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arXiv:0904.2686 · Physical Review B

Noise-induced quantum coherence and persistent Rabi oscillations in a Josephson flux qubit

A. N. Omelyanchouk, Sergey E. Savel'ev, Alexandre M. Zagoskin, Evgeni V. Il’ichev, Franco Nori

Published Dec 30, 2009• 14 citations
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Abstract

We predict theoretically the enhancement of quantum coherence in a superconducting flux qubit by a classical external noise. First, the off-diagonal components of the qubit density matrix are increased. Second, in the presence of both ac drive and noise, the resulting Rabi oscillations survive ``in perpetuity,'' i.e., for times greatly exceeding the Rabi decay time in a noiseless system. The coherence-enhancing effects of the classical noise can be considered as a manifestation of quantum stochastic resonance and are relevant to experimental techniques, such as Rabi spectroscopy.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.80.212503

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We predict theoretically the enhancement of quantum coherence in a superconducting flux qubit by a classical external noise. First, the off-diagonal components of the qubit density matrix are increased. Second, in the presence of both ac drive and noise, the resulting Rabi oscillations survive ``in perpetuity,'' i.e., for times greatly exceeding the Rabi decay time in a noiseless system. The coherence-enhancing effects of the classical noise can be considered as a manifestation of quantum stochastic resonance and are relevant to experimental techniques, such as Rabi spectroscopy.
We infer the high-frequency flux noise spectrum in a superconducting flux qubit by studying the decay of Rabi oscillations under strong driving conditions. The large anharmonicity of the qubit and its strong inductive coupling to a microwave line enabled high-amplitude driving without causing significant additional decoherence. Rabi frequencies up to 1.7 GHz were achieved, approaching the qubit's level splitting of 4.8 GHz, a regime where the rotating-wave approximation breaks down as a model for the driven dynamics. The spectral density of flux noise observed in the wide frequency range decreases with increasing frequency up to 300 MHz, where the spectral density is not very far from the extrapolation of the 1/f1/f1/f spectrum obtained from the free-induction-decay measurements. We discuss a possible origin of the flux noise due to surface electron spins.
Nonlinear effects in mesoscopic devices can have both quantum and classical origins. We show that a three-Josephson-junction (3JJ) flux qubit in the classical regime can produce low-frequency oscillations in the presence of an external field in resonance with the (high-frequency) harmonic mode $\ensuremath{\omega}$ of the system. Like in the case of quantum Rabi oscillations, the frequency of these pseudo-Rabi oscillations is much smaller than $\ensuremath{\omega}$ and scales approximately linearly with the amplitude of the external field. This classical effect can be reliably distinguished from its quantum counterpart because it can be produced by the external drive not only at the resonance frequency $\ensuremath{\omega}$ and its subharmonics $(\ensuremath{\omega}/n)$, but also at its overtones, $n\ensuremath{\omega}$.
We study decoherence effects in qubits coupled to environments that exhibit resonant frequencies in their spectral function. We model the coupling of the qubit to its environment via the Caldeira-Leggett formulation of quantum dissipation/coherence, and study the simplest example of decoherence effects in circuits with resonances such as a dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) phase qubit in the presence of an isolation circuit. Using the dc SQUID phase qubit as an example, we obtain two quite general results. First, when the frequency of the qubit is at least two times larger than the resonance frequency of the environmental spectral density (the isolation circuit in the case of a dc SQUID phase qubit), we find that the decoherence time of the qubit is a few orders of magnitude larger than that of the typical Ohmic regime, where the frequency of the qubit is much smaller than the resonance frequency of the spectral density. Second, we show that, when the qubit frequency is nearly the same as the resonant frequency of the environmental spectral density, an oscillatory non-Markovian decay emerges, as the qubit and its environment self-generate Rabi oscillations of characteristic time scales shorter than the decoherence time.
We study decoherence effects in qubits coupled to environments that exhibit resonant frequencies in their spectral function. We model the coupling of the qubit to its environment via the Caldeira-Leggett formulation of quantum dissipation/coherence, and study the simplest example of decoherence effects in circuits with resonances such as a dc SQUID phase qubit in the presence of an isolation circuit, which is designed to enhance the coherence time. We emphasize that the spectral density of the environment is strongly dependent on the circuit design, and can be engineered to produce longer decoherence times. We begin with a general discussion of superconducting qubits such as the flux qubit, the Cooper pair box and the phase qubit and show that in these kinds of systems appropriate circuit design can greatly modify the spectral density of the environment and lead to enhancement of decoherence times. In the particular case of the phase qubit, for instance, we show that when the frequency of the qubit is at least two times larger than the resonance frequency of the environmental spectral density, the decoherence time of the qubit is a few orders of magnitude larger than that of the typical ohmic regime, where the frequency of the qubit is much smaller than the resonance frequency of the spectral density. In addition, we demonstrate that the environment does not only affect the decoherence time, but also the frequency of the transition itself, which is shifted from its environment-free value. Second, we show that when the qubit frequency is nearly the same as the resonant frequency of the environmental spectral density, an oscillatory non-Markovian decay emerges, as the qubit and its environment self-generate Rabi oscillations of characteristic time scales shorter than the decoherence time.
Time-domain observations of coherent oscillations between quantum states in mesoscopic superconducting systems have so far been restricted to restoring the time-dependent probability distribution from the readout statistics. We propose a method for direct observation of Rabi oscillations in a phase qubit. The external source, typically in GHz range, induces transitions between the qubit levels. The resulting Rabi oscillations of supercurrent in the qubit loop induce the voltage oscillations across the coil of a high quality resonant tank circuit, inductively coupled to the phase qubit. It is the presence of these voltage oscillations in the detected signal which reveals the existence of Rabi oscillations in the qubit. A detailed calculation for zero and nonzero temperatures are made for the case of persistent current qubit. According to the estimates for decoherence and relaxation times, the effect can be detected using conventional rf circuitry, with Rabi frequency in the MHz range.