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arXiv:0904.2035

Quasiparticle tunneling: P(E) theory

John M. Martinis

Published Apr 14, 2009• 3 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A calculation of the energy decay rate of a Josephson qubit from non-equilibrium quasiparticles is made using the environmental P(E) theory. For a large-capacitance qubit, we extend the theory to include the tunneling of quasiparticles, which has an electron- and hole-like charge components.
DOI
10.48550/arxiv.0904.2035

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We study quasiparticle tunneling in Josephson tunnel junctions embedded in an electromagnetic environment. We identify tunneling processes that transfer electrical charge and couple to the environment in a way similar to that of normal electrons, and processes that mix electrons and holes and are thus creating charge superpositions. The latter are sensitive to the phase difference between the superconductors and are thus limited by phase diffusion even at zero temperature. We show that the environmental coupling is suppressed in many environments, thus leading to lower quasiparticle decay rates and better superconductor qubit coherence than previously expected. Our approach is nonperturbative in the environmental coupling strength.
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