Improving the speed and fidelity of quantum logic gates is essential to reach quantum advantage with future quantum computers. However, fast logic gates lead to increased leakage errorsin superconducting quantum processors based on qubits with low anharmonicity, such as transmons. To reduce leakage errors, we propose and experimentally demonstrate two new analytical methods, Fourier ansatz spectrum tuning derivative removal by adiabatic gate (FAST DRAG) and higher-derivative (HD) DRAG, both of which enable shaping single-qubit control pulses in the frequency domain to achieve stronger suppression of leakage transitions compared to previously demonstrated pulse shapes. Using the new methods to suppress the ef-transition of a transmon qubit with an anharmonicity of -212 MHz, we implement RX(π/2)-gates with a leakage error below 3.0×10−5 down to a gate duration of 6.25 ns, which corresponds to a 20-fold reduction in leakage compared to a conventional Cosine DRAG pulse. Employing the FAST DRAG method, we further achieve an error per gate of (1.56±0.07)×10−4 at a 7.9-ns gate duration, outperforming conventional pulse shapes both in terms of error and gate speed. Furthermore, we study error-amplifying measurements for the characterization of temporal microwave control pulse distortions, and demonstrate that non-Markovian coherent errors caused by such distortions may be a significant source of error for sub-10-ns single-qubit gates unless corrected using predistortion.
Tunable coupling of superconducting qubits has been widely studied due to its importance for isolated gate operations in scalable quantum processor architectures. Here, we demonstratea 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.
Superconducting qubits are one of the most promising candidates to implement quantum computers. The superiority of superconducting quantum computers over any classical device in simulatingrandom but well-determined quantum circuits has already been shown in two independent experiments and important steps have been taken in quantum error correction. However, the currently wide-spread qubit designs do not yet provide high enough performance to enable practical applications or efficient scaling of logical qubits owing to one or several following issues: sensitivity to charge or flux noise leading to decoherence, too weak non-linearity preventing fast operations, undesirably dense excitation spectrum, or complicated design vulnerable to parasitic capacitance. Here, we introduce and demonstrate a superconducting-qubit type, the unimon, which combines the desired properties of high non-linearity, full insensitivity to dc charge noise, insensitivity to flux noise, and a simple structure consisting only of a single Josephson junction in a resonator. We measure the qubit frequency, ω01/(2π), and anharmonicity α over the full dc-flux range and observe, in agreement with our quantum models, that the qubit anharmonicity is greatly enhanced at the optimal operation point, yielding, for example, 99.9% and 99.8% fidelity for 13-ns single-qubit gates on two qubits with (ω01,α)=(4.49 GHz,434 MHz)×2π and (3.55 GHz,744 MHz)×2π, respectively. The energy relaxation time T1≲10 μs is stable for hours and seems to be limited by dielectric losses. Thus, future improvements of the design, materials, and gate time may promote the unimon to break the 99.99% fidelity target for efficient quantum error correction and possible quantum advantage with noisy systems.
A challenge in the Gauss sums factorization scheme is the presence of ghost factors – non-factors that behave similarly to actual factors of an integer – which might leadto the misidentification of non-factors as factors or vice versa, especially in the presence of noise. We investigate Type II ghost factors, which are the class of ghost factors that cannot be suppressed with techniques previously laid out in the literature. The presence of Type II ghost factors and the coherence time of the qubit set an upper limit for the total experiment time, and hence the largest factorizable number with this scheme. Discernability is a figure of merit introduced to characterize this behavior. We introduce preprocessing as a strategy to increase the discernability of a system, and demonstrate the technique with a transmon qubit. This can bring the total experiment time of the system closer to its decoherence limit, and increase the largest factorizable number.
Hybrid quantum systems have the potential of mitigating current challenges in developing a scalable quantum computer. Of particular interest is the hybridization between atomic andsuperconducting qubits. We demonstrate a novel experimental setup for transferring and trapping ultracold atoms inside a millikelvin cryogenic environment, where interactions between atomic and superconducting qubits can be established, paving the way for hybrid quantum systems. 87Rb atoms are prepared in a conventional magneto-optical trap and transported via a magnetic conveyor belt into a UHV compatible dilution refrigerator with optical access. We store 5×108 atoms with a lifetime of 794 seconds in the vicinity of the millikelvin stage.