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Physical Review A

Multilevel dynamical decoupling for a coupled superconducting two-qubit system

Wenqu Xu, Tianshi Zhou, Kaixuan Zhang, Zishuo Li, Tingting Guo, Quan Zuo, Mingyuan Yu, Junliang Jiang, Jiazheng Pan, Jinpeng Li, Lingxiao Jing, Huashi Ma, Sining Zhou, Binglin Li, Shiyao Yang, Yongyang Yu, Junzhou Zhang, Jiyuan Zhu, Ziru Hou, Haifeng Song, Chunhai Cao, Guozhu Sun, Peiheng Wu

Published Aug 12, 2025• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Recent advances have significantly enhanced the coherence times of superconducting qubits. However, high-fidelity storage of multiqubit quantum states in large-scale circuits is still limited by factors such as the flux noise and crosstalk. We propose an X-iSwap decoupling sequence combining single-qubit ${X}_{\ensuremath{\pi}}$ gates and two-qubit iSwap gates to effectively mitigate dephasing from the low-frequency flux noise and eliminate crosstalk between qubits. Numerical simulations of noisy random evolution show excellent agreement with the theoretical models. In quantum memory applications, our method substantially extends the decay time of two-qubit fidelity and eliminates fidelity oscillations caused by the ZZ crosstalk. Compared to the traditional decoupling methods based on single-qubit gates, the X-iSwap sequence exhibits superior robustness against small system errors, which holds promise for widespread application in two-qubit systems and large-scale quantum processors for tasks such as long-term quantum memory and entanglement protection.

DOI
10.1103/6wd3-wc5s

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Recent advances have significantly enhanced the coherence times of superconducting qubits. However, high-fidelity storage of multiqubit quantum states in large-scale circuits is still limited by factors such as the flux noise and crosstalk. We propose an X-iSwap decoupling sequence combining single-qubit X\ensuremathπ{X}_{\ensuremath{\pi}}X\ensuremathπ​ gates and two-qubit iSwap gates to effectively mitigate dephasing from the low-frequency flux noise and eliminate crosstalk between qubits. Numerical simulations of noisy random evolution show excellent agreement with the theoretical models. In quantum memory applications, our method substantially extends the decay time of two-qubit fidelity and eliminates fidelity oscillations caused by the ZZ crosstalk. Compared to the traditional decoupling methods based on single-qubit gates, the X-iSwap sequence exhibits superior robustness against small system errors, which holds promise for widespread application in two-qubit systems and large-scale quantum processors for tasks such as long-term quantum memory and entanglement protection.
Abstract Dynamical decoupling (DD) is one of the simplest error suppression methods, aiming to enhance the coherence of qubits in open quantum systems. Moreover, DD has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing coherent crosstalk, one major error source in near-term quantum hardware, which manifests from two types of interactions. Static crosstalk exists in various hardware platforms, including superconductor and semiconductor qubits, by virtue of always-on qubit-qubit coupling. Additionally, driven crosstalk may occur as an unwanted drive term due to leakage from driven gates on other qubits. Here we explore a novel staggered DD protocol tailored for multi-qubit systems that suppresses the decoherence error and both types of coherent crosstalk. We develop two experimental setups—an ‘idle–idle’ experiment in which two pairs of qubits undergo free evolution simultaneously and a ‘driven-idle’ experiment in which one pair is continuously driven during the free evolution of the other pair. These experiments are performed on an IBM Quantum superconducting processor and demonstrate the significant impact of the staggered DD protocol in suppressing both types of coherent crosstalk. When compared to the standard DD sequences from state-of-the-art methodologies with the application of X 2 sequences, our staggered DD protocol enhances circuit fidelity by 19.7% and 8.5%, respectively, in addressing these two crosstalk types.
We implement dynamical decoupling techniques to mitigate noise and enhance the lifetime of an entangled state that is formed in a superconducting flux qubit coupled to a microscopic two-level system. By rapidly changing the qubit's transition frequency relative to the two-level system, we realize a refocusing pulse that reduces dephasing due to fluctuations in the transition frequencies, thereby improving the coherence time of the entangled state. The coupling coherence is further enhanced when applying multiple refocusing pulses, in agreement with our 1/f noise model. The results are applicable to any two-qubit system with transverse coupling and they highlight the potential of decoupling techniques for improving two-qubit gate fidelities, an essential prerequisite for implementing fault-tolerant quantum computing.
As superconducting quantum processors continue to scale, high-performance quantum control becomes increasingly critical. In densely integrated architectures, unwanted interactions between nearby qubits give rise to crosstalk errors that limit operational performance. In particular, direct exchange-type ( XY ) interactions are typically minimized by designing large frequency detunings between neighboring qubits at the hardware level. However, frequency crowding in large-scale systems ultimately restricts the achievable frequency separation. While such XY coupling facilitates entangling gate operations, its residual presence poses a key challenge during single-qubit controls. Here, we propose a scalable pulse-level control framework, incorporating frequency modulation and dynamical decoupling to suppress XY crosstalk errors. This framework operates independently of coupling strengths, reducing calibration overhead and naturally supporting multiqubit connectivity. Numerical simulations show orders-of-magnitude reductions in infidelity for both idle and single-qubit gates in a two-qubit system. We further illustrate scalability in a five-qubit layout, where crosstalk between a central qubit and four neighbors is simultaneously suppressed. Our crosstalk suppression framework provides a practical route toward high-fidelity operation in dense superconducting architectures.
As superconducting quantum processors continue to scale, high-performance quantum control becomes increasingly critical. In densely integrated architectures, unwanted interactions between nearby qubits give rise to crosstalk errors that limit operational performance. In particular, direct exchange-type (XY) interactions are typically minimized by designing large frequency detunings between neighboring qubits at the hardware level. However, frequency crowding in large-scale systems ultimately restricts the achievable frequency separation. While such XY coupling facilitates entangling gate operations, its residual presence poses a key challenge during single-qubit controls. Here, we propose a scalable pulse-level control framework, incorporating frequency modulation (FM) and dynamical decoupling (DD), to suppress XY crosstalk errors. This framework operates independently of coupling strengths, reducing calibration overhead and naturally supporting multi-qubit connectivity. Numerical simulations show orders-of-magnitude reductions in infidelity for both idle and single-qubit gates in a two-qubit system. We further validate scalability in a five-qubit layout, where crosstalk between a central qubit and four neighbors is simultaneously suppressed. Our crosstalk suppression framework provides a practical route toward high-fidelity operation in dense superconducting architectures.
Quantum computers must be able to function in the presence of decoherence. The simplest strategy for decoherence reduction is dynamical decoupling (DD), which requires no encoding overhead and works by converting quantum gates into decoupling pulses. Here, using the IBM and Rigetti platforms, we demonstrate that the DD method is suitable for implementation in today's relatively noisy and small-scale cloud-based quantum computers. Using DD, we achieve substantial fidelity gains relative to unprotected, free evolution of individual superconducting transmon qubits. To a lesser degree, DD is also capable of protecting entangled two-qubit states. We show that dephasing and spontaneous emission errors are dominant in these systems, and that different DD sequences are capable of mitigating both effects. Unlike previous work demonstrating the use of quantum error correcting codes on the same platforms, we make no use of postselection and hence report unconditional fidelity improvements against natural decoherence.
Single-qubit gates on superconducting quantum processors are typically implemented using microwave pulses applied through dedicated control lines. However, these microwave pulses may also drive other qubits due to crosstalk arising from capacitive coupling and wavefunction overlap in systems with closely spaced transition frequencies. Crosstalk and frequency crowding increase errors during simultaneous single-qubit operations relative to isolated gates, thus forming a major bottleneck for scaling superconducting quantum processors. In this work, we combine model-based qubit frequency optimization with pulse shaping to demonstrate crosstalk error mitigation in single-qubit gates on a 49-qubit superconducting quantum processor. We introduce and experimentally verify an analytical model of simultaneous single-qubit gate error caused by microwave crosstalk that depends on a given pulse shape. By employing a model-based optimization strategy of qubit frequencies, we minimize the crosstalk-induced error across the processor and achieve a mean simultaneous single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.96% for a 16-ns gate duration, approaching the mean individual gate fidelity. To further reduce the simultaneous error and required qubit frequency bandwidth on high-crosstalk qubit pairs, we introduce a crosstalk transition suppression (CTS) pulse shaping technique that minimizes the spectral energy around transitions inducing leakage and crosstalk errors. Finally, we combine CTS with model-based frequency optimization across the device and experimentally show a systematic reduction in the required qubit frequency bandwidth for high-fidelity simultaneous gates, supported by simulations of systems with up to 1000 qubits. By alleviating constraints on qubit frequency bandwidth for parallel single-qubit operations, this work represents an important step for scaling towards larger quantum processors.