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arXiv:2310.11484 · Quantum Science and Technology

Speeding up qubit control with bipolar single-flux-quantum pulse sequences

Vsevolod A. Vozhakov, M. V. Bastrakova, N. V. Klenov, Сатанин Аркадий Михайлович, Igor I. Soloviev

Published May 30, 2023• 15 citations
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Abstract

Abstract The development of quantum computers based on superconductors requires the improvement of the qubit state control approach aimed at the increase of the hardware energy efficiency. A promising solution to this problem is the use of superconducting digital circuits operating with single-flux-quantum (SFQ) pulses, moving the qubit control system into the cold chamber. However, the qubit gate time under SFQ control is still longer than under conventional microwave driving. Here we introduce the bipolar SFQ pulse control based on ternary pulse sequences. We also develop a robust optimization algorithm for finding a sequence structure that minimizes the leakage of the transmon qubit state from the computational subspace. We show that the appropriate sequence can be found for arbitrary system parameters from the practical range. The proposed bipolar SFQ control reduces a single qubit gate time by halve compared to nowadays unipolar SFQ technique, while maintaining the gate fidelity over 99.99%.

DOI
10.1088/2058-9565/acd9e6

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Abstract The development of quantum computers based on superconductors requires the improvement of the qubit state control approach aimed at the increase of the hardware energy efficiency. A promising solution to this problem is the use of superconducting digital circuits operating with single-flux-quantum (SFQ) pulses, moving the qubit control system into the cold chamber. However, the qubit gate time under SFQ control is still longer than under conventional microwave driving. Here we introduce the bipolar SFQ pulse control based on ternary pulse sequences. We also develop a robust optimization algorithm for finding a sequence structure that minimizes the leakage of the transmon qubit state from the computational subspace. We show that the appropriate sequence can be found for arbitrary system parameters from the practical range. The proposed bipolar SFQ control reduces a single qubit gate time by halve compared to nowadays unipolar SFQ technique, while maintaining the gate fidelity over 99.99%.
Nowadays most of superconducting quantum processors use charge qubits of a transmon type. They require implementation of energy efficient qubit state control scheme. A promising approach is the use of superconducting digital circuits operating with single-flux-quantum (SFQ) pulses. The duration of SFQ pulse control sequence is typically larger than that of conventional microwave drive pulses but its length can be optimized for the system with known parameters. Here we introduce a genetic algorithm for unipolar or bipolar SFQ control sequence search that minimize qubit state leakage from the computational subspace. The algorithm is also able to find a solution in the form of a repeating subsequence in order to save memory on the control chip. Its parallel implementation can find the appropriate sequence for arbitrary system parameters from a practical range in a reasonable time. The algorithm is illustrated by the example of the rotation gate around the Y-axis by an angle π/2\pi/2π/2 with fidelity over 99.99 %\%% . In this paper, we present the results for a single-qubit system, but in the future we will apply the developed approach to study a system of two qubits.
Despite its insensitivity to charge noise, the transmon's anharmonicity and control pulse length are limited. Transmon state control traditionally involves a quadrature mixer that mixes microwave signals from a room-temperature oscillator and an arbitrary waveform generator to control the single qubit states. Scaling upquan tum processors faces challenges in hardware, management of qubit operations, and read-out procedure due to the large amount of expensive room-temperature equipment required for each qubit. Operating at millikelvin temperatures, these devices introduce thermal noise, reducing qubit lifetime and distorting control signals. An alternative promising control method is based on superconducting digital electronics. In these digital circuits, a bit of information is represented by a short unipolar voltage pulse generated when a single flux quantum (SFQ) pulse passes through a Josephson junction. The qubit states are controlled by the action of a sequence of SFQ pulses, with the pulse-to-pulse timing adjusted to induce a coherent rotation of the state vector in the computational subspace and to minimize leakage to the outside. The paper discusses a method for controlling the states of a transmon qubit using digital superconducting electronics. In this approach, the sequences of picosecond voltage pulses are used to control the state of a quantum computing system. We have considered a control scheme based on a bipolar pulse generator and proposed an algorithm for finding the optimal implementation of a bipolar short pulse control sequence for performing high-precision single-bit operations (with fidelity equal to 99,99 %) using deep learning algorithms with rein forcement: AlphaGo Zero, AlphaZero and Proximal Policy.
In the traditional approach to controlling superconducting qubits using microwave pulses, the field of pulse shaping has emerged in order to assist in the removal of leakage and increase gate fidelity. However, the challenge of scaling microwave control electronics has created an opportunity to explore alternative methods such as single-flux quantum (SFQ) pulses. For qubits controlled by SFQ pulses, high fidelity gates can be achieved by optimizing the binary control sequence. We extend the notion of the derivative removal by adiabatic gate (DRAG) framework a transmon qubit controlled by SFQ drivers. The proposed implementation of SFQ pulse sequences can be stored in 22 bits or fewer, with gate fidelities exceeding 99.99%. This modest memory requirement could help reduce the footprint of the SFQ coprocessors and power dissipation while preserving their inherent advantages of scalability and cost-effectiveness.
Today, most superconducting quantum processors are based on transmons, the modifications of charge qubits. Traditional transmon control schemes for implementing high-fidelity quantum gates are based on the analog microwave signals. Current problems with this type of control are bulkiness, high cost, and unwanted feedback from the microwave equipment, which increases with the number of qubits involved. A promising breakthrough is the use of superconducting digital circuits operating with picosecond (single flux quantum or SFQ) pulses. In our previous work, we have shown how to use SFQ control sequences to implement the rotation of a qubit at rest on the Bloch sphere around the Y-axis by an angle π/2\pi/2π/2 with fidelity better than 99.99 %\%% . The next important step is to implement two-qubit operations. Here we present the Genetic Algorithm for SFQ Control Sequence Search, which implements the original control protocol using the ZX operation as an example. The algorithm also takes into account the leakage to the higher energy states of the system. Its parallel implementation can find the appropriate sequence for arbitrary system parameters from a practical range in a reasonable time. As a result of numerical experiments, control sequences were found that implement the ZX operation with 0.999 target level population.
The convergence of quantum computing and high-performance computing (HPC) necessitates innovative approaches to qubit control and coherence for scalable quantum systems. In this work, we explore the integration of superconducting Single-Flux Quantum (SFQ) digital circuits to enhance quantum state manipulation, leveraging their potential for high-speed, energy-efficient classical control. Our approach maps SFQ pulse trains and configurable SFQ-based switches to discrete phase shifts, enabling efficient qubit state transformations with minimal decoherence overhead. We introduce a classically driven SFQ-based quantum gate implementation, where SFQ pulses orchestrate the state evolution of qubits. To support dynamic and flexible qubit control within hybrid quantum-HPC architectures, we design and implement a multi-frequency SFQ pulse generator, capable of generating tailored pulse sequences that seamlessly interface with SQUID-based resonator-qubit cavities. This work demonstrates a promising path toward integrating quantum accelerators with classical HPC infrastructure, opti-mizing quantum-classical workflows, and enabling scalable, high-performance quantum computation.
Scalability of today’s superconducting quantum computers is limited due to the huge costs of generating/routing microwave control pulses per qubit from room temperature. One active research area in both industry and academia is to push the classical controllers to the dilution refrigerator in order to increase the scalability of quantum computers. Superconducting Single Flux Quantum (SFQ) is a classical logic technology with low power consumption and ultra-high speed, and thus is a promising candidate for in-fridge classical controllers with maximized scalability. Prior work has demonstrated high-fidelity SFQ-based single-qubit gates. However, little research has been done on SFQ-based multi-qubit gates, which are necessary to realize SFQ-based universal quantum computing.In this paper, we present the first thorough analysis of SFQ-based two-qubit gates. Our observations show that SFQ-based two-qubit gates tend to have high leakage to qubit non-computational subspace, which presents severe design challenges. We show that despite these challenges, we can realize gates with high fidelity by carefully designing optimal control methods and qubit architectures. We develop optimal control methods that suppress leakage, and also investigate various qubit architectures that reduce the leakage. After carefully engineering our SFQ-friendly quantum system, we show that it can achieve similar gate fidelity and gate time to microwave-based quantum systems. The promising results of this paper show that (1) SFQ-based universal quantum computation is both feasible and effective; and (2) SFQ is a promising approach in designing classical controller for quantum machines because it can increase the scalability while preserving gate fidelity and performance.