The controlled generation of entangled states of two quantum bits is a fundamental step toward the implementation of a quantum information processor. In nano-devices this operation is counteracted by the solid-state environment, characterized by a broadband and non-monotonic power spectrum, often 1/ f , at low frequencies. For single-qubit gates, incoherent processes due to fluctuations acting on different time scales result in peculiar short- and long-time behavior. Markovian noise gives rise to exponential decay with relaxation and decoherence times, T 1 and T 2 , simply related to the symmetry of the qubit–environment coupling Hamiltonian. Noise with the 1/ f power spectrum at low frequencies is instead responsible for defocusing processes and algebraic short-time behavior. In this paper, we identify the relevant decoherence times of an entangling operation due to the different decoherence channels originating from solid-state noise. Entanglement is quantified by concurrence, which we evaluate in an analytic form employing a multi-stage approach. The 'optimal' operating conditions of reduced sensitivity to noise sources are identified. We apply this analysis to a superconducting gate for experimental noise spectra.
We investigate the possibility of achieving high-fidelity universal two-qubit gates by supplementing optimal tuning of individual qubits with dynamical decoupling (DD) of local
1/f noise. We consider simultaneous local pulse sequences applied during the gate operation and compare the efficiencies of periodic, Carr-Purcell, and Uhrig DD with hard $\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulses along two directions (${\ensuremath{\pi}}_{z/y}$ pulses). We present analytical perturbative results (Magnus expansion) in the quasistatic noise approximation combined with numerical simulations for realistic
1/f noise spectra. The gate efficiency is studied as a function of the gate duration, of the number
n of pulses, and of the high-frequency roll-off. We find that the gate error is nonmonotonic in
n, decreasing as ${n}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\alpha}}$ in the asymptotic limit, $\ensuremath{\alpha}\ensuremath{\ge}2$, depending on the DD sequence. In this limit ${\ensuremath{\pi}}_{z}$-Urhig is the most efficient scheme for quasistatic
1/f noise, but it is highly sensitive to the soft UV cutoff. For small number of pulses, ${\ensuremath{\pi}}_{z}$ control yields anti-Zeno behavior, whereas ${\ensuremath{\pi}}_{y}$ pulses minimize the error for a finite
n. For the current noise figures in superconducting qubits, two-qubit gate errors $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}6}$, meeting the requirements for fault-tolerant quantum computation, can be achieved. The Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill sequence is the most efficient procedure, stable for
1/f noise with UV cutoff up to gigahertz.
A key ingredient for fault-tolerant quantum computers are sufficiently accurate logic gates on single and multiple qubits in the presence of decohering noise. In this thesis, we theoretically develop and experimentally demonstrate such high-fidelity quantum gates for semiconductor-based quantum computing. Specifically, we consider a qubit encoded in the singlet and one triplet state of two electron spins in GaAs. While its potential for optical coupling makes GaAs an attractive material, highly auto-correlated magnetic field noise from fluctuating nuclear spins leads to considerably lower coherence times than for Si-based devices, where nuclear spins can be removed by isotopic purification. In addition to noise, the control methods used in earlier experiments are based on unrealistic approximations. For these reasons, fidelities well above 99 %, as required by current quantum error correction (QEC) schemes, have not been obtained before this thesis. To tackle these issues, we extend the filter function formalism to describe quantum gates and processes in the presence of experimentally relevant non-Markovian noise. Since this formalism can consider all relevant noise sources in a computationally efficient manner, it can be used to find optimal control pulses by numerical optimization, leading to predicted single-qubit gate fidelities of 99.9 %. Furthermore, we deal with the considerable control challenges associated with this qubit type by experimental calibration of the optimized control pulses. To this end, we extend our previous experimental gate set calibration (GSC) routine to remove systematic gate errors on an arbitrary number of qubits. We apply the numerically optimized single-qubit control pulses to our GaAs sample and experimentally calibrate them with GSC. This procedure yields an average gate fidelity of 99.50 ± 0.04 % and a low leakage rate of 0.13 ± 0.03 % out of the computational subspace, characterized by randomized benchmarking. We also optimize realistic two-qubit control pulses, considering current control hardware as well as interqubit Coulomb and exchange coupling that cannot be fully turned off. Using measured noise spectra, we show that two-qubit gate fidelities of 99.90 % can be reached in GaAs, while 99.99 % can be achieved in Si. These results demonstrate that high-fidelity gates can be realized even in the presence of nuclear spins as in GaAs.
Controlling the dynamics of entanglement and preventing its disappearance are central requisites for any implementation of quantum information processing. Solid state qubits are frequently affected by random telegraph noise due to bistable impurities of different nature coupled to the device. In this paper, we investigate the possibility to achieve an efficient universal two-qubit gate in the presence of random telegraph noise by periodic dynamical decoupling. We find an analytic form of the gate error as a function of the number of applied pulses valid when the gate time is much shorter then the telegraphic process correlation time. The analysis is further supplemented by exact numerical results demonstrating the feasibility of a highly-efficient universal two-qubit gate.
A two-qubit controlled-not (cnot) gate, realized by a controlled-phase (C-phase) gate combined with single-qubit gates, has been experimentally implemented recently for quantum-dot spin qubits in isotopically enriched silicon, a promising solid-state system for practical quantum computation. In the experiments, the single-qubit gates have been demonstrated with fault-tolerant control fidelity, but the infidelity of the two-qubit C-phase gate is, primarily due to the electrical noise, still higher than the required error threshold for fault-tolerant quantum computation (FTQC). Here, by taking the realistic system parameters and the experimental constraints on the control pulses into account, we construct experimentally realizable high-fidelity cnot gates robust against electrical noise with the experimentally measured
1/f1.01 noise spectrum and also against the uncertainty in the interdot tunnel coupling amplitude. Our fine-tuned optimal cnot gate has about two orders of magnitude improvement in gate infidelity over the ideal C-phase gate constructed without considering any noise effect. Furthermore, within the same control framework, high-fidelity and robust single-qubit gates can also be constructed, paving the way for large-scale FTQC.
Quantum computation provides great speedup over its classical counterpart for certain problems. One of the key challenges for quantum computation is to realize precise control of the quantum system in the presence of noise. Control of the spin-qubits in solids with the accuracy required by fault-tolerant quantum computation under ambient conditions remains elusive. Here, we quantitatively characterize the source of noise during quantum gate operation and demonstrate strategies to suppress the effect of these. A universal set of logic gates in a nitrogen-vacancy centre in diamond are reported with an average single-qubit gate fidelity of 0.999952 and two-qubit gate fidelity of 0.992. These high control fidelities have been achieved at room temperature in naturally abundant (13)C diamond via composite pulses and an optimized control method.