arXiv subjects

A. Narla

Publications and source records attributed to A. Narla.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2018

Cavity Attenuators for Superconducting Qubits

Dephasing induced by residual thermal photons in the readout resonator is a leading factor limiting the coherence times of qubits in the circuit QED architecture. This residual thermal population, of the order of $10^{-1}$--$10^{-3}$, is suspected to arise from noise impinging on the resonator from its input and output ports. To address this problem, we designed and tested a new type of band-pass microwave attenuator that consists of a dissipative cavity well thermalized to the mixing chamber stage of a dilution refrigerator. By adding such a cavity attenuator inline with a 3D superconducting cavity housing a transmon qubit, we have reproducibly measured increased qubit coherence times. At base temperature, through Hahn echo experiment, we measured $T_{2\mathrm{e}}/2T_1 = 1.0\,({+0.0}/{-0.1})$ for two qubits over multiple cooldowns. Through noise-induced dephasing measurement, we obtained an upper bound $2\times 10^{-4}$ on the residual photon population in the fundamental mode of the readout cavity, which to our knowledge is the lowest value reported so far. These results validate an effective method for protecting qubits against photon noise, which can be developed into a standard technology for quantum circuit experiments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Generation of discord through a remote joint continuous variable measurement

In quantum mechanics, continuously measuring an observable steers the system into one eigenstate of that observable. This property has interesting and useful consequences when the observable is a joint property of two remotely separated qubits. In particular, if the measurement of the two-qubit joint observable is performed in a way that is blind to single-qubit information, quantum back-action generates correlation of the discord type even if the measurement is weak and inefficient. We demonstrate the ability to generate these quantum correlations in a circuit-QED setup by performing a weak joint readout of two remote, non-interacting, superconducting transmon qubits using the two non-degenerate modes of a Josephson Parametric Converter (JPC). Single-qubit information is erased from the output in the limit of large gain and with properly tailored cavity drive pulses. Our results of the measurement of discord are in quantitative agreement with theoretical predictions, and demonstrate the utility of the JPC as a which-qubit information eraser.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Deterministic remote entanglement of superconducting circuits through microwave two-photon transitions

Large-scale quantum information processing networks will most probably require the entanglement of distant systems that do not interact directly. This can be done by performing entangling gates between standing information carriers, used as memories or local computational resources, and flying ones, acting as quantum buses. We report the deterministic entanglement of two remote transmon qubits by Raman stimulated emission and absorption of a traveling photon wavepacket. We achieve a Bell state fidelity of 73 %, well explained by losses in the transmission line and decoherence of each qubit.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

3-Wave Mixing Josephson Dipole Element

Parametric conversion and amplification based on three-wave mixing are powerful primitives for efficient quantum operations. For superconducting qubits, such operations can be realized with a quadrupole Josephson junction element, the Josephson Ring Modulator (JRM), which behaves as a loss-less three-wave mixer. However, combining multiple quadrupole elements is a difficult task so it would be advantageous to have a pure three-wave dipole element that could be tessellated for increased power handling and/or information throughput. Here, we present a dipole circuit element with third-order nonlinearity, which implements three-wave mixing. Experimental results for a non-degenerate amplifier based on the proposed pure third-order nonlinearity are reported.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Continuous quantum nondemolition measurement of the transverse component of a qubit

Quantum jumps of a qubit are usually observed between its energy eigenstates, also known as its longitudinal pseudo-spin component. Is it possible, instead, to observe quantum jumps between the transverse superpositions of these eigenstates? We answer positively by presenting the first continuous quantum nondemolition measurement of the transverse component of an individual qubit. In a circuit QED system irradiated by two pump tones, we engineer an effective Hamiltonian whose eigenstates are the transverse qubit states, and a dispersive measurement of the corresponding operator. Such transverse component measurements are a useful tool in the driven-dissipative operation engineering toolbox, which is central to quantum simulation and quantum error correction.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Robust concurrent remote entanglement between two superconducting qubits

Entangling two remote quantum systems which never interact directly is an essential primitive in quantum information science and forms the basis for the modular architecture of quantum computing. When protocols to generate these remote entangled pairs rely on using traveling single photon states as carriers of quantum information, they can be made robust to photon losses, unlike schemes that rely on continuous variable states. However, efficiently detecting single photons is challenging in the domain of superconducting quantum circuits because of the low energy of microwave quanta. Here, we report the realization of a robust form of concurrent remote entanglement based on a novel microwave photon detector implemented in the superconducting circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED) platform of quantum information. Remote entangled pairs with a fidelity of $0.57\pm0.01$ are generated at $200$ Hz. Our experiment opens the way for the implementation of the modular architecture of quantum computation with superconducting qubits.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

The reconfigurable Josephson circulator/directional amplifier

Circulators and directional amplifiers are crucial non-reciprocal signal routing and processing components involved in microwave readout chains for a variety of applications. They are particularly important in the field of superconducting quantum information, where the devices also need to have minimal photon losses to preserve the quantum coherence of signals. Conventional commercial implementations of each device suffer from losses and are built from very different physical principles, which has led to separate strategies for the construction of their quantum-limited versions. However, as recently proposed theoretically, by establishing simultaneous pairwise conversion and/or gain processes between three modes of a Josephson-junction based superconducting microwave circuit, it is possible to endow the circuit with the functions of either a phase-preserving directional amplifier or a circulator. Here, we experimentally demonstrate these two modes of operation of the same circuit. Furthermore, in the directional amplifier mode, we show that the noise performance is comparable to standard non-directional superconducting amplifiers, while in the circulator mode, we show that the sense of circulation is fully reversible. Our device is far simpler in both modes of operation than previous proposals and implementations, requiring only three microwave pumps. It offers the advantage of flexibility, as it can dynamically switch between modes of operation as its pump conditions are changed. Moreover, by demonstrating that a single three-wave process yields non-reciprocal devices with reconfigurable functions, our work breaks the ground for the development of future, more-complex directional circuits, and has excellent prospects for on-chip integration.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Wireless Josephson Amplifier

Josephson junction parametric amplifiers are playing a crucial role in the readout chain in superconducting quantum information experiments. However, their integration with current 3D cavity implementations poses the problem of transitioning between waveguide, coax cables and planar circuits. Moreover, Josephson amplifiers require auxiliary microwave components, like directional couplers and/or hybrids, that are sources of spurious losses and impedance mismatches that limit measurement efficiency and amplifier tunability. We have developed a new wireless architecture for these parametric amplifiers that eliminates superfluous microwave components and interconnects. This greatly simplifies their assembly and integration into experiments. We present an experimental realization of such a device operating in the $9-11$ GHz band with about $100$ MHz of amplitude gain-bandwidth product, on par with devices mounted in conventional sample holders. The simpler impedance environment presented to the amplifier also results in increased amplifier tunability.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Tracking Photon Jumps with Repeated Quantum Non-Demolition Parity Measurements

Quantum error correction (QEC) is required for a practical quantum computer because of the fragile nature of quantum information. In QEC, information is redundantly stored in a large Hilbert space and one or more observables must be monitored to reveal the occurrence of an error, without disturbing the information encoded in an unknown quantum state. Such observables, typically multi-qubit parities such as , must correspond to a special symmetry property inherent to the encoding scheme. Measurements of these observables, or error syndromes, must also be performed in a quantum non-demolition (QND) way and faster than the rate at which errors occur. Previously, QND measurements of quantum jumps between energy eigenstates have been performed in systems such as trapped ions, electrons, cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, and superconducting qubits. So far, however, no fast and repeated monitoring of an error syndrome has been realized. Here, we track the quantum jumps of a possible error syndrome, the photon number parity of a microwave cavity, by mapping this property onto an ancilla qubit. This quantity is just the error syndrome required in a recently proposed scheme for a hardware-efficient protected quantum memory using Schrödinger cat states in a harmonic oscillator. We demonstrate the projective nature of this measurement onto a parity eigenspace by observing the collapse of a coherent state onto even or odd cat states. The measurement is fast compared to the cavity lifetime, has a high single-shot fidelity, and has a 99.8% probability per single measurement of leaving the parity unchanged. In combination with the deterministic encoding of quantum information in cat states realized earlier, our demonstrated QND parity tracking represents a significant step towards implementing an active system that extends the lifetime of a quantum bit.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Stabilizing entanglement autonomously between two superconducting qubits

Quantum error-correction codes would protect an arbitrary state of a multi-qubit register against decoherence-induced errors, but their implementation is an outstanding challenge for the development of large-scale quantum computers. A first step is to stabilize a non-equilibrium state of a simple quantum system such as a qubit or a cavity mode in the presence of decoherence. Several groups have recently accomplished this goal using measurement-based feedback schemes. A next step is to prepare and stabilize a state of a composite system. Here we demonstrate the stabilization of an entangled Bell state of a quantum register of two superconducting qubits for an arbitrary time. Our result is achieved by an autonomous feedback scheme which combines continuous drives along with a specifically engineered coupling between the two-qubit register and a dissipative reservoir. Similar autonomous feedback techniques have recently been used for qubit reset and the stabilization of a single qubit state, as well as for creating and stabilizing states of multipartite quantum systems. Unlike conventional, measurement-based schemes, an autonomous approach counter-intuitively uses engineered dissipation to fight decoherence, obviating the need for a complicated external feedback loop to correct errors, simplifying implementation. Instead the feedback loop is built into the Hamiltonian such that the steady state of the system in the presence of drives and dissipation is a Bell state, an essential building-block state for quantum information processing. Such autonomous schemes, broadly applicable to a variety of physical systems as demonstrated by a concurrent publication with trapped ion qubits, will be an essential tool for the implementation of quantum-error correction.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

In-Plane Magnetic Field Tolerance of a Dispersive Aluminum Nanobridge SQUID Magnetometer

We characterize the flux sensitivity of a dispersive 3D aluminum nanobridge SQUID magnetometer as a function of applied in-plane magnetic field. In zero field, we observe an effective flux noise of 17 n$Φ_0$/Hz$^{1/2}$ with 25 MHz of bandwidth. Flux noise increased by less than a factor of three with parallel magnetic fields up to 61 mT. Operation in higher fields may be possible by decreasing the dimensions of the shunt capacitor in the magnetometer circuit. These devices are thus well suited for observing high-speed dynamics in nanoscale magnets, even in the presence of moderate bias magnetic fields.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗