An improved tunable coupling element for building networks of coupled rf-SQUID flux qubits has been experimentally demonstrated. This new form of coupler, based upon the compound Josephson junction rf-SQUID, provides a sign and magnitude tunable mutual inductance between qubits with minimal nonlinear crosstalk from the coupler tuning parameter into the qubits. Quantitative agreement is shown between an effective one-dimensional model of the couplers potential and measurements of the coupler persistent current and susceptibility.
We present experimental results on the crosstalk between two AC-operated dispersive bifurcation detectors, implemented in a circuit for high-fidelity readout of two strongly coupled flux qubits. Both phase-dependent and phase-independent contributions to the crosstalk are analyzed. For proper tuning of the phase the measured crosstalk is 0.1 % and the correlation between the measurement outcomes is less than 0.05 %. These results show that bifurcative readout provides a reliable and generic approach for multi-partite correlation experiments.
We experimentally confirm the functionality of a coupling element for flux-based superconducting qubits, with a coupling strength $J$ whose sign and magnitude can be tuned {it in situ}. To measure the effective $J$, the groundstate of a coupled two-qubit system has been mapped as a function of the local magnetic fields applied to each qubit. The state of the system is determined by directly reading out the individual qubits while tunneling is suppressed. These measurements demonstrate that $J$ can be tuned from antiferromagnetic through zero to ferromagnetic.
Although Josephson junction qubits show great promise for quantum computing, the origin of dominant decoherence mechanisms remains unknown. We report Rabi oscillations for an improved phase qubit, and show that their coherence amplitude is significantly degraded by spurious microwave resonators. These resonators arise from changes in the junction critical current produced by two-level states in the tunnel barrier. The discovery of these high frequency resonators impacts the future of all Josephson qubits as well as existing Josephson technologies. We predict that removing or reducing these resonators through materials research will improve the coherence of all Josephson qubits.
We have measured the excited state lifetimes in Josephson junction phase and transmon qubits, all of which were fabricated with the same scalable multi-layer process. We have compared the lifetimes of phase qubits before and after removal of the isolating dielectric, SiNx, and find a four-fold improvement of the relaxation time after the removal. Together with the results from the transmon qubit and measurements on coplanar waveguide resonators, these measurements indicate that the lifetimes are limited by losses from the dielectric constituents of the qubits. We have extracted the individual loss contributions from the dielectrics in the tunnel junction barrier, AlOx, the isolating dielectric, SiNx, and the substrate, Si/SiO2, by weighing the total loss with the parts of electric field over the different dielectric materials. Our results agree well and complement the findings from other studies, demonstrating that superconducting qubits can be used as a reliable tool for high-frequency characterization of dielectric materials. We conclude with a discussion of how changes in design and material choice could improve qubit lifetimes up to a factor of four.
In this paper we discuss solid-state nanoelectronic realizations of Josephson flux qubits with large tunneling amplitude between the two macroscopic states. The latter can be controlled via the height and wells form of the potential barrier, which is determined by quantum-state engineering of the flux qubit circuit. The simplest circuit of the flux qubit is a superconducting loop interrupted by a Josephson nanoscale tunnel junction. The tunneling amplitude between two macroscopically different states can be essentially increased, by engineering of the qubit circuit, if tunnel junction is replaced by a ScS contact. However, only Josephson tunnel junctions are particularly suitable for large-scale integration circuits and quantum detectors with preset-day technology. To overcome this difficulty we consider here the flux qubit with high-level energy separation between ground and excited states, which consists of a superconducting loop with two low-capacitance Josephson tunnel junctions in series. We demonstrate that for real parameters of resonant superposition between the two macroscopic states the tunneling amplitude can reach values greater than 1K. Analytical results for the tunneling amplitude obtained within semiclassical approximation by instanton technique show good correlation with a numerical solution.