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arXiv:1905.01206 · npj Quantum Information

Superconducting circuit protected by two-Cooper-pair tunneling

W. C. Smith, Angela Kou, X. Xiao, Uri Vool, Michel Devoret

Published Jan 21, 2020• 112 citations
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Abstract

Abstract We present a protected superconducting qubit based on an effective circuit element that only allows pairs of Cooper pairs to tunnel. These dynamics give rise to a nearly degenerate ground state manifold indexed by the parity of tunneled Cooper pairs. We show that, when the circuit element is shunted by a large capacitance, this manifold can be used as a logical qubit that we expect to be insensitive to multiple relaxation and dephasing mechanisms.

DOI
10.1038/s41534-019-0231-2

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Abstract We present a protected superconducting qubit based on an effective circuit element that only allows pairs of Cooper pairs to tunnel. These dynamics give rise to a nearly degenerate ground state manifold indexed by the parity of tunneled Cooper pairs. We show that, when the circuit element is shunted by a large capacitance, this manifold can be used as a logical qubit that we expect to be insensitive to multiple relaxation and dephasing mechanisms.
We develop and characterize a symmetry-protected superconducting qubit that offers simultaneous exponential suppression of energy decay from charge and flux noises, and dephasing from flux noise.The qubit consists of a Cooper-pair box (CPB) shunted by a superinductor, forming a superconducting loop.Provided the offset charge on the CPB island is an odd number of electrons, the qubit potential corresponds to that of a cos (φ/2) Josephson element, preserving the parity of fluxons in the loop via Aharonov-Casher interference.In this regime, the logical-state wavefunctions reside in disjoint regions of Hilbert space, thereby ensuring protection against energy decay.By switching the protection on, we observe a tenfold increase of the decay time, reaching up to 100 μs.Though the qubit is sensitive to charge noise, the sensitivity is much reduced in comparison with the charge qubit, and the charge-noise-induced dephasing time of the current device exceeds 1 μs.Implementation of full dephasing protection can be achieved in the next-generation devices by combining several cos(φ/2) Josephson elements in a small array.
We propose a protected qubit based on a modular array of superconducting islands connected by semiconductor Josephson interferometers. The individual interferometers realize effective cos2ϕ elements that exchange “pairs of Cooper pairs” between the superconducting islands when gate tuned into balance and frustrated by a half-flux quantum. If a large capacitor shunts the ends of the array, the circuit forms a protected qubit because its degenerate ground states are robust to offset-charge and magnetic field fluctuations for a sizable window around zero offset charge and half-flux quantum. This protection window broadens upon increasing the number of interferometers if the individual elements are balanced. We use an effective spin model to describe the system and show that a quantum phase transition sets the critical flux value at which protection is destroyed.
We propose a protected qubit based on a modular array of superconducting islands connected by semiconductor Josephson interferometers.The individual interferometers realize effective cos 2φ elements that exchange "pairs of Cooper pairs" between the superconducting islands when gate tuned into balance and frustrated by a half-flux quantum.If a large capacitor shunts the ends of the array, the circuit forms a protected qubit because its degenerate ground states are robust to offset-charge and magnetic field fluctuations for a sizable window around zero offset charge and half-flux quantum.This protection window broadens upon increasing the number of interferometers if the individual elements are balanced.We use an effective spin model to describe the system and show that a quantum phase transition sets the critical flux value at which protection is destroyed.
We propose a protected qubit based on a modular array of superconducting islands connected by semiconductor Josephson interferometers. The individual interferometers realize effective cos⁡2ϕ\cos2ϕcos2ϕ elements that exchange `pairs of Cooper pairs' between the superconducting islands when gate-tuned into balance and frustrated by a half flux quantum. If a large capacitor shunts the ends of the array, the circuit forms a protected qubit because its degenerate ground states are robust to offset charge and magnetic field fluctuations for a sizable window around zero offset charge and half flux quantum. This protection window broadens upon increasing the number of interferometers if the individual elements are balanced. We use an effective spin model to describe the system and show that a quantum phase transition point sets the critical flux value at which protection is destroyed.
Coherence of superconducting qubits can be improved by implementing designs that protect the parity of Cooper pairs on superconducting islands. Here, we introduce a parity-protected qubit based on voltage-controlled semiconductor nanowire Josephson junctions, taking advantage of the higher harmonic content in the energy-phase relation of few-channel junctions. A symmetric interferometer formed by two such junctions, gate-tuned into balance and frustrated by a half-quantum of applied flux, yields a cos(2φ) Josephson element, reflecting coherent transport of pairs of Cooper pairs. We demonstrate that relaxation of the qubit can be suppressed tenfold by tuning into the protected regime.
Encoding a qubit in logical quantum states with wave functions characterized by disjoint support and robust energies can offer simultaneous protection against relaxation and pure dephasing. One of the most promising candidates for such a fully protected superconducting qubit is the 0-π circuit [Brooks et al., Phys. Rev. A 87, 052306 (2013)]. Here we realize the proposed circuit topology in an experimentally obtainable parameter regime, where the ground-state degeneracy is lifted but the qubit is still largely noise protected. More precisely, the logical states of this qubit feature disjoint support and are exponentially protected against relaxation and exponentially (first order) protected against dephasing due to charge (flux) noise. We name the resultant device the "soft 0-π qubit."Multitone spectroscopy measurements reveal the energy-level structure of the system, which can be precisely described by a simple two-mode Hamiltonian. Using a Raman-type protocol, we exploit a higher-lying charge-insensitive energy level of the device to realize coherent population transfer and logical operations. The measured relaxation (T1 = 1.6 ms) and dephasing (TR = 9 μs, T2E = 25μs) times demonstrate that the soft 0-π circuit not only broadens the family of superconducting qubits but also constitutes an important step toward quantum computing with intrinsically protected superconducting qubits.