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The Journal of V N Karazin Kharkiv National University Series Physics

Cooled ferromagnetic shield as a part hybrid system for isolation of a flux qubit from electromagnetic environment

Oleg G. Turutanov, V. Yu. Lyakhno, A. P. Boichenko, Andrii P. Shapovalov, A. A. Kalenyuk, I. A. Martynenko

Published Dec 30, 2021• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Currently, circuits for quantum informatics, communications and measuring equipment containing superconducting flux qubits in a planar design are being created by quantum engineering techniques. To function, such structures must be cooled in a refrigerator down to about 10 mK. The flux qubits have linear size of superconducting circuit of some tens of micrometers and are very sensitive to external magnetic fields and their variations. The qubit built in the gradiometer-like design has reduced sensitivity to external uniform magnetic fields, but remains quite sensitive to their variations. To protect the qubit from unwanted external magnetic fields, which include the Earth's field, man-made fields, and residual magnetic fields of the cryostat parts, it is necessary to create efficient magnetic shields. Earlier, we proposed a scheme for a single-photon microwave counter, in which a planar flux qubit in a gradiometer version serves as the receiving element. To let it function properly, a 3-layer hybrid magnetic shield composed of two superconducting and one ferromagnetic cylinders, has been designed for installation in a dilution refrigerator at 10 mK temperature. The effectiveness of such a shield depends on the correct design of all three shells. This paper presents the results of calculation and magnetic measurements of a cylindrical ferromagnetic screen made of low-temperature permalloy Cryoperm 10 in dc and low-frequency alternating magnetic fields. Cryoperm 10 keeps high magnetic permeability at liquid helium temperatures and below. It is shown that this shield is able of reducing the absolute value of the magnetic field and its variations by 55-70 dB. Together with superconducting lead magnetic shields, this design will reduce the absolute value of the field by 70 dB, and the field variation by 200 dB, which will provide the necessary conditions for the operation of a single-photon counter based on a flux qubit.

DOI
10.26565/2222-5617-2021-35-03

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Currently, circuits for quantum informatics, communications and measuring equipment containing superconducting flux qubits in a planar design are being created by quantum engineering techniques. To function, such structures must be cooled in a refrigerator down to about 10 mK. The flux qubits have linear size of superconducting circuit of some tens of micrometers and are very sensitive to external magnetic fields and their variations. The qubit built in the gradiometer-like design has reduced sensitivity to external uniform magnetic fields, but remains quite sensitive to their variations. To protect the qubit from unwanted external magnetic fields, which include the Earth's field, man-made fields, and residual magnetic fields of the cryostat parts, it is necessary to create efficient magnetic shields. Earlier, we proposed a scheme for a single-photon microwave counter, in which a planar flux qubit in a gradiometer version serves as the receiving element. To let it function properly, a 3-layer hybrid magnetic shield composed of two superconducting and one ferromagnetic cylinders, has been designed for installation in a dilution refrigerator at 10 mK temperature. The effectiveness of such a shield depends on the correct design of all three shells. This paper presents the results of calculation and magnetic measurements of a cylindrical ferromagnetic screen made of low-temperature permalloy Cryoperm 10 in dc and low-frequency alternating magnetic fields. Cryoperm 10 keeps high magnetic permeability at liquid helium temperatures and below. It is shown that this shield is able of reducing the absolute value of the magnetic field and its variations by 55-70 dB. Together with superconducting lead magnetic shields, this design will reduce the absolute value of the field by 70 dB, and the field variation by 200 dB, which will provide the necessary conditions for the operation of a single-photon counter based on a flux qubit.
A scenario of shielding and stabilization of magnetic and electromagnetic fields in the measuring volume occupied by a superconducting flux qubit is considered. The qubit is used as an artificial macroscopic atom with discrete energy levels in a counter of single photons of the microwave range. It is shown that a decrease in the amplitude of variations of the external magnetic field inside the 3-layer hybrid cylindrical shield, composed of superconducting and ferromagnetic cylinders with the diameter-to-length ratio of 1:5, provides high stability of the magnetic field. The absolute value of the magnetic field at the sample location is determined mainly by the magnetic flux captured by the superconductor shields during their superconducting transition. Although the magnetic field stability is more important than the field itself for the photon counter, the paper also discusses experimental methods for reducing the absolute field value in the hybrid shield.
A hybrid quantum computing architecture combining quantum processors and quantum memory units allows for exploiting each component's unique properties to enhance the overall performance of the total system. However, superconducting qubits are highly sensitive to magnetic fields, while spin ensembles require finite fields for control, creating a major integration challenge. In this work, we demonstrate the first experimental setup that satisfies these constraints and provides verified qubit stability. Our cryogenic setup comprises two spatially and magnetically decoupled sample volumes inside a single dilution refrigerator: one hosting flux-tunable superconducting qubits and the other a spin ensemble equipped with a superconducting solenoid generating fields up to 50 mT. We show that several layers of Cryophy shielding and an additional superconducting aluminum shield suppress magnetic crosstalk by more than eight orders of magnitude, ensuring stability of the qubit's performance. Moreover, the operation of the solenoid adds minimal thermal load on the relevant stages of the dilution refrigerator. Our results enable scalable hybrid quantum architectures with low-loss integration, marking a key step toward scalable hybrid quantum computing platforms.
This thesis presents circuit quantum electrodynamic (cQED) experiments done with artificial atoms coupled to a high quality factor superconducting microwave resonator. This work discusses the theoretical framework, design, fabrication, implementation and characterization of a multi-qubit system using superconducting persistent current qubits, often referred as flux qubits. \n \nWe developed a new type of cryogenic aid for fast turnaround microwave experiments. The minimum turnaround time to perform microwave experiments in dilution refrigerators is typically a few days, as required by cooling down and warming up the entire refrigerator. The cryogenic microwave payload and wiring needed for each qubit and resonator add a significant heat load to \nthe system which typically only has a few µW s of cooling power at millikelvin temperatures. We present a new experimental approach we developed in which a suitable sample holder is attached to a cold-insertable probe and brought in contact with transmission lines permanently mounted inside the cryostat. The total turnaround time is reduced to 8 hours if the target temperature is 80 mK. This new measurement method increased our ability to successfully identify good devices with fast design-characterization iterations, while allowing months-long measurements at 30 mK. \n \nOur device architecture uses several qubits, each of which is controlled via on-chip fast flux bias lines. Readout of the qubit’s quantum state is performed by homodyne detection of the resonator field at large driving power. We observe long coherence times at the optimal bias point of the flux qubits and present decoherence measurements around this optimal point, where the \nflux qubits couple mostly to magnetic flux noise. Dynamical decoupling techniques employing fast microwave pulses are used to protect the qubit’s coherence and allow calculating the magnetic flux noise power spectral density of the qubit’s environment. Photon-mediated interaction between distant qubits in the resonator allows the implementation of a two-qubit controlled-NOT gate \nusing the selective darkening technique. \n \nThis multi-qubit superconducting design is an interesting platform to study the decoherence properties of flux qubits, the properties of strong interaction of electromagnetic radiation with macroscopic quantum systems. These results demonstrate the potential of cQED as a platform for fundamental investigations of decoherence and quantum dynamics of flux qubits.
The accurate control of magnetic fields is a cornerstone of multiple emerging quantum technologies. These technologies often require passive high permeability magnetic shielding and internal active field-generating coils to create their own bespoke magnetic field landscape. However, magnetic fields generated by coils are distorted by high permeability shielding, preventing the accurate and efficient generation of the desired field environment. Here, we design a cylindrical four-layer magnetic shield with an interior hybrid active-passive coil system that is explicitly optimised to include the electromagnetic coupling between the active and passive components. We use a combination of analytical methods and numerical simulations to determine the shield parameters - geometry, thickness, and access hole positions - to maximise the passive shielding efficiency and minimise the shield-induced Johnson noise and weight. Then, we apply an analytical formulation of the magnetic field, which accounts for the interaction with the magnetic shield, to design nine orthogonal hybrid active-passive field-generating coils inside the shield. The coils will be manufactured on thin low-via flex-PCBs near the shield's interior surface and generate three uniform fields and six gradient fields that deviate by less than 0.4% and 2%, respectively, over an internal cylindrical region extending over half the diameter and length of the innermost shield layer. These hybrid active-passive coils can accurately remove deviations in the background field or generate various complex magnetic field landscapes. Consequently, the hybrid shield provides an ideal platform for miniaturising and commercialising quantum technologies that require precisely-controlled magnetic fields within a low-noise environment.
Two dilution refrigerators have been installed and made operational for the purpose of having dedicated measurement systems one at MIT and the other at the University of Rochester for carrying out quantum computing experiments. Both systems are a Kelvinox 400 model from Oxford instruments, equipped with both dc and rf lines for measurements; and both systems are vibrationally isolated and magnetically and electrically shielded for low noise measurements. Within the first year these systems have been fitted with custom- designed sample spaces and wiring. Within less than a year, this equipment has enabled the researchers to demonstrate: quantum levels in a persistent current qubit, rf and dc spectroscopy of these energy levels, and control circuits using Single Flux Quantum circuits. This equipment is enhancing our research effort to study, design, demonstrate, and develop algorithms and quantum-coherent circuitry using magnetic-flux-based superconducting qubits.
A promising application of a single-flux quantum (SFQ) circuit is read-out circuitry for a multi-channel superconductive sensor array. In such applications, the SFQ read-out circuit is expected to operate outside a magnetic shield. We investigated an SFQ circuit structure, which is tolerant to an external magnetic field, using the AIST 2.5kA/cm2 Nb standard 2 process, which has four Nb wiring layers including the ground plane. By covering the entire circuit using an upper Nb wiring layer called the control (CTL) layer, the influences of the external magnetic field on the SFQ circuit operation can be avoided. We experimentally evaluated the sheet inductance of the wiring layer underneath the CTL shielding layer to design a magnetic-field-tolerant SFQ circuit. We implemented and measured test circuits comprising toggle flip-flops (TFFs) to evaluate their magnetic field tolerances. The operating margin and maximum operating frequency of the designed TFF did not deteriorate with increases in the magnetic field applied to the test circuit, whereas the operating margin of the conventional TFF was reduced by applying the magnetic field. We have also demonstrated the high-speed operation of the designed TFF operated in an unshielded environment at a frequency of up to 120GHz with a wide operating margin.