Quantum technologies, including those based on superconducting quantum circuits, require high-fidelity high-speed detection of the quantum state of a qubit. Standard quantum nondemolition readout of a superconducting qubit is based on its dispersive coupling to a resonator, but this method suffers from the Purcell effects: Purcell decay, critical photon number, and qubit-dependent Kerr nonlinearity. The authors propose a method in which both speed and fidelity of flux-qubit readout can avoid all three Purcell limitations.
Quantum technologies, including those based on superconducting quantum circuits, require high-fidelity high-speed detection of the quantum state of a qubit. Standard quantum nondemolition readout of a superconducting qubit is based on its dispersive coupling to a resonator, but this method suffers from the Purcell effects: Purcell decay, critical photon number, and qubit-dependent Kerr nonlinearity. The authors propose a method in which both speed and fidelity of flux-qubit readout can avoid all three Purcell limitations.
Dispersive readout, the current standard for measuring superconducting qubits, relies on relatively easy to engineer, static transverse coupling between a qubit and a detuned cavity mode. However, this method requires circuit design trade-offs between qubit-cavity coupling, cavity-feedline coupling, detuning, and the resultant decoherence introduced by the cavity mode. Additionally, the criteria for performing quantum nondemolition measurements, including reduced cavity photon numbers, further limits speed and fidelity. In this work, we introduce a circuit with pulse-tunable qubit-cavity and cavity-feedline couplings so that the entire qubit-measurement process can be fully optimized. Here, the core measurement process resembles a quantum gate operation between the qubit and the cavity, with the cavity acting like an ancilla, storing the qubit-state information. To fully explore time-dependent effects of the full qubit-cavity dynamics, we go beyond the rotating-wave, Jaynes-Cummings, or dispersive approximations, to develop a pulsed-measurement protocol. In addition, we propose a realistic circuit architecture that can provide a very fast, high-fidelity, QND measurement with near-unit efficiency.
Residual noise photons in a readout resonator become a major source of dephasing for a superconducting qubit when the resonator is optimized for a fast, high-fidelity dispersive readout. Here, we propose and demonstrate a nonlinear Purcell filter that suppresses such an undesirable dephasing process without sacrificing the readout performance. When a readout pulse is applied, the filter automatically reduces the effective linewidth of the readout resonator, increasing the sensitivity of the qubit to the input field. The noise tolerance of the device we have fabricated is shown to be enhanced by a factor of 3 relative to a device with a linear filter. The measurement rate is enhanced by another factor of 3 by utilizing the bifurcation of the nonlinear filter. A readout fidelity of 99.4% and a quantum nondemolition fidelity of 99.2% are achieved using a 40-ns readout pulse. The nonlinear Purcell filter will be an effective tool for realizing a fast, high-fidelity readout without compromising the coherence time of the qubit. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Dispersive readout of superconducting qubits relies on a transverse capacitive coupling that hybridizes the qubit with the readout resonator, subjecting the qubit to Purcell decay and measurement-induced state transitions (MIST). Despite the widespread use of Purcell filters to suppress qubit decay and near-quantum-limited amplifiers, dispersive readout often lags behind single- and two-qubit gates in both speed and fidelity. Here, we experimentally demonstrate junction readout, a simple readout architecture that realizes a strong qubit-resonator cross-Kerr interaction without relying on a transverse coupling. This interaction is achieved by coupling a transmon qubit to its readout resonator through both a capacitance and a Josephson junction. By varying the qubit frequency, we show that this hybrid coupling provides intrinsic Purcell protection and enhanced resilience to MIST, enabling readout at high photon numbers. While junction readout is compatible with conventional linear measurement, in this work we exploit the nonlinear coupling to intentionally engineer a large Kerr nonlinearity in the resonator, enabling bifurcation-based readout. Using this approach, we achieve a 99.4 % assignment fidelity with a 68 ns integration time and a 98.4 % QND fidelity without an external Purcell filter or a near-quantum-limited amplifier. These results establish the junction readout architecture with bifurcation-based readout as a scalable and practical alternative to dispersive readout, enabling fast, high-fidelity qubit measurement with reduced hardware overhead.
Fast, high-fidelity, and quantum nondemolition (QND) qubit readout is an essential element of quantum information processing. For superconducting qubits, state-of-the-art readout is based on a dispersive cross-Kerr coupling between a qubit and its readout resonator. The resulting readout can be high fidelity and QND, but readout times are currently limited to the order of 50 nanoseconds due to the dispersive cross-Kerr of magnitude 10 megahertz. Here, we present a readout scheme that uses the quarton coupler to facilitate a large (greater than 200 megahertz) cross-Kerr between a transmon qubit and its readout resonator. Full master equation simulations of the coupled system show a 5-nanosecond readout time with greater than 99% readout fidelity and greater than 99.9% QND fidelity. The quartonic readout circuit is experimentally feasible and preserves the coherence properties of the qubit. Our work reveals a path for order of magnitude improvements of superconducting qubit readout by engineering nonlinear light-matter couplings in parameter regimes unreachable by existing designs.
Dispersive readout, the standard method for measuring superconducting qubits, is limited by multiphoton qubit-resonator processes arising even at moderate drive powers. These processes degrade performance, causing dispersive readout to lag behind single- and two-qubit gates in both speed and fidelity. In this Letter, we propose a novel readout method, termed junction readout. Junction readout leverages the nonperturbative cross-Kerr interaction resulting from coupling a qubit and a resonator via a Josephson junction. Furthermore, by adding a capacitive coupling in parallel to the junction, Purcell decay induced by the exchange coupling can be suppressed. We also show that junction readout is more robust against deleterious multiphoton processes, and offers greater flexibility for resonator frequency allocation. Crucially, junction readout achieves superior performance compared to dispersive readout while maintaining similar hardware overhead. Numerical simulations show that junction readout can achieve fidelity exceeding 99.99% in under 30 ns of integration time, making it a promising alternative for superconducting qubit readout with current hardware.
The performance of a wide range of quantum computing algorithms and protocols depends critically on the fidelity and speed of the employed qubit readout. Examples include gate sequences benefiting from midcircuit real-time measurement-based feedback, such as qubit initialization, entanglement generation, teleportation, and, perhaps most importantly, quantum error correction. A prominent and widely used readout approach is based on the dispersive interaction of a superconducting qubit strongly coupled to a large-bandwidth readout resonator, frequently combined with a dedicated or shared Purcell filter protecting qubits from decay. By dynamically reducing the qubit-resonator detuning and thus increasing the dispersive shift, we demonstrate a beyond-state-of-the-art two-state-readout error of only 0.25% in 100-ns integration time. Maintaining low-readout-drive strength, we nearly quadruple the signal-to-noise ratio of the readout by doubling the readout-mode line width, which we quantify by considering the hybridization of the readout resonator and its dedicated Purcell filter. We find excellent agreement between our experimental data and our theoretical model. The presented results are expected to further boost the performance of new and existing algorithms and protocols critically depending on high-fidelity fast midcircuit measurements. Published by the American Physical Society 2024