Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

John M. Martinis

Publications and source records attributed to John M. Martinis.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
arXiv2009

Improving the Coherence Time of Superconducting Coplanar Resonators

The quality factor and energy decay time of superconducting resonators have been measured as a function of material, geometry, and magnetic field. Once the dissipation of trapped magnetic vortices is minimized, we identify surface two-level states (TLS) as an important decay mechanism. A wide gap between the center conductor and the ground plane, as well as use of the superconductor Re instead of Al, are shown to decrease loss. We also demonstrate that classical measurements of resonator quality factor at low excitation power are consistent with single-photon decay time measured using qubit-resonator swap experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2009

Energy Decay in Josephson Qubits from Non-equilibrium Quasiparticles

We calculate the energy decay rate of Josephson qubits and superconducting resonators from non-equilibrium quasiparticles. The decay rates from experiments are shown to be consistent with predictions based on a prior measurement of the quasiparticle density n_qp = 10/um^3, which suggests that non-equilibrium quasiparticles are an important decoherence source for Josephson qubits. Calculations of the energy-decay and diffusion of quasiparticles also indicate that prior engineered gap and trap structures, which reduce the density of quasiparticles, should be redesigned to improve their efficacy. This model also explains a striking feature in Josephson qubits and resonators - a small reduction in decay rate with increasing temperature.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2009

Quasiparticle tunneling: P(E) theory

A calculation of the energy decay rate of a Josephson qubit from non-equilibrium quasiparticles is made using the environmental P(E) theory. For a large-capacitance qubit, we extend the theory to include the tunneling of quasiparticles, which has an electron- and hole-like charge components.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2009

Quantum logic with weakly coupled qubits

There are well-known protocols for performing CNOT quantum logic with qubits coupled by particular high-symmetry (Ising or Heisenberg) interactions. However, many architectures being considered for quantum computation involve qubits or qubits and resonators coupled by more complicated and less symmetric interactions. Here we consider a widely applicable model of weakly but otherwise arbitrarily coupled two-level systems, and use quantum gate design techniques to derive a simple and intuitive CNOT construction. Useful variations and extensions of the solution are given for common special cases.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2009

Microwave response of vortices in superconducting thin films of Re and Al

Vortices in superconductors driven at microwave frequencies exhibit a response related to the interplay between the vortex viscosity, pinning strength, and flux creep effects. At the same time, the trapping of vortices in superconducting microwave resonant circuits contributes excess loss and can result in substantial reductions in the quality factor. Thus, understanding the microwave vortex response in superconducting thin films is important for the design of such circuits, including superconducting qubits and photon detectors, which are typically operated in small, but non-zero, magnetic fields. By cooling in fields of the order of 100 $μ$T and below, we have characterized the magnetic field and frequency dependence of the microwave response of a small density of vortices in resonators fabricated from thin films of Re and Al, which are common materials used in superconducting microwave circuits. Above a certain threshold cooling field, which is different for the Re and Al films, vortices become trapped in the resonators. Vortices in the Al resonators contribute greater loss and are influenced more strongly by flux creep effects than in the Re resonators. This different behavior can be described in the framework of a general vortex dynamics model.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2009

Saturation of Two Level Systems and Charge Noise in Josephson Junction Qubits

We study the charge noise $S_Q$ in Josephson qubits produced by fluctuating two level systems (TLS) with electric dipole moments in the substrate. The TLS are driven by an alternating electric field of angular frequency $Ω$ and electric field intensity $I$. It is not widely appreciated that TLS in small qubits can easily be strongly saturated if $I\gg I_c$, where $I_c$ is the critical electric field intensity. To investigate the effect of saturation on the charge noise, we express the noise spectral density in terms of density matrix elements. To determine the dependence of the density matrix elements on the ratio $I/I_c$, we find the steady state solution for the density matrix using the Bloch-Redfield differential equations. We then obtain an expression for the spectral density of charge fluctuations as a function of frequency $f$ and the ratio $I/I_c$. We find $1/f$ charge noise at low frequencies, and that the charge noise is white (constant) at high frequencies. Using a flat density of states, we find that TLS saturation has no effect on the charge noise at either high or low frequencies.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2008

Measurement of the decay of Fock states in a superconducting quantum circuit

We demonstrate the controlled generation of Fock states with up to 15 photons in a microwave coplanar waveguide resonator coupled to a superconducting phase qubit. The subsequent decay of the Fock states, due to dissipation, is then monitored by varying the time delay between preparing the state and performing a number-state analysis. We find that the decay dynamics can be described by a master equation where the lifetime of the n-photon Fock state scales as 1/n, in agreement with theory. We have also generated a coherent state in the microwave resonator, and monitored its decay process. We demonstrate that the coherent state maintains a Poisson distribution as it decays, with an average photon number that decreases with the same characteristic decay time as the one-photon Fock state.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2008

Uncollapsing of a quantum state in a superconducting phase qubit

We demonstrate in a superconducting qubit the conditional recovery ("uncollapsing") of a quantum state after a partial-collapse measurement. A weak measurement extracts information and results in a non-unitary transformation of the qubit state. However, by adding a rotation and a second partial measurement with the same strength, we erase the extracted information, effectively canceling the effect of both measurements. The fidelity of the state recovery is measured using quantum process tomography and found to be above 70% for partial-collapse strength less than 0.6.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2008

Maximally entangling tripartite protocols for Josephson phase qubits

We introduce a suit of simple entangling protocols for generating tripartite GHZ and W states in systems with anisotropic exchange interaction g(XX+YY)+g'ZZ. An interesting example is provided by macroscopic entanglement in Josephson phase qubits with capacitive (g'=0) and inductive (0<|g'/g|<0.1) couplings.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2008

A semi-empirical model for two-level system noise in superconducting microresonators

We present measurements of the low--temperature excess frequency noise of four niobium superconducting coplanar waveguide microresonators, with center strip widths $s_r$ ranging from 3 $μ$m to 20 $μ$m. For a fixed internal power, we find that the frequency noise decreases rapidly with increasing center strip width, scaling as $1/s_r^{1.6}$. We show that this geometrical scaling is readily explained by a simple semi-empirical model which assumes a surface distribution of independent two-level system fluctuators. These results allow the resonator geometry to be optimized for minimum noise.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2008

Transformed Dissipation in Superconducting Quantum Circuits

Superconducting quantum circuits must be designed carefully to avoid dissipation from coupling to external control circuitry. Here we introduce the concept of current transformation to quantify coupling to the environment. We test this theory with an experimentally-determined impedance transformation of $\sim 10^5$ and find quantitative agreement better than a factor of 2 between this transformation and the reduced lifetime of a phase qubit coupled to a tunable transformer. Higher-order corrections from quantum fluctuations are also calculated with this theory, but found not to limit the qubit lifetime. We also illustrate how this simple connection between current and impedance transformation can be used to rule out dissipation sources in experimental qubit systems.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2008

Magnetism in SQUIDs at Millikelvin Temperatures

We have characterized the temperature dependence of the flux threading dc SQUIDs cooled to millikelvin temperatures. The flux increases as 1/T as temperature is lowered; moreover, the flux change is proportional to the density of trapped vortices. The data is compatible with the thermal polarization of surface spins in the trapped fields of the vortices. In the absence of trapped flux, we observe evidence of spin-glass freezing at low temperature. These results suggest an explanation for the "universal" 1/f flux noise in SQUIDs and superconducting qubits.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2008

High-fidelity gates in a Josephson qubit

We demonstrate new experimental procedures for measuring small errors in a superconducting quantum bit (qubit). By carefully separating out gate and measurement errors, we construct a complete error budget and demonstrate single qubit gate fidelities of 0.98, limited by energy relaxation. We also introduce a new metrology tool -- a Ramsey interference error filter -- that can measure the occupation probability of the state $\ket{2}$ down to $10^{-4}$, a magnitude near the fault tolerant threshold.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2007

1/f Flux Noise in Josephson Phase Qubits

We present a new method to measure 1/f noise in Josephson quantum bits (qubits) that yields low-frequency spectra below 1Hz. Comparison of noise taken at positive and negative bias of a phase qubit shows the dominant noise source to be flux noise and not junction critical-current noise, with a magnitude similar to that measured previously in other systems. Theoretical calculations show that the level of flux noise is not compatible with the standard model of noise from two-level state defects in the surface oxides of the films.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2007

Effect of Two Level System Saturation on Charge Noise in Josephson Junction Qubits

We show that charge noise $S_Q$ in Josephson qubits can be produced by fluctuating two level systems (TLS) with electric dipole moments in the substrate using a flat density of states. At high frequencies the frequency and temperature dependence of the charge noise depends on the ratio $J/J_c$ of the electromagnetic flux $J$ to the critical flux $J_c$. It is not widely appreciated that TLS in small qubits can easily be strongly saturated with $J/J_c\gg 1$. Our results are consistent with experimental conclusions that $S_Q\sim 1/f$ at low frequencies and $S_Q\sim f$ at high frequencies.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2006

Analysis of measurement errors for a superconducting phase qubit

We analyze several mechanisms leading to errors in a course of measurement of a superconducting flux-biased phase qubit. Insufficiently long measurement pulse may lead to nonadiabatic transitions between qubit states $|1>$ and $|0>$, before tunneling through a reduced barrier is supposed to distinguish the qubit states. Finite (though large) ratio of tunneling rates for these states leads to incomplete discrimination between $|1>$ and $|0>$. Insufficiently fast energy relaxation after the tunneling of state $|1>$ may cause the repopulation of the quantum well in which only the state $|0>$ is supposed to remain. We analyze these types of measurement errors using analytical approaches as well as numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2006

State tomography of capacitively shunted phase qubits with high fidelity

We introduce a new design concept for superconducting quantum bits (qubits) in which we explicitly separate the capacitive element from the Josephson tunnel junction for improved qubit performance. The number of two-level systems (TLS) that couple to the qubit is thereby reduced by an order of magnitude and the measurement fidelity improves to 90%. This improved design enables the first demonstration of quantum state tomography with superconducting qubits using single shot measurements.

cond-mat.supr-con↗