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Quantum Information and Computation

Qubit utilizing charge-number state in super conducting nanostructure

J. S. Tsai, Yasunobu Nakamura, Yu. A. Pashkin

Published Dec 1, 2001• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

In single-Cooper-pair box, the number of electrons in the box is quantized and they form a single macroscopic quantum charge-number state, corresponding to the number of excess electrons in the box. By making all the electrodes superconducting, we can couple two neighboring charge-number states coherently. In this way one can create an artificial two-level system. Qubit operations were demonstrated in two different control techniques, dc electric-field gate bias and ac field bias. The dc method was unique compared with the commonly used Rabi-oscillation-type operation. Here the system was biased at the degenerate point of the two states so that the dynamical phase does not develop during the operation. This was the first time that the quantum coherent oscillation was observed in a solid-state device whose quantum states involved a macroscopic number of quantum particles. Multiple-pulse experiments were also carried out and phase control was also demonstrated.

DOI
10.26421/qic1.s-13

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Physica Scripta•Jan 1, 2002•8 citations
In single-Cooper-pair box, the number of electrons in the box is quantized and they form a single macroscopic quantum charge-number state, corresponding to the number of excess electrons in the box. By making all the electrodes superconducting, we can couple two neighboring charge-number states coherently. In this way one can create an artificial two-level system. Qubit operations were demonstrated in two different control techniques, dc electric-field gate bias and ac field bias. The dc method was unique compared with the commonly used Rabi-oscillation-type operation. Here the system was biased at the degenerate point of the two states so that the dynamical phase does not develop during the operation. This was the first time that the quantum coherent oscillation was observed in a solid-state device whose quantum states involved a macroscopic number of quantum particles. Multiple-pulse experiments were also carried out and phase control was also demonstrated.
Abstract A nanometre-scale superconducting electrode connected to a reservoir via a Josephson junction constitutes an artificial two-level electronic system: a single-Cooper-pair box. The two levels consist of charge states (differing by 2e, where e is the electronic charge) that are coupled by tunnelling of Cooper pairs through the junction. Although the two-level system is macroscopic, containing a large number of electrons, the two charge states can be coherently superposed1, 2, 3, 4. The Cooper-pair box has therefore been suggested5, 6, 7 as a candidate for a quantum bit or ‘qubit’—the basic component of a quantum computer. Here we report the observation of quantum oscillations in a single-Cooper-pair box. By applying a short voltage pulse via a gate electrode, we can control the coherent quantum state evolution: the pulse modifies the energies of the two charge states non-adiabatically, bringing them into resonance. The resulting state—a superposition of the two charge states—is detected by a tunnelling current through a probe junction. Our results demonstrate electrical coherent control of a qubit in a solid-state electronic device.
We have succeeded in coupling two solid-state qubits and observing quantum coherent dynamics of such a system. Each qubit is a Cooper-pair box whose quantum states are manipulated by means of pulse technique. Coupling of the two qubits is done by using a small on-chip capacitor. For read-out of the state of each qubit, we use probe electrodes connected to the Cooper-pair boxes through resistive tunnel junctions. Quantum coherent oscillation of the two-qubit charge states results in the oscillation of the probe currents. The observed "beatings" as well as avoided level crossing in the energy spectrum is a direct evidence for the interaction of the two qubits. Although we could not measure the amount of entanglement directly, our simulations based on the experimental data show that during quantum evolution the qubits remain entangled most of the time. A straightforward continuation of this experiment is a demonstration of conditional gate operation, a prototype of a solid-state quantum logic gate.
We have analyzed and measured the quantum coherent dynamics of a circuit containing two coupled superconducting charge qubits. Each qubit is based on a Cooper pair box connected to a reservoir electrode through a Josephson junction. Two qubits are coupled electrostatically by a small island overlapping both Cooper pair boxes. Quantum state manipulation ofthe qubit circuit is done by applying non-adiabatic voltage pulses to the common gate. We read out each qubit by means of probe electrodes connected to Cooper pair boxes through high-Ohmic tunnel junctions. With such a setup the measured pulse-induced probe currents are proportional to the probability for each qubit to have an extra Cooper pai1r after the manipulation. As expected from theory and observed experimentally the measured pulse-induced current in each probe has two frequency components whose position on the frequency axis can be externally controlled. This is a result ofthe inter-qubit coupling which is also responsible for the avoided level crossing that we observed in the qubits' spectra. Our simulations show that in the absence of decoherence and with a rectangular pulse shape the system remains entangled most ofthe time reaching maximally entangled states at certain instances.
We have fabricated a Josephson charge qubit by capacitively coupling a single-Cooper-pair box (SCB) to an electrometer based upon a single-electron transistor (SET) configured for radio-frequency readout (rf-SET). Charge quantization of 2e2e2e is observed and microwave spectroscopy is used to extract the Josephson and charging energies of the box. We perform coherent manipulation of the SCB by using very fast dc pulses and observe quantum oscillations in time of the charge that persist to $\ensuremath{\simeq}10\mathrm{ns}.$ The observed contrast of the oscillations is high and agrees with that expected from the finite EJ/EC{E}_{J}{/E}_{C}EJ​/EC​ ratio and finite rise time of the dc pulses. In addition, we are able to demonstrate nearly 100100%100 initial charge state polarization. We also present a method to determine the relaxation time T1{T}_{1}T1​ when it is shorter than the measurement time Tmeas.{T}_{\mathrm{meas}}.Tmeas​.
Units of superconducting circuitry that exploit the concept of the single- Cooper-pair box (SCB) have been built and are undergoing testing as prototypes of logic gates that could, in principle, constitute building blocks of clocked quantum computers. These units utilize quantized charge states as the quantum information-bearing degrees of freedom. An SCB is an artificial two-level quantum system that comprises a nanoscale superconducting electrode connected to a reservoir of Cooper-pair charges via a Josephson junction. The logical quantum states of the device, .0. and .1., are implemented physically as a pair of charge-number states that differ by 2e (where e is the charge of an electron). Typically, some 109 Cooper pairs are involved. Transitions between the logical states are accomplished by tunneling of Cooper pairs through the Josephson junction. Although the two-level system contains a macroscopic number of charges, in the superconducting regime, they behave collectively, as a Bose-Einstein condensate, making possible a coherent superposition of the two logical states. This possibility makes the SCB a candidate for the physical implementation of a qubit. A set of quantum logic operations and the gates that implement them is characterized as universal if, in principle, one can form combinations of the operations in the set to implement any desired quantum computation. To be able to design a practical quantum computer, one must first specify how to decompose any valid quantum computation into a sequence of elementary 1- and 2-qubit quantum gates that are universal and that can be realized in hardware that is feasible to fabricate. Traditionally, the set of universal gates has been taken to be the set of all 1-qubit quantum gates in conjunction with the controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate, which is a 2-qubit gate. Also, it has been known for some time that the SWAP gate, which implements square root of the simple 2-qubit exchange interaction, is as computationally universal as is the CNOT operation.
We have investigated coherent properties of an artificial two-level system realized in a small-Josephson-junction circuit. Two charge-number states of a small superconducting electrode connected to a reservoir via a Josephson junction were used as the two relevant states. Coherent manipulations of the charge-number states by applying a gate-voltage pulse were demonstrated, and decoherence of the system was studied through a spin-echo-type experiment. The result suggested that low-frequency energy-level fluctuations due to 1/f background charge noise is a dominant source of the dephasing.