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arXiv:0909.2499 · New Journal of Physics

Deep-well ultrafast manipulation of a SQUID flux qubit

Maria Gabriella Castellano, F. Chiarello, P Carelli, C Cosmelli, F. Mattioli, G. Torrioli

Published Apr 28, 2010• 27 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Superconducting devices based on the Josephson effect are effectively used for the implementation of qubits and quantum gates. The manipulation of superconducting qubits is generally performed by using microwave pulses with frequencies from 5 to 15 GHz, obtaining a typical operating frequency from 100 MHz to 1 GHz. A manipulation based on simple pulses in the absence of microwaves is also possible. In our system, a magnetic flux pulse modifies the potential of a double SQUID qubit from a symmetric double well to a single deep-well condition. By using this scheme with a Nb/AlO x /Nb system, we obtained coherent oscillations with sub-nanosecond period (tunable from 50 to 200 ps), very fast with respect to other manipulating procedures, and with a coherence time up to 10 ns, of the order of that obtained with similar devices and technologies but using microwave manipulation. We introduce ultrafast manipulation, presenting experimental results, new issues related to this approach (such as the use of a compensation procedure for canceling the effect of 'slow' fluctuations) and open perspectives, such as the possible use of RSFQ logic for qubit control.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/12/4/043047

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Superconducting devices based on the Josephson effect are effectively used for the implementation of qubits and quantum gates. The manipulation of superconducting qubits is generally performed by using microwave pulses with frequencies from 5 to 15 GHz, obtaining a typical operating frequency from 100 MHz to 1 GHz. A manipulation based on simple pulses in the absence of microwaves is also possible. In our system, a magnetic flux pulse modifies the potential of a double SQUID qubit from a symmetric double well to a single deep-well condition. By using this scheme with a Nb/AlO x /Nb system, we obtained coherent oscillations with sub-nanosecond period (tunable from 50 to 200 ps), very fast with respect to other manipulating procedures, and with a coherence time up to 10 ns, of the order of that obtained with similar devices and technologies but using microwave manipulation. We introduce ultrafast manipulation, presenting experimental results, new issues related to this approach (such as the use of a compensation procedure for canceling the effect of 'slow' fluctuations) and open perspectives, such as the possible use of RSFQ logic for qubit control.
We experimentally demonstrate coherent oscillations of a tunable superconducting flux qubit by manipulating its energy potential with a nanosecond-long pulse of magnetic flux. The occupation probabilities of two persistent current states oscillate at a frequency ranging from 6 GHz to 21 GHz, tunable by changing the amplitude of the flux pulse. The demonstrated operation mode could allow quantum gates to be realized in less than 100 ps, which is much shorter than gate times attainable in other superconducting qubits. Another advantage of this type of qubit is its immunity to both thermal and magnetic field fluctuations.
A superconducting flux qubit can be manipulated by a fast modification of its potential, with a rapid transition from a double well to a single well shape, and coming back to the initial condition. This mechanism is based on a non-trivial quantum phenomenon, involving "partial" Landau-Zener transitions, coherent evolution in an harmonic potential and quantum interference. The study of this system enables a deep insight in decoherence mechanisms typical of superconducting qubits. Moreover, this procedure allows quantum operations with extreme high speeds, not possible with other standard manipulations. We present the experimental observation of coherent oscillations showing tunable frequencies with a 65 GHz top value. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.
A particular superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) qubit, namely the double SQUID qubit, can be manipulated by rapidly modifying its potential with the application of fast flux pulses.In this system we observe coherent oscillations exhibiting non-exponential decay, indicating an unconventional decoherence mechanism.Moreover, via tuning the qubit in different conditions (different oscillation frequencies) by changing the pulse height, we observe a crossover between two distinct decoherence regimes and the existence of an 'optimal' point where the qubit is only weakly sensitive to intrinsic noise.We find that this behavior is in agreement with a model considering the decoherence caused essentially by low-frequency noise contributions, and we discuss the experimental results and possible issues.
A double SQUID qubit (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) can be handled by applying microwave trains, but also by using fast flux pulses. In this second case the manipulation is based on the fast and radical modification of the qubit potential shape that induces non-adiabatic transitions between the computational states (the two lowest energy eigenstates), still avoiding transitions to upper levels. This modality is interesting because it allows faster operations with respect to other techniques, but also because it gives access to interesting nontrivial physical features, concerning in particular decoherence and adiabaticity. About decoherence, we observed experimentally the existence of an “optimal” bias region and the transition between two distinct decoherence regimes. These results can be explained by considering the effect of first and second order slow fluctuations which dominate on high frequency noise contributions. This allows a deep insight in the qubit decoherence mechanisms.
We report on two different manipulation procedures of a tunable rf SQUID. First, we operate this system as a flux qubit, where the coherent evolution between the two flux states is induced by a rapid change of the energy potential, turning it from a double well into a single well. The measured coherent Larmor-like oscillation of the retrapping probability in one of the wells has a frequency ranging from 6 to 20 GHz, with a theoretically expected upper limit of 40 GHz. Furthermore, here we also report a manipulation of the same device as a phase qubit. In the phase regime, the manipulation of the energy states is realized by applying a resonant microwave drive. In spite of the conceptual difference between these two manipulation procedures, the measured decay times of Larmor oscillation and microwave-driven Rabi oscillation are rather similar. Due to the higher frequency of the Larmor oscillations, the microwave-free qubit manipulation allows for much faster coherent operations.
We report on the development and test of an integrated system composed of a flux qubit and a rapid single-flux quantum (RSFQ) circuit that allows qubit manipulation. The goal is to demonstrate the feasibility of control electronics integrated on the same chip as the qubit, in view of the application in quantum computation with superconducting devices. RSFQ logic relies on the storage and transmission of magnetic flux quanta and can be profitably used with superconducting qubits because of the speed, scalability, compatibility with the qubit fabrication process and low temperature environment. While standard RSFQ circuitry is well assessed, the application to quantum computing requires a complete rescaling of parameter values, in order to preserve the qubit coherence and reduce the power dissipation. In the system presented in this paper, the qubit role is played by a superconducting loop interrupted by a small dc SQUID, usually called a double SQUID, which behaves as a tunable rf-SQUID. Its energy potential has the shape of a double well, with the barrier between the wells controlled by magnetic flux applied to the inner dc SQUID. Here for the first time we report measurements at a base temperature of 370 mK in which flux control pulses with desired characteristics were supplied by a RSFQ circuit fabricated using non-standard parameters in the same chip as the qubit.