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arXiv:2507.14357 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Supercurrent tuning of the Josephson coupling energy

Maxwell Wisne, Venkat Chandrasekhar

Published Jan 30, 2026• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The ability to non-dissipatively tune the Josephson coupling energy of Josephson junctions is a useful tool in frequency-tunable qubits. This is typically done by threading magnetic flux through two junctions connected in a loop, a geometry that exposes the qubit to magnetic environmental noise. In this paper, we show that by biasing a junction with supercurrent from a separate pair of superconducting leads coupled to the device, the Josephson energy can be tuned without the need for a flux loop. Our multiterminal device may enable the realization of a frequency-tunable qubit with greatly reduced susceptibility to flux noise.

DOI
10.1103/pc88-8kp6

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The ability to non-dissipatively tune the Josephson coupling energy of Josephson junctions is a useful tool in frequency-tunable qubits. This is typically done by threading magnetic flux through two junctions connected in a loop, a geometry that exposes the qubit to magnetic environmental noise. In this paper, we show that by biasing a junction with supercurrent from a separate pair of superconducting leads coupled to the device, the Josephson energy can be tuned without the need for a flux loop. Our multiterminal device may enable the realization of a frequency-tunable qubit with greatly reduced susceptibility to flux noise.
We present the design of a superconducting flux qubit with a large loop inductance. The large loop inductance is desirable for coupling between qubits. The loop is configured into a gradiometer form that could reduce the interference from environmental magnetic noise. A combined Josephson junction, i.e., a DC-SQUID is used to replace the small Josephson junction in the usual 3-JJ (Josephaon junction) flux qubit, leading to a tunable energy gap by using an independent external flux line. We perform numerical calculations to investigate the dependence of the energy gap on qubit parameters such as junction capacitance, critical current, loop inductance, and the ratio of junction energy between small and large junctions in the flux qubit. We suggest a range of values for the parameters.
We present the design of a superconducting flux qubit with a large loop inductance. The large loop inductance is desirable for coupling between qubits. The loop is configured into a gradiometer form that could reduce the interference from environmental magnetic noise. A combined Josephson junction, i.e., a DC-SQUID is used to replace the small Josephson junction in the usual 3-JJ (Josephaon junction) flux qubit, leading to a tunable energy gap by using an independent external flux line. We perform numerical calculations to investigate the dependence of the energy gap on qubit parameters such as junction capacitance, critical current, loop inductance, and the ratio of junction energy between small and large junctions in the flux qubit. We suggest a range of values for the parameters.
For gradiometric three-Josephson-junction flux qubits, we perform a systematic study on the tuning of the minimal transition frequency, the so-called qubit gap. By replacing one of the qubit's Josephson junctions by a dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), the critical current of this SQUID and, in turn, the qubit gap can be tuned in situ by a control flux threading the SQUID loop. We present spectroscopic measurements demonstrating a well-defined controllability of the qubit gap between zero and more than 10 GHz. This is important for tuning the qubit into and out of resonance with other superconducting quantum circuits in scalable architectures, while still operating it at its symmetry point with optimal dephasing properties. The experimental data agree very well with model calculations based on the full qubit Hamiltonian. From a numerical fit, we determine the Josephson coupling and the charging energies of the qubit junctions. The derived values agree well with those measured for other junctions fabricated on the same chip. We also demonstrate the biasing of gradiometric flux qubits near the symmetry point by trapping an odd number of flux quanta in the gradiometer loop. In this way, we study the effect of the significant kinetic inductance, thereby obtaining valuable information for the qubit design.
As superconducting-qubit architectures progress to more complex layouts, frequency crowding in qubit arrays increasingly hinders computing performance. Frequency-tunable qubits can assuage this problem, but are subject to the magnetic-flux noise that is ubiquitous in such circuitry. The authors exploit asymmetric Josephson junctions in transmon qubits to reduce sensitivity to flux noise, while preserving sufficient tunability to avoid frequency collisions. In their most asymmetric qubit, dephasing due to flux noise is reduced to the point where its rate is independent of the flux bias.
We analyze the coupling of two flux qubits with a general many-body projector into the low-energy subspace. Specifically, we extract the effective Hamiltonians that controls the dynamics of two qubits when they are coupled via a capacitor and/or via a Josephson junction. While the capacitor induces a static charge coupling tunable by design, the Josephson junction produces a magnetic-like interaction easily tunable by replacing the junction with a superconducting quantum interference device. Those two elements allow to engineer qubits Hamiltonians with XX, YY, and ZZ interactions, including ultrastrongly coupled ones. We present an exhaustive numerical study for two three-Josephson junctions flux qubit that can be directly used in experimental work. The method developed here, namely, the numerical tool to extract qubit effective Hamiltonians at strong coupling, can be applied to replicate our analysis for general systems of many qubits and any type of coupling.
Abstract. For gradiometric three-Josephson-junction flux qubits, we perform a systematic study on the tuning of the minimal transition frequency, the so-called qubit gap. By replacing one of the qubit’s Josephson junctions by a dc SQUID, the critical current of this SQUID and, in turn, the qubit gap can be tuned in situ by a control flux threading the SQUID loop. We present spectroscopic measurements demonstrating a well-defined controllability of the qubit gap between zero and more than 10 GHz. This is important for tuning the qubit into and out of resonance with other superconducting quantum circuits in scalable architectures, while still operating it at its symmetry point with optimal dephasing properties. The experimental data agree very well with model calculations based on the full qubit Hamiltonian. From a numerical fit, we determine the Josephson coupling and the charging energies of the qubit junctions. The derived values agree well with those measured for other junctions fabricated on the same chip. We also demonstrate the biasing of gradiometric flux qubits near the symmetry point by trapping an odd number of flux quanta in the gradiometer loop. In this way, we study the effect of the significant kinetic inductance, thereby obtaining valuable information for the qubit design.