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Hantao Sun

Publications and source records attributed to Hantao Sun.

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Lifting connectivity bottlenecks in superconducting quantum processors via enriched native two-qubit gates

Limited qubit connectivity is a central architectural constraint in superconducting quantum processors, whose planar layouts require additional gates to mediate interactions between distant qubits. Here, we use the AshN control scheme, where rich two-qubit control on every nearest-neighbour pair allows a logical interaction and the required qubit routing to be merged into a single native operation, effectively transforming a sparse hardware graph into a more connected computational architecture. For the benchmark instances studied, the resulting synthesis capability enables reliable execution on constrained one- and two-dimensional lattices, with compiled two-qubit gate counts approaching those of an all-to-all-connected reference. Across seven benchmark circuits on one- and two-dimensional topologies, the AshN-based implementation achieves geometric-mean reductions of $45.2\%$ and $43.7\%$ in two-qubit gate count compared with controlled-Z-based compilation, respectively. Using AshN gates, we prepare an eight-qubit two-excitation Dicke state with a fidelity of $0.736$ and certify its genuine multipartite entanglement using a fully positive-partial-transpose witness, whereas the same witness does not certify entanglement for the CZ-based implementation. The state fidelity and entanglement certification remain robust across the tested lattice configurations, including those with up to three connectivity defects. Our work establishes native-gate engineering as a practical approach to mitigating connectivity constraints.

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Digital quantum simulation of squeezed states via enhanced bosonic encoding in a superconducting quantum processor

We present a fully digital approach for simulating single-mode squeezed states on a superconducting quantum processor using an enhanced bosonic encoding strategy. By mapping up to 2^{n} photonic Fock states onto n qubits, our framework leverages Gray-code-based encodings to reduce gate overhead compared to conventional one-hot or binary mappings. We further optimize resource usage by restricting the simulation on Fock states with even number of photons only, effectively doubling the range of photon numbers that can be represented for a given number of qubits. To overcome noise and finite coherence in current hardware, we employ a variational quantum simulation protocol, which adapts shallow, parameterized circuits through iterative optimization. Implemented on the Zuchongzhi-2 superconducting platform, our method demonstrates squeezed-state dynamics across a parameter sweep from vacuum state preparation (r=0) to squeezing levels exceeding the Fock space truncation limit (r>1.63). Experimental results, corroborated by quantum state tomography and Wigner-function analysis, confirm high-fidelity state preparation and demonstrate the potential of Gray-code-inspired techniques for realizing continuous-variable physics on near-term, qubit-based quantum processors.

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High coherence fluxonium manufactured with a wafer-scale uniformity process

Fluxonium qubits are recognized for their high coherence times and high operation fidelities, attributed to their unique design incorporating a superinductor, which is typically implemented using an array of over 100 Josephson junctions. However, this complexity poses significant fabrication challenges, particularly in achieving high yield and junction uniformity with traditional methods. Here, we introduce an overlap process for Josephson junction fabrication that achieves nearly 100% yield and maintains uniformity across a 2-inch wafer with less than 5% variation for the phase slip junction and less than 2% for the entire junction array. We use a compact junction array design that achieves state-of-the-art dielectric loss tangents and flux noise levels, as confirmed by multiple devices. This enables fluxonium qubits to reach energy relaxation times exceeding 1 millisecond at the flux frustration point. This work paves the way for scalable high coherence fluxonium processors using CMOS-compatible processes, marking a significant step towards practical quantum computing.

quant-ph

The effects of disorder in superconducting materials on qubit coherence

Introducing disorderness in the superconducting materials has been considered promising to enhance the electromagnetic impedance and realize noise-resilient superconducting qubits. Despite a number of pioneering implementations, the understanding of the correlation between the material disorderness and the qubit coherence is still developing. Here, we demonstrate a systematic characterization of fluxonium qubits with the superinductors made from titanium-aluminum-nitride with varied disorderness. From qubit noise spectroscopy, the flux noise and the dielectric loss are extracted as a measure of the coherence properties. Our results reveal that the $1/f$ flux noise dominates the qubit decoherence around the flux-frustration point, strongly correlated with the material disorderness; while the dielectric loss remains low under a wide range of material properties. From the flux-noise amplitudes, the areal density ($\sigma$) of the phenomenological spin defects and material disorderness are found to be approximately correlated by $\sigma \propto \rho_{xx}^3$, or effectively $(k_F l)^{-3}$. This work has provided new insights on the origin of decoherence channels within superconductors, and could serve as a useful guideline for material design and optimization.

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Native approach to controlled-Z gates in inductively coupled fluxonium qubits

The fluxonium qubits have emerged as a promising platform for gate-based quantum information processing. However, their extraordinary protection against charge fluctuations comes at a cost: when coupled capacitively, the qubit-qubit interactions are restricted to XX-interactions. Consequently, effective XX- or XZ-interactions are only constructed either by temporarily populating higher-energy states, or by exploiting perturbative effects under microwave driving. Instead, we propose and demonstrate an inductive coupling scheme, which offers a wide selection of native qubit-qubit interactions for fluxonium. In particular, we leverage a built-in, flux-controlled ZZ-interaction to perform qubit entanglement. To combat the increased flux-noise-induced dephasing away from the flux-insensitive position, we use a continuous version of the dynamical decoupling scheme to perform noise filtering. Combining these, we demonstrate a 20 ns controlled-Z (CZ) gate with a mean fidelity of 99.53%. More than confirming the efficacy of our gate scheme, this high-fidelity result also reveals a promising but rarely explored parameter space uniquely suitable for gate operations between fluxonium qubits.

quant-ph

Characterization of loss mechanisms in a fluxonium qubit

Using a fluxonium qubit with in situ tunability of its Josephson energy, we characterize its energy relaxation at different flux biases as well as different Josephson energy values. The relaxation rate at qubit energy values, ranging more than one order of magnitude around the thermal energy $k_B T$, can be quantitatively explained by a combination of dielectric loss and $1/f$ flux noise with a crossover point. The amplitude of the $1/f$ flux noise is consistent with that extracted from the qubit dephasing measurements at the flux sensitive points. In the dielectric loss dominant regime, the loss is consistent with that arises from the electric dipole interaction with two-level-system (TLS) defects. In particular, as increasing Josephson energy thus decreasing qubit frequency at the flux insensitive spot, we find that the qubit exhibits increasingly weaker coupling to TLS defects thus desirable for high-fidelity quantum operations.

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Titanium Nitride Film on Sapphire Substrate with Low Dielectric Loss for Superconducting Qubits

Dielectric loss is one of the major decoherence sources of superconducting qubits. Contemporary high-coherence superconducting qubits are formed by material systems mostly consisting of superconducting films on substrate with low dielectric loss, where the loss mainly originates from the surfaces and interfaces. Among the multiple candidates for material systems, a combination of titanium nitride (TiN) film and sapphire substrate has good potential because of its chemical stability against oxidization, and high quality at interfaces. In this work, we report a TiN film deposited onto sapphire substrate achieving low dielectric loss at the material interface. Through the systematic characterizations of a series of transmon qubits fabricated with identical batches of TiN base layers, but different geometries of qubit shunting capacitors with various participation ratios of the material interface, we quantitatively extract the loss tangent value at the substrate-metal interface smaller than $8.9 \times 10^{-4}$ in 1-nm disordered layer. By optimizing the interface participation ratio of the transmon qubit, we reproducibly achieve qubit lifetimes of up to 300 $\mu$s and quality factors approaching 8 million. We demonstrate that TiN film on sapphire substrate is an ideal material system for high-coherence superconducting qubits. Our analyses further suggest that the interface dielectric loss around the Josephson junction part of the circuit could be the dominant limitation of lifetimes for state-of-the-art transmon qubits.

quant-ph

Fluxonium: an alternative qubit platform for high-fidelity operations

Superconducting qubits provide a promising path toward building large-scale quantum computers. The simple and robust transmon qubit has been the leading platform, achieving multiple milestones. However, fault-tolerant quantum computing calls for qubit operations at error rates significantly lower than those exhibited in the state of the art. Consequently, alternative superconducting qubits with better error protection have attracted increasing interest. Among them, fluxonium is a particularly promising candidate, featuring large anharmonicity and long coherence times. Here, we engineer a fluxonium-based quantum processor that integrates high qubit-coherence, fast frequency-tunability, and individual-qubit addressability for reset, readout, and gates. With simple and fast gate schemes, we achieve an average single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.97% and a two-qubit gate fidelity of up to 99.72%. This performance is comparable to the highest values reported in the literature of superconducting circuits. Thus our work, for the first time within the realm of superconducting qubits, reveals an approach toward fault-tolerant quantum computing that is alternative and competitive to the transmon system.

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