The resonator-induced phase (RIP) gate is a multi-qubit entangling gate that allows a high degree of flexibility in qubit frequencies, making it attractive for quantum operations inlarge-scale architectures. We experimentally realize the RIP gate with four superconducting qubits in a three-dimensional (3D) circuit-quantum electrodynamics architecture, demonstrating high-fidelity controlled-Z (CZ) gates between all possible pairs of qubits from two different 4-qubit devices in pair subspaces. These qubits are arranged within a wide range of frequency detunings, up to as large as 1.8 GHz. We further show a dynamical multi-qubit refocusing scheme in order to isolate out 2-qubit interactions, and combine them to generate a four-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state.
Superconducting qubits are sensitive to a variety of loss mechanisms including dielectric loss from interfaces. By changing the physical footprint of the qubit it is possible to modulatesensitivity to surface loss. Here we show a systematic study of planar superconducting transmons of differing physical footprints to optimize the qubit design for maximum coherence. We find that qubits with small footprints are limited by surface loss and that qubits with large footprints are limited by other loss mechanisms which are currently not understood.
Using a circuit QED device, we demonstrate a simple qubit measurement pulse shape that yields fast ring-up and ring-down of the readout resonator regardless of the qubit state. Thepulse differs from a square pulse only by the inclusion of additional constant-amplitude segments designed to effect a rapid transition from one steady-state population to another. Using a Ramsey experiment performed shortly after the measurement pulse to quantify the residual population, we find that compared to a square pulse followed by a delay, this pulse shape reduces the timescale for cavity ring-down by more than twice the cavity time constant. At low drive powers, this performance is achieved using pulse parameters calculated from a linear cavity model; at higher powers, empirical optimization of the pulse parameters leads to similar performance.
Significant improvements in superconducting qubit coherence times have been achieved recently with three-dimensional microwave waveguide cavities coupled to transmon qubits. While manyof the measurements in this direction have utilized superconducting aluminum cavities, other recent work has involved qubits coupled to copper cavities with coherence times approaching 0.1 ms. The copper provides a good path for thermalizing the cavity walls and qubit chip, although the substantial cavity loss makes conventional dispersive qubit measurements challenging. We are exploring various approaches for improving the quality factor of three-dimensional copper cavities, including electropolishing and coating with superconducting layers of tin. We have characterized these cavities on multiple cooldowns and found the tin-plating to be robust. In addition, we have performed coherence measurements on transmon qubits in these cavities and observed promising performance.