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arXiv:2603.27761

Digital Predistortion of Optical Fields for Fast and High-Fidelity Entangling Gates in Trapped-Ion Qubits

Jovan Markov, Yotam Shapira, Ayelet Hasson, Meir Alon, Avraham Gross, Nitzan Akerman, Roee Ozeri

quant-phSubmitted Mar 29, 2026• Announced Mar 31, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

High-fidelity quantum gates require precise classical control signals, yet the analog hardware delivering these signals introduces nonlinear distortions that degrade gate performance. We demonstrate digital predistortion of an acousto-optic modulator used to generate multi-tone entangling-gate waveforms in a trapped-ion processor based on $^{88}$Sr$^+$. By measuring and inverting the static nonlinear amplitude response of the modulator, we apply a feed-forward correction that extends its linear operating range and suppresses spurious intermodulation products. Spectral analysis of the gate beam shows 3--5 dB suppression of the dominant intermodulation tones, approximately doubling the usable diffraction efficiency at a $10^{-3}$ estimated gate-error threshold. Direct two-qubit Bell-state fidelity measurements confirm that predistortion consistently improves entangling-gate performance. The calibrate-and-invert methodology is device and platform agnostic, applicable to any nonlinear element in the classical control chain of a quantum processor.

Comments
7 pages, 5 figures, supplemental material included

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Power amplifiers (PA) are essential for microwave-controlled trapped-ion and semiconductor spin based quantum computers (QC). They adjust the power level of the control signal and therefore the processing time of the QC. Their nonlinearities and memory effects degrade the signal quality and, thus, the fidelity of qubit gate operations. Driving the PA with a significant input power back-off reduces nonlinear effects but is neither power-efficient nor cost-effective. To overcome this limitation, this letter augments the conventional signal generation system applied in QCs by digital predistortion (DPD) to linearize the radio frequency (RF) channel. Numerical analysis of the qubit behavior based on measured representative control signals indicates that DPD improves its fidelity.
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