No Arabic abstract
We use the density matrix formalism to analyze the interaction of interferometer-type superconducting qubits with a high quality tank circuit, which frequency is well below the gap frequency of a qubit. We start with the ground state characterization of the superconducting flux and charge qubits. Then, by making use of a dressed state approach we describe the qubits spectroscopy when the qubit is irradiated by a microwave field which is tuned to the gap frequency. The last section of the paper is devoted to continuous monitoring of qubit states by using a DC SQUID in the inductive mode.
From a physicists standpoint, the most interesting part of quantum computing research may well be the possibility to probe the boundary between the quantum and the classical worlds. The more macroscopic are the structures involved, the better. So far, the most macroscopic qubit prototypes that have been studied in the laboratory are certain kinds of superconducting qubits. To get a feeling for how macroscopic these systems can be, the states of flux qubits which are brought in a quantum superposition corresponds to currents composed of as much as 10^5-10^6 electrons flowing in opposite directions in a superconducting loop. Non-superconducting qubits realized so far are all essentially microscopic.
We benchmark the decoherence of superconducting qubits to examine the temporal stability of energy-relaxation and dephasing. By collecting statistics during measurements spanning multiple days, we find the mean parameters $overline{T_{1}}$ = 49 $mu$s and $overline{T_{2}^{*}}$ = 95 $mu$s, however, both of these quantities fluctuate explaining the need for frequent re-calibration in qubit setups. Our main finding is that fluctuations in qubit relaxation are local to the qubit and are caused by instabilities of near-resonant two-level-systems (TLS). Through statistical analysis, we determine switching rates of these TLS and observe the coherent coupling between an individual TLS and a transmon qubit. Finally, we find evidence that the qubits frequency stability is limited by capacitance noise. Importantly, this produces a 0.8 ms limit on the pure dephasing which we also observe. Collectively, these findings raise the need for performing qubit metrology to examine the reproducibility of qubit parameters, where these fluctuations could affect qubit gate fidelity.
We have studied low-frequency resistance fluctuations in shadow-evaporated Al/AlOx/Al tunnel junctions. Between 300 K and 5 K the spectral density follows a 1/f-law. Below 5 K, individual defects distort the 1/f-shape of the spectrum. The spectral density decreases linearly with temperature between 150 K and 1 K and saturates below 0.8 K. At 4.2 K, the spectral density is about two orders of magnitude lower than expected from a recent survey [D. J. Van Harlingen et al., Phys. Rev. B 70, 064510 (2004)]. Due to the saturation below 0.8 K the estimated qubit dephasing times at 100 mK are only about two times longer than calculated by Van Harlingen et al.
We study the effects of correlated low frequency noise sources acting on a two qubit gate in a fixed coupling scheme. A phenomenological model for the spatial and cross-talk correlations is introduced. The decoherence inside the SWAP subspace is analysed by combining analytic results based on the adiabatic approximation and numerical simulations. Results critically depend on amplitude of the low frequency noise with respect to the qubits coupling strength. Correlations between noise sources induce qualitative different behaviors depending on the values of the above parameters. The possibility to reduce dephasing due to correlated low frequency noise by a recalibration protocol is discussed.
The dynamics of a superconducting quantum point contact biased at subgap voltages is shown to be strongly affected by a microwave electromagnetic field. Interference among a sequence of temporally localized, microwave-induced Landau-Zener transitions between current carrying Andreev levels results in energy absorption and in an increase of the subgap current by several orders of magnitude. The contact is an interferometer in the sense that the current is an oscillatory function of the inverse bias voltage. Possible applications to Andreev-level spectroscopy and microwave detection are discussed.