This work develops a quantum measurement theory for practical readout protocols relying on charge sensing using a tunnel-coupled quantum dot. The authors analyze the conditions for successful readout protocols and identify the conditions for implementing robust measurements of Majorana qubits.
Motivated by the need of quantum measurement of Majorana qubits and surface-code stabilizers, we analyze the performance of a double-dot interferometer under the influence of environment noise. The double-dot setup design allows accounting for the full multiple tunneling process between the dots through the Majorana island, within a master equation approach. In the co-tunneling regime, which results in a Majorana-mediated effective coupling between the dots, the master equation approach allows us to obtain analytic solutions for the measurement currents. The measurement quality, characterized by figures of merit such as the visibility of measurement signals, is carried out in regard to the unusual decoherence effect rather than ‘which-path’ dephasing. The results obtained in this work are expected to be useful for future experiments of Majorana qubit and stabilizer measurements.
In this work we revisit the problem of a Majorana box qubit (MBQ) readout by a point-contact (PC) detector. The logic states of the MBQ are associated with the combined fermion parities of the MBQ and its tunnel-coupled quantum dot, which is measured by a PC detector. Beyond the existing studies on limiting bias voltage regimes, we analyze the steady-state current and the current power spectrum across all bias voltages. Our results indicate that the MBQ readout via the parity-dependent detector current is effective only at low bias voltage regime and requires the dot energy level to be off-resonance with the Majorana qubit. In contrast, the current power spectrum allows MBQ readout through the parity-dependent Rabi oscillation peak signals for arbitrary bias voltages, without restrictions on the dot energy level. Particularly, with focus on the MBQ measurement visibility, we analyze the peak-to-pedestal ratio for each characteristic peak (associated with each logic state of the qubit) and the signal-to-noise ratio of the two peaks. By examining these two metrics, we identify the optimal bias voltage window for the PC detector at low temperature limit.
Reading out Majorana bound states (MBSs) is essential both to verify their non-Abelian property and to realize topological quantum computation. Here, we construct a protocol to measure the parity of two MBSs in a Majorana island coupled to a double quantum dot (DQD). The parity information is mapped to the charge state of the DQD through Landau-Zener transition. The operation needed is sweeping the bias of the DQD, which is followed by charge sensing. In the case without fine-tuning, a single run of sweep and detection implements a weak measurement of the parity. We find that in general a sequence of about ten runs would completely project a superposition state to either parity, and the charge detection in each run records how the state of the MBSs collapses step by step. Remarkably, this readout protocol is a nondemolition measurement and robust to low-frequency charge fluctuation.
High-fidelity readout of semiconductor-based qubits (in particular, Majorana qubits of the future) could be accomplished by dispersive readout, as already used with superconducting qubits. So far, though, the dispersive signals have been small, and the required integration times much longer than typical qubit coherence times. This work shows that signal amplitude can be vastly increased by strongly coupling a sensing gate to a readout quantum dot. This coupling allows readout of this system in the microsecond regime, which is on par with the state of the art for other qubits. Here the chief limiting factor of the signal-to-noise ratio is tunnel coupling.