit initialization. Utilizing a novel nonlinearity-engineered triple-loop SQUID device, we realize a stabilized Kerr-cat qubit and validate the advantages of the dynamic compensation method by improving the initialization fidelity from 57% to 78%, with a projected fidelity of 91% after excluding state preparation and measurement errors. Our results not only advance the practical implementation of Kerr-cat qubits, but also provide valuable insights into the fundamental adiabatic dynamics of these systems. This work paves the way for scalable quantum processors that leverage the bias-preserving properties of Kerr-cat qubits.
24
Aug
2024
Robust optimal control for a systematic error in the control amplitude of transmon qubits
In the era of Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum computing as well as in error correcting circuits, physical qubits coherence time and high fidelity gates are essential to the functioning
of quantum computers. In this paper, we demonstrate theoretically and experimentally, that pulses designed by optimization can be used to counteract the loss of fidelity due to a control amplitude error of the transmon qubit. We analyze the control landscape obtained by robust optimal control and find it to depend on the error range, namely the solutions can get trapped in the basin of attraction of sub-optimal solutions. Robust controls are found for different error values and are compared to an incoherent loss of fidelity mechanism due to a finite relaxation rate. The controls are tested on the IBMQ’s qubit and found to demonstrate resilience against significant ∼10% errors.
23
Aug
2024
Eliminating Surface Oxides of Superconducting Circuits with Noble Metal Encapsulation
The lifetime of superconducting qubits is limited by dielectric loss, and a major source of dielectric loss is the native oxide present at the surface of the superconducting metal.
Specifically, tantalum-based superconducting qubits have been demonstrated with record lifetimes, but a major source of loss is the presence of two-level systems (TLSs) in the surface tantalum oxide. Here, we demonstrate a strategy for avoiding oxide formation by encapsulating the tantalum with noble metals that do not form native oxide. By depositing a few nanometers of Au or AuPd alloy before breaking vacuum, we completely suppress tantalum oxide formation. Microwave loss measurements of superconducting resonators reveal that the noble metal is proximitized, with a superconducting gap over 80% of the bare tantalum at thicknesses where the oxide is fully suppressed. We find that losses in resonators fabricated by subtractive etching are dominated by oxides on the sidewalls, suggesting total surface encapsulation by additive fabrication as a promising strategy for eliminating surface oxide TLS loss in superconducting qubits.
22
Aug
2024
A General Framework for Gradient-Based Optimization of Superconducting Quantum Circuits using Qubit Discovery as a Case Study
Engineering the Hamiltonian of a quantum system is fundamental to the design of quantum systems. Automating Hamiltonian design through gradient-based optimization can dramatically accelerate
this process. However, computing the gradients of eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a Hamiltonian–a large, sparse matrix–relative to system properties poses a significant challenge, especially for arbitrary systems. Superconducting quantum circuits offer substantial flexibility in Hamiltonian design, making them an ideal platform for this task. In this work, we present a comprehensive framework for the gradient-based optimization of superconducting quantum circuits, leveraging the SQcircuit software package. By addressing the challenge of calculating the gradient of the eigensystem for large, sparse Hamiltonians and integrating automatic differentiation within SQcircuit, our framework enables efficient and precise computation of gradients for various circuit properties or custom-defined metrics, streamlining the optimization process. We apply this framework to the qubit discovery problem, demonstrating its effectiveness in identifying qubit designs with superior performance metrics. The optimized circuits show improvements in a heuristic measure of gate count, upper bounds on gate speed, decoherence time, and resilience to noise and fabrication errors compared to existing qubits. While this methodology is showcased through qubit optimization and discovery, it is versatile and can be extended to tackle other optimization challenges in superconducting quantum hardware design.