Fast generation of Schrödinger cat states in a Kerr-tunable superconducting resonator

  1. X.L. He,
  2. Yong Lu,
  3. D.Q. Bao,
  4. Hang Xue,
  5. W.B. Jiang,
  6. Zhen Wang,
  7. A.F. Roudsari,
  8. Per Delsing,
  9. J. S. Tsai,
  10. and Z. R. Lin
Schrödinger cat states, quantum superpositions of macroscopically distinct classical states, are an important resource for quantum communication, quantum metrology and quantum computation.
Especially, cat states in a phase space protected against phase-flip errors can be used as a logical qubit. However, cat states, normally generated in three-dimensional cavities, are facing the challenges of scalability and controllability. Here, we present a novel strategy to generate and store cat states in a coplanar superconducting circuit by the fast modulation of Kerr nonlinearity. At the Kerr-free work point, our cat states are passively preserved due to the vanishing Kerr effect. We are able to prepare a 2-component cat state in our chip-based device with a fidelity reaching 89.1% under a 96 ns gate time. Our scheme shows an excellent route to constructing a chip-based bosonic quantum processor.

Quasiparticle Dynamics in Superconducting Quantum-Classical Hybrid Circuits

  1. Kuang Liu,
  2. Xiaoliang He,
  3. Zhengqi Niu,
  4. Hang Xue,
  5. Wenbing Jiang,
  6. Liliang Ying,
  7. Wei Peng,
  8. Masaaki Maezawa,
  9. Zhirong Lin,
  10. Xiaoming Xie,
  11. and Zhen Wang
Single flux quantum (SFQ) circuitry is a promising candidate for a scalable and integratable cryogenic quantum control system. However, the operation of SFQ circuits introduces non-equilibrium
quasiparticles (QPs), which are a significant source of qubit decoherence. In this study, we investigate QP behavior in a superconducting quantum-classical hybrid chip that comprises an SFQ circuit and a qubit circuit. By monitoring qubit relaxation time, we explore the dynamics of SFQ-circuit-induced QPs. Our findings reveal that the QP density near the qubit reaches its peak after several microseconds of SFQ circuit operation, which corresponds to the phonon-mediated propagation time of QPs in the hybrid circuits. This suggests that phonon-mediated propagation dominates the spreading of QPs in the hybrid circuits. Our results lay the foundation to suppress QP poisoning in quantum-classical hybrid systems.