Superadiabatic population transfer by loop driving and synthetic gauges in a superconducting circuit

The achievement of fast and error-insensitive control of quantum systems is a primary goal in quantum information science. Here we use the first three levels of a transmon superconducting circuit to realize a loop driving scheme, with all three possible pairs of states coupled by pulsed microwave tones. In this configuration, we implement a superadiabatic protocol for population transfer, where two couplings produce the standard stimulated Raman adiabatic passage, while the third is a counterdiabatic field which suppresses the nonadiabatic excitations. We demonstrate that the population can be controlled by the synthetic gauge-invariant phase around the loop as well as by the amplitudes of the three pulses. The technique enables fast operation, with transfer times approaching the quantum speed limit, and it is remarkably robust against errors in the shape of the pulses.