Optimizing single microwave-photon detection: Input-Output theory

  1. M. Schöndorf,
  2. L. C. G. Govia,
  3. M. Vavilov,
  4. R. McDermott,
  5. and F.K. Wilhelm
High fidelity microwave photon counting is an important tool for various areas from background radiation analysis in astronomy to the implementation of circuit QED architectures for
the realization of a scalable quantum information processor. In this work we describe a microwave photon counter coupled to a semi-infinite transmission line. We employ input-output theory to examine a continuously driven transmission line as well as traveling photon wave packets. Using analytic and numerical methods, we calculate the conditions on the system parameters necessary to optimize measurement and achieve high detection efficiency.

Optimized Coplanar Waveguide Resonators for a Superconductor-Atom Interface

  1. M. A. Beck,
  2. J. A. Isaacs,
  3. D. Booth,
  4. J. D. Pritchard,
  5. M. Saffman,
  6. and R. McDermott
We describe the design and characterization of superconducting coplanar waveguide cavities tailored to facilitate strong coupling between superconducting quantum circuits and single
trapped Rydberg atoms. For initial superconductor-atom experiments at 4.2 K, we show that resonator quality factors above 104 can be readily achieved. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the incorporation of thick-film copper electrodes at a voltage antinode of the resonator provides a route to enhance the zero-point electric fields of the resonator in a trapping region that is 40 μm above the chip surface, thereby minimizing chip heating from scattered trap light. The combination of high resonator quality factor and strong electric dipole coupling between the resonator and the atom should make it possible to achieve the strong coupling limit of cavity quantum electrodynamics with this system.

Scalable two- and four-qubit parity measurement with a threshold photon counter

  1. Luke C.G. Govia,
  2. Emily J. Pritchett,
  3. B. L. T. Plourde,
  4. Maxim G. Vavilov,
  5. R. McDermott,
  6. and Frank K. Wilhelm
Parity measurement is a central tool to many quantum information processing tasks. In this Letter, we propose a method to directly measure two- and four-qubit parity with low overhead
in hard- and software, while remaining robust to experimental imperfections. Our scheme relies on dispersive qubit-cavity coupling and photon counting that is sensitive only to intensity; both ingredients are widely realized in many different quantum computing modalities. For a leading technology in quantum computing, superconducting integrated circuits, we analyze the measurement contrast and the back action of the scheme and show that this measurement comes close enough to an ideal parity measurement to be applicable to quantum error correction.

High-fidelity qubit measurement with a microwave photon counter

  1. Luke C.G. Govia,
  2. Emily J. Pritchett,
  3. Canran Xu,
  4. B. L. T. Plourde,
  5. Maxim G. Vavilov,
  6. Frank K. Wilhelm,
  7. and R. McDermott
High-fidelity, efficient quantum nondemolition readout of quantum bits is integral to the goal of quantum computation. As superconducting circuits approach the requirements of scalable,
universal fault tolerance, qubit readout must also meet the demand of simplicity to scale with growing system size. Here we propose a fast, high-fidelity, scalable measurement scheme based on the state-selective ring-up of a cavity followed by photodetection with the recently introduced Josephson photomultiplier (JPM), a current-biased Josephson junction. This scheme maps qubit state information to the binary digital output of the JPM, circumventing the need for room-temperature heterodyne detection and offering the possibility of a cryogenic interface to superconducting digital control circuitry. Numerics show that measurement contrast in excess of 95% is achievable in a measurement time of 140 ns. We discuss perspectives to scale this scheme to enable readout of multiple qubit channels with a single JPM.

Accurate Qubit Control with Single Flux Quantum Pulses

  1. R. McDermott,
  2. and M.G. Vavilov
We describe the coherent manipulation of harmonic oscillator and qubit modes using resonant trains of single flux quantum pulses in place of microwaves. We show that coherent rotations
are obtained for pulse-to-pulse spacing equal to the period of the oscillator. We consider a protocol for preparing bright and dark harmonic oscillator pointer states. Next we analyze rotations of a two-state qubit system. We calculate gate errors due to timing jitter of the single flux quantum pulses and due to weak anharmonicity of the qubit. We show that gate fidelities in excess of 99.9% are achievable for sequence lengths of order 20 ns.

High fidelity single-shot readout of a transmon qubit using a SLUG μwave amplifier

  1. Yanbing Liu,
  2. Srikanth Srinivasan,
  3. D. Hover,
  4. Shaojiang Zhu,
  5. R. McDermott,
  6. and A. A. Houck
We report high-fidelity, quantum nondemolition, single-shot readout of a superconducting transmon qubit using a DC-biased superconducting low-inductance undulatory galvanometer(SLUG)
amplifier. The SLUG improves the system signal-to-noise ratio by 7 dB in a 20 MHz window compared with a bare HEMT amplifier. An optimal cavity drive pulse is chosen using a genetic search algorithm, leading to a maximum combined readout and preparation fidelity of 91.9% with a measurement time of Tmeas = 200ns. Using post-selection to remove preparation errors caused by heating, we realize a combined preparation and readout fidelity of 94.3%.

Hybrid Atom–Photon Quantum Gate in a Superconducting Microwave Resonator

  1. J. D. Pritchard,
  2. J. A. Isaacs,
  3. M. A. Beck,
  4. R. McDermott,
  5. and M. Saffman
We propose a novel hybrid quantum gate between an atom and a microwave photon in a superconducting coplanar waveguide cavity by exploiting the strong resonant microwave coupling between
adjacent Rydberg states. Using experimentally achievable parameters gate fidelities >0.99 are possible on sub-μs timescales for waveguide temperatures below 40 mK. This provides a mechanism for generating entanglement between two disparate quantum systems and represents an important step in the creation of a hybrid quantum interface applicable for both quantum simulation and quantum information processing.

Coherent Josephson phase qubit with a single crystal silicon capacitor

  1. U. Patel,
  2. Y. Gao,
  3. D. Hover,
  4. G. J. Ribeill,
  5. S. Sendelbach,
  6. and R. McDermott
We have incorporated a single crystal silicon shunt capacitor into a Josephson phase qubit. The capacitor is derived from a commercial silicon-on-insulator wafer. Bosch reactive ion
etching is used to create a suspended silicon membrane; subsequent metallization on both sides is used to form the capacitor. The superior dielectric loss of the crystalline silicon leads to a significant increase in qubit energy relaxation times. T1 times up to 1.6 micro-second were measured, more than a factor of two greater than those seen in amorphous phase qubits. The design is readily scalable to larger integrated circuits incorporating multiple qubits and resonators.