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Radio frequency mixing modules for superconducting qubit room temperature control systems.

Yilun Xu, Gang Huang, David Santiago, Irfan A. Siddiqi

Published Jul 1, 2021• 8 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

As the number of qubits in nascent quantum processing units increases, the connectorized RF (radio frequency) analog circuits used in first generation experiments become exceedingly complex. The physical size, cost, and electrical failure rate all become limiting factors in the extensibility of control systems. We have developed a series of compact RF mixing boards to address this challenge by integrating I/Q quadrature mixing, intermediate frequency/LO (local oscillator)/RF power level adjustments, and direct current bias fine tuning on a 40 × 80 mm2 four-layer printed circuit board with electromagnetic interference shielding. The RF mixing module is designed to work with RF and LO frequencies between 2.5 and 8.5 GHz. The typical image rejection and adjacent channel isolation are measured to be ∼27 dBc and ∼50 dB. By scanning the drive phase in a loopback test, the module short-term amplitude and phase linearity are typically measured to be 5 ×10-4 (Vpp/Vmean) and 1 ×10-3 radian (pk-pk). The operation of the RF mixing board was validated by integrating it into the room temperature control system of a superconducting quantum processor and executing randomized benchmarking characterization of single and two qubit gates. We measured a single-qubit process infidelity of 9.3(3) × 10-4 and a two-qubit process infidelity of 2.7(1) × 10-2.

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As the number of qubits in nascent quantum processing units increases, the connectorized RF (radio frequency) analog circuits used in first generation experiments become exceedingly complex. The physical size, cost, and electrical failure rate all become limiting factors in the extensibility of control systems. We have developed a series of compact RF mixing boards to address this challenge by integrating I/Q quadrature mixing, intermediate frequency/LO (local oscillator)/RF power level adjustments, and direct current bias fine tuning on a 40 × 80 mm2 four-layer printed circuit board with electromagnetic interference shielding. The RF mixing module is designed to work with RF and LO frequencies between 2.5 and 8.5 GHz. The typical image rejection and adjacent channel isolation are measured to be ∼27 dBc and ∼50 dB. By scanning the drive phase in a loopback test, the module short-term amplitude and phase linearity are typically measured to be 5 ×10-4 (Vpp/Vmean) and 1 ×10-3 radian (pk-pk). The operation of the RF mixing board was validated by integrating it into the room temperature control system of a superconducting quantum processor and executing randomized benchmarking characterization of single and two qubit gates. We measured a single-qubit process infidelity of 9.3(3) × 10-4 and a two-qubit process infidelity of 2.7(1) × 10-2.
As the number of qubits in nascent quantum processing units increases, the connectorized RF (radio frequency) analog circuits used in first generation experiments become exceedingly complex. The physical size, cost, and electrical failure rate all become limiting factors in the extensibility of control systems. We have developed a series of compact RF mixing boards to address this challenge by integrating I/Q quadrature mixing, intermediate frequency/LO (local oscillator)/RF power level adjustments, and direct current bias fine tuning on a 40 × 80 mm2 four-layer printed circuit board with electromagnetic interference shielding. The RF mixing module is designed to work with RF and LO frequencies between 2.5 and 8.5 GHz. The typical image rejection and adjacent channel isolation are measured to be ∼27 dBc and ∼50 dB. By scanning the drive phase in a loopback test, the module short-term amplitude and phase linearity are typically measured to be 5 ×10−4 (Vpp/Vmean) and 1 ×10−3 radian (pk–pk). The operation of the RF mixing board was validated by integrating it into the room temperature control system of a superconducting quantum processor and executing randomized benchmarking characterization of single and two qubit gates. We measured a single-qubit process infidelity of 9.3(3) × 10−4 and a two-qubit process infidelity of 2.7(1) × 10−2.
As the number of qubits in nascent quantum processing units increases, the connectorized RF (radio frequency) analog circuits used in first generation experiments become exceedingly complex. The physical size, cost and electrical failure rate all become limiting factors in the extensibility of control systems. We have developed a series of compact RF mixing boards to address this challenge by integrating I/Q quadrature mixing, IF(intermediate frequency)/LO(local oscillator)/RF power level adjustments, and DC (direct current) bias fine tuning on a 40 mm $\times $ 80 mm 4-layer PCB (printed circuit board) board with EMI (electromagnetic interference) shielding. The RF mixing module is designed to work with RF and LO frequencies between 2.5 and 8.5 GHz. The typical image rejection and adjacent channel isolation are measured to be $\sim$27 dBc and $\sim50dB.Byscanningthedrivephaseinaloopbacktest,themoduleshort−termamplitudeandphaselinearityaretypicallymeasuredtobe550 dB. By scanning the drive phase in a loopback test, the module short-term amplitude and phase linearity are typically measured to be 550dB.Byscanningthedrivephaseinaloopbacktest,themoduleshort−termamplitudeandphaselinearityaretypicallymeasuredtobe5\times101010^{-4}$ (Vpp_{\mathrm{pp}}pp​/Vmean_{\mathrm{mean}}mean​) and 1$\times101010^{-3}$ radian (pk-pk). The operation of RF mixing board was validated by integrating it into the room temperature control system of a superconducting quantum processor and executing randomized benchmarking characterization of single and two qubit gates. We measured a single-qubit process infidelity of 9.3(3)×10−49.3(3) \times 10^{-4}9.3(3)×10−4 and a two-qubit process infidelity of 2.7(1)×10−22.7(1) \times 10^{-2}2.7(1)×10−2.
Semiconductor quantum dot spin qubits, which employ radio frequency (RF) techniques for manipulation and readout, present a compelling pathway toward scalable quantum computation. We introduce a robust, miniaturized, and modular RF package designed for high-fidelity, low-crosstalk control of quantum dot qubit systems. This design integrates a master board with an interchangeable daughterboard for rapid sample exchange. Its compact footprint (28 × 50 × 12 mm3) is compatible with standard dilution refrigerator stages. The module provides 48 low-pass-filtered DC bias lines, 28 of which support combined RF/DC operation for qubit control. Dedicated RF lines include eight microwave channels with a DC to 6 GHz bandwidth and 20 DC pulse gate lines with a −3 dB cutoff at 3 GHz. A significant feature of this design is the suppression of crosstalk between adjacent microwave lines to <−30 dB (or less than 0.1% signal leakage) from DC to 6 GHz. This is achieved using optimized alternating ground planes and fencing vias. The module directly supports baseband control strategies, thereby mitigating gigahertz-frequency heating effects in high-density qubit arrays.
We present a control and measurement setup for superconducting qubits based on the Xilinx 16-channel radio-frequency system-on-chip (RFSoC) device. The proposed setup consists of four parts: multiple RFSoC boards, a setup to synchronize every digital to analog converter (DAC) and analog to digital converter (ADC) channel across multiple boards, a low-noise direct current supply for tuning the qubit frequency, and cloud access for remotely performing experiments. We also designed the setup to be free of physical mixers. The RFSoC boards directly generate microwave pulses using sixteen DAC channels up to the third Nyquist zone, which are directly sampled by its eight ADC channels between the fifth and the ninth zones.
We have developed a modular interconnect platform for the control and readout of multiple solid-state qubits at cryogenic temperatures. The setup provides 74 filtered dc-bias connections, 32 control and readout connections with -3 dB frequency above 5 GHz, and 4 microwave feed lines that allow low loss (less than 3 dB) transmission 10 GHz. The incorporation of a radio-frequency interposer enables the platform to be separated into two printed circuit boards, decoupling the simple board that is bonded to the qubit chip from the multilayer board that incorporates expensive connectors and components. This modular approach lifts the burden of duplicating complex interconnect circuits for every prototype device. We report the performance of this platform at milli-Kelvin temperatures, including signal transmission and crosstalk measurements.
In the realm of quantum computing and low-temperature detectors, precise signal conditioning is crucial for the effective readout and control of superconducting qubits and sensors. As these technologies evolve, the need for increasingly sophisticated and integrated systems becomes more apparent. This contribution presents the design of a mixer-less analog front-end board optimized for superconducting circuit interfacing. It leverages the capabilities of the Radio-Frequency System-on-Chip (RFSoC) from AMD Xilinx and utilizes software-selectable channel filtering stages, ultimately achieving wide-band signals without analog local oscillator leakage.