arXiv subjects

Uwe von Lüpke

Publications and source records attributed to Uwe von Lüpke.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Engineering two-qubit gates via anisotropic exchange in germanium spin qubits

Germanium hole spin qubits are a promising and versatile platform for quantum computation and simulation. In this system, strong spin-orbit interaction (SOI) renders the single-qubit $g$-tensor anisotropic and electrically tunable, enabling operational sweet spots with reduced noise sensitivity. SOI also transforms the isotropic two-qubit exchange coupling into an anisotropic tensor whose geometry is inherited from the single-qubit $g$-tensors and spin-flip tunnelling. Here, using two hole spin qubits in a strained-germanium quantum well and full vector control of the magnetic field, we map this exchange tensor, separate it into longitudinal and transverse components, and show that they govern controlled-phase and SWAP-like dynamics, respectively. We find that the longitudinal exchange can be tuned via the magnetic field orientation from a conventional positive value, through zero, to an effectively negative one, as measured by inverted exchange-split spin transitions. The magnetic field direction thus provides continuous control over the interaction Hamiltonian: at a point of purely transverse exchange, we engineer a single-pulse baseband iSWAP, unattainable under isotropic exchange. Linking $g$-tensor geometry to exchange anisotropy establishes native Hamiltonian engineering, enabling spin-based quantum simulation and gate sets selected by the global field orientation alone.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

A dressed singlet-triplet qubit in germanium

In semiconductor hole spin qubits, low magnetic field ($B$) operation extends the coherence time ($T_\mathrm{2}^*$) but proportionally reduces the gate speed. In contrast, singlet-triplet (ST) qubits are primarily controlled by the exchange interaction ($J$) and can thus maintain high gate speeds even at low $B$. However, a large $J$ introduces a significant charge component to the qubit, rendering ST qubits more vulnerable to charge noise when driven. Here, we demonstrate a highly coherent ST hole spin qubit in germanium, operating at both low $B$ and low $J$. By modulating $J$, we achieve resonant driving of the ST qubit, obtaining an average gate fidelity of $99.68\%$ and a coherence time of $T_\mathrm{2}^*=1.9\,μ$s. Moreover, by applying the resonant drive continuously, we realize a dressed ST qubit with a tenfold increase in coherence time ($T_\mathrm{2ρ}^*=20.3\,μ$s). Frequency modulation of the driving signal enables universal control, with an average gate fidelity of $99.63\%$. Our results demonstrate the potential for extending coherence times while preserving high-fidelity control of germanium-based ST qubits, paving the way for more efficient operations in semiconductor-based quantum processors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Resonant two-qubit gates for fermionic simulations with spin qubits

In gate-defined semiconductor spin qubits, the highly tunable Heisenberg exchange interaction is leveraged to implement fermionic two-qubit gates such as CZ and SWAP. However, the broader family of fermionic simulation (fSim) gates remains unexplored, and has the potential to enhance the performance of near-term quantum simulation algorithms. Here, we demonstrate a method to implement the fSim gate set in spin qubits using a single pulse combining baseband and resonant exchange drives. This approach minimizes gate duration and drive amplitude, mitigating decoherence and crosstalk. We validate its effectiveness by realizing a resonant iSWAP gate between two hole spins in germanium, achieving a fidelity of 93.8(5)% extracted with interleaved randomized benchmarking. Quantum process tomography confirms accurate gate calibration and identifies qubit decoherence as the dominant error source. Our results establish a practical route toward a versatile and efficient two-qubit gate set for spin-based quantum processors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Quantum squeezing in a nonlinear mechanical oscillator

Mechanical degrees of freedom are natural candidates for continuous-variable quantum information processing and bosonic quantum simulations. These applications, however, require the engineering of squeezing and nonlinearities in the quantum regime. Here we demonstrate ground state squeezing of a gigahertz-frequency mechanical resonator coupled to a superconducting qubit. This is achieved by parametrically driving the qubit, which results in an effective two-phonon drive. In addition, we show that the resonator mode inherits a nonlinearity from the off-resonant coupling with the qubit, which can be tuned by controlling the detuning. We thus realize a mechanical squeezed Kerr oscillator, where we demonstrate the preparation of non-Gaussian quantum states of motion with Wigner function negativities and high quantum Fisher information. This shows that our results also have applications in quantum metrology and sensing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Quasiparticle dynamics in a superconducting qubit irradiated by a localized infrared source

A known source of decoherence in superconducting qubits is the presence of broken Cooper pairs, or quasiparticles. These can be generated by high-energy radiation, either present in the environment or purposefully introduced, as in the case of some hybrid quantum devices. Here, we systematically study the properties of a transmon qubit under illumination by focused infrared radiation with various powers, durations, and spatial locations. Despite the high energy of incident photons, our observations agree well with a model of low-energy quasiparticle dynamics dominated by trapping. This technique can be used for understanding and potentially mitigating the effects of high-energy radiation on superconducting circuits with a variety of geometries and materials.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Engineering phonon-phonon interactions in multimode circuit quantum acousto-dynamics

In recent years, remarkable progress has been made towards encoding and processing quantum information in the large Hilbert space of bosonic modes. Mechanical resonators are of great interest for this purpose, since they confine many high quality factor modes into a small volume and can be easily integrated with many different quantum systems. An important yet challenging task is to create direct interactions between different mechanical modes. Here we demonstrate an in-situ tunable beam-splitter-type interaction between several mechanical modes of a high-overtone bulk acoustic wave resonator. The engineered interaction is mediated by a parametrically driven superconducting transmon qubit, and we show that it can be tailored to couple pairs or triplets of phononic modes. Furthermore, we use this interaction to demonstrate the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect between phonons. Our results lay the foundations for using phononic systems as quantum memories and platforms for quantum simulations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Macroscopic quantum test with bulk acoustic wave resonators

Recently, solid-state mechanical resonators have become a platform for demonstrating non-classical behavior of systems involving a truly macroscopic number of particles. Here, we perform the most macroscopic quantum test in a mechanical resonator to date, which probes the validity of quantum mechanics at the microgram mass scale. This is done by a direct measurement of the Wigner function of a high-overtone bulk acoustic wave resonator mode, monitoring the gradual decay of negativities over tens of microseconds. While the obtained macroscopicity of $μ= 11.3$ is on par with state-of-the-art atom interferometers, future improvements of mode geometry and coherence times could confirm the quantum superposition principle at unprecedented scales.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Schrödinger cat states of a 16-microgram mechanical oscillator

The superposition principle is one of the most fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. According to the Schrödinger equation, a physical system can be in any linear combination of its possible states. While the validity of this principle is routinely validated for microscopic systems, it is still unclear why we do not observe macroscopic objects to be in superpositions of states that can be distinguished by some classical property. Here we demonstrate the preparation of a mechanical resonator with an effective mass of 16.2 micrograms in Schrödinger cat states of motion, where the constituent atoms are in a superposition of oscillating with two opposite phases. We show control over the size and phase of the superposition and investigate the decoherence dynamics of these states. Apart from shedding light at the boundary between the quantum and the classical world, our results are of interest for quantum technologies, as they pave the way towards continuous-variable quantum information processing and quantum metrology with mechanical resonators.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Parity measurement in the strong dispersive regime of circuit quantum acoustodynamics

Mechanical resonators are emerging as an important new platform for quantum science and technologies. A large number of proposals for using them to store, process, and transduce quantum information motivates the development of increasingly sophisticated techniques for controlling mechanical motion in the quantum regime. By interfacing mechanical resonators with superconducting circuits, circuit quantum acoustodynamics (cQAD) can make a variety of important tools available for manipulating and measuring motional quantum states. Here we demonstrate direct measurements of the phonon number distribution and parity of nonclassical mechanical states. We do this by operating our system in the strong dispersive regime, where a superconducting qubit can be used to spectroscopically resolve phonon Fock states. These measurements are some of the basic building blocks for constructing acoustic quantum memories and processors. Furthermore, our results open the door to performing even more complex quantum algorithms using mechanical systems, such as quantum error correction and multi-mode operations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Two-qubit spectroscopy of spatiotemporally correlated quantum noise in superconducting qubits

Noise that exhibits significant temporal and spatial correlations across multiple qubits can be especially harmful to both fault-tolerant quantum computation and quantum-enhanced metrology. However, a complete spectral characterization of the noise environment of even a two-qubit system has not been reported thus far. We propose and experimentally validate a protocol for two-qubit dephasing noise spectroscopy based on continuous control modulation. By combining ideas from spin-locking relaxometry with a statistically motivated robust estimation approach, our protocol allows for the simultaneous reconstruction of all the single-qubit and two-qubit cross-correlation spectra, including access to their distinctive non-classical features. Only single-qubit control manipulations and state-tomography measurements are employed, with no need for entangled-state preparation or readout of two-qubit observables. While our experimental validation uses two superconducting qubits coupled to a shared engineered noise source, our methodology is portable to a variety of dephasing-dominated qubit architectures. By pushing quantum noise spectroscopy beyond the single-qubit setting, our work paves the way to characterizing spatiotemporal correlations in both engineered and naturally occurring noise environments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

Non-Gaussian noise spectroscopy with a superconducting qubit sensor

Accurate characterization of the noise influencing a quantum system of interest has far-reaching implications across quantum science, ranging from microscopic modeling of decoherence dynamics to noise-optimized quantum control. While the assumption that noise obeys Gaussian statistics is commonly employed, noise is generically non-Gaussian in nature. In particular, the Gaussian approximation breaks down whenever a qubit is strongly coupled to discrete noise sources or has a non-linear response to the environmental degrees of freedom. Thus, in order to both scrutinize the applicability of the Gaussian assumption and capture distinctive non-Gaussian signatures, a tool for characterizing non-Gaussian noise is essential. Here, we experimentally validate a quantum control protocol which, in addition to the spectrum, reconstructs the leading higher-order spectrum of engineered non-Gaussian dephasing noise using a superconducting qubit as a sensor. This first experimental demonstration of non-Gaussian noise spectroscopy represents a major step toward demonstrating a complete spectral estimation toolbox for quantum devices.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Interplay between kinetic inductance, non-linearity and quasiparticle dynamics in granular aluminum MKIDs

Microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) are thin film, cryogenic, superconducting resonators. Incident Cooper pair-breaking radiation increases their kinetic inductance, thereby measurably lowering their resonant frequency. For a given resonant frequency, the highest MKID responsivity is obtained by maximizing the kinetic inductance fraction $α$. However, in circuits with $α$ close to unity, the low supercurrent density reduces the maximum number of readout photons before bifurcation due to self-Kerr non-linearity, therefore setting a bound for the maximum $α$ before the noise equivalent power (NEP) starts to increase. By fabricating granular aluminum MKIDs with different resistivities, we effectively sweep their kinetic inductance from tens to several hundreds of pH per square. We find a NEP minimum in the range of $25\; \text{aW}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ at $α\approx 0.9$, which results from a tradeoff between the onset of non-linearity and a non-monotonic dependence of the noise spectral density vs. resistivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2017

An argon ion beam milling process for native $\text{AlO}_\text{x}$ layers enabling coherent superconducting contacts

We present an argon ion beam milling process to remove the native oxide layer forming on aluminum thin films due to their exposure to atmosphere in between lithographic steps. Our cleaning process is readily integrable with conventional fabrication of Josephson junction quantum circuits. From measurements of the internal quality factors of superconducting microwave resonators with and without contacts, we place an upper bound on the residual resistance of an ion beam milled contact of 50$\,\mathrm{m}Ω\cdot μ\mathrm{m}^2$ at a frequency of 4.5 GHz. Resonators for which only $6\%$ of the total foot-print was exposed to the ion beam milling, in areas of low electric and high magnetic field, showed quality factors above $10^6$ in the single photon regime, and no degradation compared to single layer samples. We believe these results will enable the development of increasingly complex superconducting circuits for quantum information processing.

quant-ph↗