Superconducting thin-film metamaterial resonators can provide a dense microwave mode spectrum with potential applications in quantum information science. We report on the fabrication and low-temperature measurement of metamaterial transmission-line resonators patterned from Al thin films. We also describe multiple approaches for numerical simulations of the microwave properties of these structures, along with comparisons with the measured transmission spectra. The ability to predict the mode spectrum based on the chip layout provides a path towards future designs integrating metamaterial resonators with superconducting qubits.
We have realized controllable coupling between two three-junction flux qubits by inserting an additional coupler loop between them, containing three Josephson junctions. Two of these are shared with the qubit loops, providing strong qubit--coupler interaction. The third junction gives the coupler a nontrivial current--flux relation; its derivative (i.e., the susceptibility) determines the coupling strength J, which thus is tunable in situ via the couplers flux bias. In the qubit regime, J was varied from ~45 (antiferromagnetic) to ~ -55 mK (ferromagnetic); in particular, J vanishes for an intermediate coupler bias. Measurements on a second sample illuminate the relation between two-qubit tunable coupling and three-qubit behavior.
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.
Fabrication of sub-micron Josephson junctions is demonstrated using standard processing techniques for high-coherence, superconducting qubits. These junctions are made in two separate lithography steps with normal-angle evaporation. Most significantly, this work demonstrates that it is possible to achieve high coherence with junctions formed on aluminum surfaces cleaned in situ with Ar milling before the junction oxidation. This method eliminates the angle-dependent shadow masks typically used for small junctions. Therefore, this is conducive to the implementation of typical methods for improving margins and yield using conventional CMOS processing. The current method uses electron-beam lithography and an additive process to define the top and bottom electrodes. Extension of this work to optical lithography and subtractive processes is discussed.
We have studied the impact of low-frequency magnetic flux noise upon superconducting transmon qubits with various levels of tunability. We find that qubits with weaker tunability exhibit dephasing that is less sensitive to flux noise. This insight was used to fabricate qubits where dephasing due to flux noise was suppressed below other dephasing sources, leading to flux-independent dephasing times T2* ~ 15 us over a tunable range of ~340 MHz. Such tunable qubits have the potential to create high-fidelity, fault-tolerant qubit gates and fundamentally improve scalability for a quantum processor.
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.