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Realistic Monitoring of a Charge Qubit by a Quantum Tunnellling Device a Quantum Trajectory Approach

Neil P. Oxtoby, Howard M. Wiseman, Prahlad Warszawski, Jay Gambetta

Published Jul 1, 2005• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Full text: Recently, we presented a model for continuous DC-biased measurement of a coupled quantum dot (CQD) charge qubit by realistic measurement devices. Modelling realistic measurement devices as ideal detectors embedded in an equivalent measurement circuit (see figure), our aim was to describe the evolution of the qubit state conditioned on the macroscopic output of the external circuit, i.e. the measured current. We generalised a recently developed quantum trajectory theory for realistic photodetectors to treat solid-state detectors-primarily a single electron transistor (SET). This method yields stochastic equations whose (numerical) solutions are the 'realistic quantum trajectories' of the conditioned qubit state. Here we present numerical solutions and analysis for the SET equations. The solutions elucidate the regimes in which (Rabi) electron tunnelling between the CQDs can be detected in a realistic measurement. Further to this, the solutions reveal the conditions under which electron tunnelling events through the SET can be observed, which is related to the question of the nature of the back-action noise of the SET. Copyright (2005) Australian Institute of Physics.

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Full text: Recently, we presented a model for continuous DC-biased measurement of a coupled quantum dot (CQD) charge qubit by realistic measurement devices. Modelling realistic measurement devices as ideal detectors embedded in an equivalent measurement circuit (see figure), our aim was to describe the evolution of the qubit state conditioned on the macroscopic output of the external circuit, i.e. the measured current. We generalised a recently developed quantum trajectory theory for realistic photodetectors to treat solid-state detectors-primarily a single electron transistor (SET). This method yields stochastic equations whose (numerical) solutions are the 'realistic quantum trajectories' of the conditioned qubit state. Here we present numerical solutions and analysis for the SET equations. The solutions elucidate the regimes in which (Rabi) electron tunnelling between the CQDs can be detected in a realistic measurement. Further to this, the solutions reveal the conditions under which electron tunnelling events through the SET can be observed, which is related to the question of the nature of the back-action noise of the SET. Copyright (2005) Australian Institute of Physics.
We present a new model for the continuous measurement of a coupled quantum dot charge qubit. We model the effects of a realistic measurement, namely adding noise to, and filtering, the current through the detector. This is achieved by embedding the detector in an equivalent circuit for measurement. Our aim is to describe the evolution of the qubit state conditioned on the macroscopic output of the external circuit. We achieve this by generalizing a recently developed quantum trajectory theory for realistic photodetectors [P. Warszawski, H. M. Wiseman, and H. Mabuchi, Phys. Rev. A 65, 023802 (2002)] to treat solid-state detectors. This yields stochastic equations whose (numerical) solutions are the ``realistic quantum trajectories'' of the conditioned qubit state. We derive our general theory in the context of a low transparency quantum point contact. Areas of application for our theory and its relation to previous work are discussed.
To obtain information about a system of interest a measurement has to be made. In experiments that probe the quantum nature of our world, the system itself is, in general, necessarily affected by the act of measurement. If the system is weakly coupled to its bath and the dynamics are such that information concerning the system is spread throughout the many degrees of freedom of the bath, and the bath is being measured then a stochastic master equation for the conditioned state of the system can be found. This is termed a quantum trajectory equation. Realistic detectors are not perfect. Information is lost in the conversion to a signal that the observer can use. This loss may occur in the detector itself, in the circuit containing the detector (described by a response time and electronic noise) or at the circuit output (electronic output noise). In order to obtain a true quantum trajectory for the experiment, the observer must condition the state of the quantum system on results that are available in the laboratory rather than on the microscopic events considered previously in quantum trajectories. A method for treating this was first proposed by Warszawski, Wiseman and Mabuchi [Phys. Rev. A 65, 023802 (2002)], in which the quantum system is embedded within a supersystem that also contains the state of the detector. They applied their theory to photodetectors of various sorts. Warszawski has also done the preliminary work on applying this theory to detecting the state of a pair of quantum dots using a SET (single-electron transistor) [MSc. Thesis, Griffith University (2001)]. The resulting theory is termed 'realistic' quantum trajectory theory. In this thesis, the approach of Warszawski, et al.is applied to various solidstate readout devices. These include the SET, the QPC (quantum point contact), and the RF-QPC (radio-frequency QPC). Numerically obtained realistic quantum trajectories for the QPC agree with heuristic results. In particular, in certain limits, the realistic quantum trajectories can take on the appearance of ideal quantum trajectories. This thesis also resolves a problem in solid-state continuous quantum measurement theory by deriving a quantum trajectory model for a SET-monitored charge qubit, that guarantees physically meaningful qubit states. The particular limit necessary to achieve this is discussed, and the SET measurement quality is analysed using techniques borrowed from quantum optics. Conditions for which the SET can approach operation at the limit allowed by quantum mechanics are given. This is also done for the QPC, for which the results agree with previous work.
We propose a model for non-ideal monitoring of the state of a coupled quantum dot qubit by a quantum tunnelling device. The non-ideality is modelled using an equivalent measurement circuit. This allows realistically available measurement results to be related to the state of the quantum system (qubit). We present a quantum trajectory that describes the stochastic evolution of the qubit state conditioned by tunnelling events (i.e. current) through the device. We calculate and compare the noise power spectra of the current in an ideal and a non-ideal measurement. The results show that when the two qubit dots are strongly coupled the non-ideal measurement cannot detect the qubit state precisely. The limitation of the ideal model for describing a realistic system may be estimated from the noise spectra.
We consider charge qubit monitoring (continuous-in-time weak measurement) by a single-electron transistor (SET) operating in the sequential-tunneling regime. We show that commonly used master equations for this regime are not of the Lindblad form that is necessary and sufficient for guaranteeing valid physical states. In this paper we derive a Lindblad-form master equation and a corresponding quantum trajectory model for continuous measurement of the charge qubit by a SET. Our approach requires that the SET-qubit coupling be strong compared to the SET tunneling rates. We present an analysis of the quality of the qubit measurement in this model (sensitivity versus back action). Typically, the strong coupling when the SET island is occupied causes back action on the qubit beyond the quantum back action necessary for its sensitivity, and hence the conditioned qubit state is mixed. However, in one strongly coupled, asymmetric regime, the SET can approach the limit of an ideal detector with an almost pure conditioned state. We also quantify the quality of the SET using more traditional concepts such as the measurement time and decoherence time, which we have generalized so as to treat the strongly responding regime.
Quantum trajectories describe the stochastic evolution of an open quantum system conditioned on continuous monitoring of its output, such as by an ideal photodetector. In practice an experimenter has access to an output filtered through various electronic devices, rather than the microscopic states of the detector. This introduces several imperfections into the measurement process, of which only inefficiency has previously been incorporated into quantum trajectory theory. However, all electronic devices have finite bandwidths, and the consequent delay in conveying the output signal to the observer implies that the evolution of the conditional state of the quantum system must be non-Markovian. We present a general method of describing this evolution and apply it to avalanche photodiodes and to photoreceivers. We include the effects of efficiency, dead time, bandwidth, electronic noise and dark counts. The essential idea is to treat the quantum system and classical detector jointly, and to average over the latter to obtain the conditional quantum state. The significance of our theory is that quantum trajectories for realistic detection are necessary for sophisticated approaches to quantum feedback, and our approach could be applied in many areas of physics.
We derive the quantum trajectory or stochastic (conditional) master equation for a single superconducting Cooper-pair box (SCB) charge qubit measured by a single-electron transistor (SET) detector. This stochastic master equation describes the random evolution of the measured SCB qubit density matrix which both conditions and is conditioned on a particular realization of the measured electron tunneling events through the SET junctions. Hence it can be regarded as a Monte Carlo method that allows us to simulate the continuous quantum measurement process. We show that the master equation for the ``partially'' reduced density matrix [Y. Makhlin et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 4578 (2000)] can be obtained when a ``partial'' average is taken on the stochastic master equation over the fine grained measurement records of the tunneling events in the SET. Finally, we present some Monte Carlo simulation results for the SCB/SET measurement process. We also analyze the probability distribution P(m,t)P(m,t)P(m,t) of finding mmm electrons that have tunneled into the drain of the SET in time ttt to demonstrate the connection between the quantum trajectory approach and the ``partially'' reduced density matrix approach.