Fast and high-fidelity qubit measurement is essential for realizing quantum error correction, which is in turn a key ingredient to universal quantum computing. For electron spin qubits, fast readout is one of the significant road blocks toward error correction. Here we examine the dispersive readout of a single spin in a semiconductor double quantum dot coupled to a microwave resonator. We show that using displaced squeezed vacuum states for the probing photons can improve the qubit readout fidelity and speed. Under condition of proper phase matching, we find that a moderate, and only moderate, squeezing can enhance both the signal-to-noise ratio and the fidelity of the qubit-state readout, and the optimal readout time can be shortened to the sub-microsecond range with above
99% fidelity. These enhancements are achieved at low probing microwave intensity, ensuring non-demolition qubit measurement.
Abstract Fast and high-fidelity qubit measurement is crucial for achieving quantum error correction, a fundamental element in the development of universal quantum computing. For electron spin qubits, fast readout stands out as a major obstacle in the pursuit of error correction. In this work, we explore the dispersive measurement of an individual spin in a semiconductor double quantum dot coupled to a nonlinear microwave resonator. By utilizing displaced squeezed vacuum states, we achieve rapid and high-fidelity readout for semiconductor spin qubits. Our findings reveal that introducing modest squeezing and mild nonlinearity can significantly improve both the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the fidelity of qubit-state readout. By properly marching the phases of squeezing, the nonlinear strength, and the local oscillator, the optimal readout time can be reduced to the sub-microsecond range. With current technology parameters (
κ≈2χs, $\chi_s/(2\pi)\approx 0.15 \:\mbox{MHz}$), utilizing a displaced squeezed vacuum state with
30 photons and a modest squeezing parameter
r≈0.6, along with a nonlinear microwave resonator charactered by a strength of
λ≈−1.2χs, a readout fidelity of
98% can be attained within a readout time of around $0.6\:\mu\mbox{s}$. Intriguing, by using a positive nonlinear strength of
λ≈1.2χs, it is possible to achieve an SNR of approximately
6 and a readout fidelity of
99.99% at a slightly later time, around $0.9\:\mu\mbox{s}$, while maintaining all other parameters at the same settings.
The ability to perform high-fidelity quantum nondemolition qubit readout is pivotal for the realization of large and powerful quantum computers. Such readout of superconducting qubits is generally enabled by amplifying the weak dispersive measurement signals using phase-preserving quantum-limited Josephson amplifiers with sufficient gain to dilute the contribution of the added noise by the output chain. Here, we further enhance the qubit readout fidelity by (1) simultaneously measuring the two-mode squeezed states of the amplified readout signals at the signal and idler frequencies of the nondegenerate amplifier and (2) coherently combining them at the classical processing stage following a relative rotation that maximizes the signal to noise ratio of the qubit-encoded readout quadrature. Such readout scheme exhibits enhancement in the readout fidelity for all practical values of amplifier gain and noise added by the output chain and is fully compatible with frequency multiplexed setups used in large quantum processors.
Fast and high-fidelity qubit measurement is crucial for achieving quantum error correction, a fundamental element in the development of universal quantum computing. For electron spin qubits, fast readout stands out as a major obstacle in the pursuit of error correction. In this work, we explore the dispersive measurement of an individual spin in a semiconductor double quantum dot coupled to a nonlinear microwave resonator. By utilizing displaced squeezed vacuum states, we achieve rapid and high-fidelity readout for semiconductor spin qubits. Our findings reveal that introducing modest squeezing and mild nonlinearity can significantly improve both the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the fidelity of qubit-state readout. By properly marching the phases of squeezing, the nonlinear strength, and the local oscillator, the optimal readout time can be reduced to the sub-microsecond range. With current technology parameters (
κ≈2χs, $χ_s\approx 2π\times 0.15 \:\mbox{MHz}$), utilizing a displaced squeezed vacuum state with
30 photons and a modest squeezing parameter
r≈0.6, along with a nonlinear microwave resonator charactered by a strength of
λ≈−1.2χs, a readout fidelity of
98% can be attained within a readout time of around $0.6\:μ\mbox{s}$. Intriguing, by using a positive nonlinear strength of
λ≈1.2χs, it is possible to achieve an SNR of approximately
6 and a readout fidelity of
99.99% at a slightly later time, around $0.9\:μ\mbox{s}$, while maintaining all other parameters at the same settings.
It has been a long-standing goal to improve dispersive qubit readout with squeezed light. However, injected external squeezing (IES) cannot enable a practically interesting increase in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and simultaneously, the increase of the SNR due to the use of intracavity squeezing (ICS) is even negligible. Here, we counterintuitively demonstrate that using IES and ICS together can lead to an exponential improvement of the SNR for any measurement time, corresponding to a measurement error reduced typically by many orders of magnitude. More remarkably, we find that in a short-time measurement, the SNR is even improved exponentially with twice the squeezing parameter. As a result, we predict a fast and high-fidelity readout. This work offers a promising path toward exploring squeezed light for dispersive qubit readout, with immediate applications in quantum error correction and fault-tolerant quantum computation.
Fault-tolerant quantum information processing with flawed qubits and gates requires highly efficient, quantum nondemolition qubit readout. In superconducting circuits, qubit readout using coherent light with fidelity above 99% has been achieved by using quantum limited parametric amplifiers such as the Josephson parametric converter (JPC). However, further improvement of such measurement faces many challenges, including the vacuum fluctuation of the coherent light that limits measurement fidelity. In this work we demonstrate dispersive qubit readout with a two-mode squeezed light interferometer formed by two JPCs. The first JPC generates two-mode squeezed vacuum at its output, which is coherently recombined by the second JPC after one branch is phase shifted and displaced by its interaction with the qubit-cavity system on that arm of the interferometer. We observe a 31% improvement in the power signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of projective readout after replacing vacuum fluctuation in the readout cavity with two-mode squeezed vacuum containing on average one photon. This demonstrates a more efficient way of improving SNR than by increasing readout power. Furthermore, we investigate the quantum properties of the two-mode squeezed light in the system through weak measurement. Surprisingly, we find that tuning the interferometer to be less projective increases the measurement efficiency relative to the optimum setting for projective measurement. These enhancements may enable remote entanglement with lower efficiency components in a system with qubits in both arms of the interferometer.