Quantum processors require a signal-delivery architecture with high addressability (low crosstalk) to ensure high performance already at the scale of dozens of qubits. Signal crosstalkcauses inadvertent driving of quantum gates, which will adversely affect quantum-gate fidelities in scaled-up devices. Here, we demonstrate packaged flip-chip superconducting quantum processors with signal-crosstalk performance competitive with those reported in other platforms. For capacitively coupled qubit-drive lines, we find on-resonant crosstalk better than -27 dB (average -37 dB). For inductively coupled magnetic-flux-drive lines, we find less than 0.13 % direct-current flux crosstalk (average 0.05 %). These observed crosstalk levels are adequately small and indicate a decreasing trend with increasing distance, which is promising for further scaling up to larger numbers of qubits. We discuss the implication of our results for the design of a low-crosstalk, on-chip signal delivery architecture, including the influence of a shielding tunnel structure, potential sources of crosstalk, and estimation of crosstalk-induced qubit-gate error in scaled-up quantum processors.
In superconducting quantum processors, the predictability of device parameters is of increasing importance as many labs scale up their systems to larger sizes in a 3D-integrated architecture.In particular, the properties of superconducting resonators must be controlled well to ensure high-fidelity multiplexed readout of qubits. Here we present a method, based on conformal mapping techniques, to predict a resonator’s parameters directly from its 2D cross-section, without computationally heavy simulation. We demonstrate the method’s validity by comparing the calculated resonator frequency and coupling quality factor with those obtained through 3D finite-element-method simulation and by measurement of 15 resonators in a flip-chip-integrated architecture. We achieve a discrepancy of less than 2% between designed and measured frequencies, for 6-GHz resonators. We also propose a design method that reduces the sensitivity of the resonant frequency to variations in the inter-chip spacing.
High-fidelity and rapid readout of a qubit state is key to quantum computing and communication, and it is a prerequisite for quantum error correction. We present a readout scheme forsuperconducting qubits that combines two microwave techniques: applying a shelving technique to the qubit that effectively increases the energy-relaxation time, and a two-tone excitation of the readout resonator to distinguish among qubit populations in higher energy levels. Using a machine-learning algorithm to post-process the two-tone measurement results further improves the qubit-state assignment fidelity. We perform single-shot frequency-multiplexed qubit readout, with a 140ns readout time, and demonstrate 99.5% assignment fidelity for two-state readout and 96.9% for three-state readout – without using a quantum-limited amplifier.
We have integrated single and coupled superconducting transmon qubits into flip-chip modules. Each module consists of two chips – one quantum chip and one control chip –that are bump-bonded together. We demonstrate time-averaged coherence times exceeding 90μs, single-qubit gate fidelities exceeding 99.9%, and two-qubit gate fidelities above 98.6%. We also present device design methods and discuss the sensitivity of device parameters to variation in interchip spacing. Notably, the additional flip-chip fabrication steps do not degrade the qubit performance compared to our baseline state-of-the-art in single-chip, planar circuits. This integration technique can be extended to the realisation of quantum processors accommodating hundreds of qubits in one module as it offers adequate input/output wiring access to all qubits and couplers.
Entangled microwave photons form a fundamental resource for quantum information processing and sensing with continuous variables. We use a low-loss Josephson metamaterial comprisingsuperconducting non-linear asymmetric inductive elements to generate frequency (colour) entangled photons from vacuum fluctuations at a rate of 11 mega entangled bits per second with a potential rate above gigabit per second. The device is operated as a traveling wave parametric amplifier under Kerr-relieving biasing conditions. Furthermore, we realize the first successfully demonstration of single-mode squeezing in such devices – 2.4±0.7 dB below the zero-point level at half of modulation frequency.
The increasing need for scaling up quantum computers operating in the microwave domain calls for advanced approaches for control electronics. To this end, integration of componentsat cryogenic temperatures hosting also the quantum devices seems tempting. However, this comes with the limitations of ultra-low power dissipation accompanied by stringent signal-quality requirements to implement quantum-coherent operations. Here, we present a device and a technique to provide coherent continuous-wave microwave emission. We experimentally verify that its operation characteristics accurately follow our introduced theory based on a perturbative treatment of the capacitively shunted Josephson junction as a gain element. From phase noise measurements, we evaluate that the infidelity of typical quantum gate operations owing to this cryogenic source is less than 0.1% up to 10-ms evolution times, which is well below the infidelity caused by dephasing of the state-of-the-art superconducting qubits. Our device provides a coherent tone of 25 pW, corresponding to the total power needed in simultaneous control of thousands of qubits. Thus, together with future cryogenic amplitude and phase modulation techniques, our results may open pathways for scalable cryogenic control systems for quantum processors.
We implement a broadly tunable phase shifter for microwaves based on superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) and study it both experimentally and theoretically. At differentfrequencies, a unit transmission coefficient, |S21|=1, can be theoretically achieved along a curve where the phase shift is controllable by magnetic flux. The fabricated device consists of three equidistant SQUIDs interrupting a transmission line. We model each SQUID embedded at different positions along the transmission line with two parameters, capacitance and inductance, the values of which we extract from the experiments. In our experiments, the tunability of the phase shift varies from from 0.07×π to 0.14×π radians along the full-transmission curve with the input frequency ranging from 6.00 to 6.28~GHz. The reported measurements are in good agreement with simulations, which is promising for future design work of phase shifters for different applications.
We report on fast tunability of an electromagnetic environment coupled to a superconducting coplanar waveguide resonator. Namely, we utilize a recently-developed quantum-circuit refrigerator(QCR) to experimentally demonstrate a dynamic tunability in the total damping rate of the resonator up to almost two orders of magnitude. Based on the theory it corresponds to a change in the internal damping rate by nearly four orders of magnitude. The control of the QCR is fully electrical, with the shortest implemented operation times in the range of 10 ns. This experiment constitutes a fast active reset of a superconducting quantum circuit. In the future, a similar scheme can potentially be used to initialize superconducting quantum bits.