Quantum computation architecture based on d-level systems, or qudits, has attracted considerable attention recently due to their enlarged Hilbert space. Extensive theoretical and experimentalstudies have addressed aspects of algorithms and benchmarking techniques for qudit-based quantum computation and quantum information processing. Here, we report a physical realization of qudit with upto 4 embedded levels in a superconducting transmon, demonstrating high-fidelity initialization, manipulation, and simultaneous multi-level readout. In addition to constructing SU(d) operations and benchmarking protocols for quantum state tomography, quantum process tomography, and randomized benchmarking etc, we experimentally carry out these operations for d=3 and d=4. Moreover, we perform prototypical quantum algorithms and observe outcomes consistent with expectations. Our work will hopefully stimulate further research interest in developing manipulation protocols and efficient applications for quantum processors with qudits.
Crosstalk is a major concern in the implementation of large-scale quantum computation since it can degrade the performance of qubit addressing and cause gate errors. Finding the originof crosstalk and separating contributions from different channels are essential prerequisites for figuring out crosstalk mitigation schemes. Here, by performing circuit analysis of two coupled floating transmon qubits, we demonstrate that, even if the stray coupling, e.g., between a qubit and the drive line of its nearby qubit, is absent, microwave crosstalk between qubits can still exist due to the presence of a spurious crosstalk channel. This channel arises from free modes, which are supported by the floating structure of transmon qubits, i.e., the two superconducting islands of the qubits have no galvanic connection to the ground. For various geometric layouts of floating transmon qubits, we give the contributions of microwave crosstalk from the spurious channel and show that this channel can become a performance-limiting factor in qubit addressing. This research could provide guidance for suppressing microwave crosstalk between floating superconducting qubits through the design of qubit circuits.
Significant progress has been made in building large-scale superconducting quantum processors based on flip-chip technology. In this work, we use the flip-chip technology to realizea modified transmon qubit, donated as the „flipmon“, whose large shunt capacitor is replaced by a vacuum-gap parallel plate capacitor. To further reduce the qubit footprint, we place one of the qubit pads and a single Josephson junction on the bottom chip and the other pad on the top chip which is galvanically connected with the single Josephson junction through an indium bump. The electric field participation ratio can arrive at nearly 53% in air when the vacuum-gap is about 5 microns, and thus potentially leading to a lower dielectric loss. The coherence times of the flipmons are measured in the range of 30-60 microseconds, which are comparable with that of traditional transmons with similar fabrication processes. The electric field simulation indicates that the metal-air interface’s participation ratio increases significantly and may dominate the qubit’s decoherence. This suggests that more careful surface treatment needs to be considered. No evidence shows that the indium bumps inside the flipmons cause significant decoherence. With well-designed geometry and good surface treatment, the coherence of the flipmons can be further improved.
By using the dry etching process of tantalum (Ta) film, we had obtained transmon qubit with the best lifetime (T1) 503 us, suggesting that the dry etching process can be adopted inthe following multi-qubit fabrication with Ta film. We also compared the relaxation and coherence times of transmons made with different materials (Ta, Nb and Al) with the same design and fabrication processes of Josephson junction, we found that samples prepared with Ta film had the best performance, followed by those with Al film and Nb film. We inferred that the reason for this difference was due to the different loss of oxide materials located at the metal-air interface.
We have created a quantum three-level ladder system with the cavity dispersive energy level in a superconducting circuit quantum electrodynamics system consisting of a transmon qubitand a cavity, and have directly observed the Autler-Townes splitting eff?ect instead of representing it by the probability of the qubit being at each level. A coupler tone is applied on the transition between the second excited state of transmon and cavity dispersive level, while the cavity spectrum is probed. A doublet transmission and anormalous dispersion spectrum of the cavity level is clearly shown. The inverse Fourier transform of cavity spectrum indicates that there is a quantum coherence Rabi oscillation of the populations between cavity and qubit.