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William D. Oliver

Publications and source records attributed to William D. Oliver.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

ZZ-Free Two-Transmon CZ Gate Mediated by a Fluxonium Coupler

Eliminating residual ZZ interactions in a two-qubit system is essential for reducing coherent errors during quantum operations. In a superconducting circuit platform, coupling two transmon qubits via a transmon coupler has been shown to effectively suppress residual ZZ interactions. However, in such systems, perfect cancellation usually requires the qubit-qubit detuning to be smaller than the individual qubit anharmonicities, which exacerbates frequency crowding and microwave crosstalk. To address this limitation, we introduce TFT (Transmon-Fluxonium-Transmon) architecture, wherein two transmon qubits are coupled via a fluxonium qubit. The coupling mediated by the fluxonium eliminates residual ZZ interactions even for transmons detuned larger than their anharmonicities. We experimentally identified zero-ZZ interaction points at qubit-qubit detunings of 409 MHz and 616 MHz from two distinct TFT devices. We then implemented an adiabatic, coupler-flux-biased controlled-Z gate on both devices, achieving CZ gate fidelities of 99.64(6)% and 99.68(8)%.

quant-ph↗

Placing and routing quantum LDPC codes in multilayer superconducting hardware

Quantum error-correcting codes with asymptotically lower overheads than the surface code require nonlocal connectivity. Leveraging multilayer routing and long-range coupling capabilities in superconducting qubit hardware, we develop Hardware-Aware Layout, HAL: a robust, runtime-efficient heuristic algorithm that automates and optimizes the placement and routing of arbitrary codes. Using HAL, we generate around 150 explicit layouts of quantum low-density parity-check (qLDPC) codes with topological structure -- such as the bivariate bicycle codes and the open-boundary tile codes -- and find that removing the periodic boundaries significantly lowers the hardware complexity with only a moderate reduction of logical efficiency. We also lay out highly nonlocal qLDPC code families -- quantum radial and Tanner codes -- that achieve competitive tradeoffs between hardware complexity and logical efficiency. Based on our findings, we anticipate many novel qLDPC codes to be realizable on near-term superconducting qubit hardware and inform future directions for the co-design of quantum devices and fault-tolerant architectures.

quant-ph↗

Efficient Qubit Calibration by Binary-Search Hamiltonian Tracking

We present and experimentally implement a real-time protocol for calibrating the frequency of a resonantly driven qubit, achieving exponential scaling in calibration precision with the number of measurements, up to the limit imposed by decoherence. The real-time processing capabilities of a classical controller dynamically generate adaptive probing sequences for qubit-frequency estimation. Each probing evolution time and drive frequency are calculated to divide the prior probability distribution into two branches, following a locally optimal strategy that mimics a conventional binary search. The scheme does not require repeated measurements at the same setting, as it accounts for state preparation and measurement errors. Its use of a parametrized probability distribution favors numerical accuracy and computational speed. We show the efficacy of the algorithm by stabilizing a flux-tunable transmon qubit, leading to improved coherence and gate fidelity. As benchmarked by gate-set tomography, the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) powered control electronics partially mitigates non-Markovian noise, which is detrimental to quantum error correction. The mitigation is achieved by dynamically updating and feeding forward the qubit frequency. Our protocol highlights the importance of feedback in improving the calibration and stability of qubits subject to drift and can be readily applied to other qubit platforms.

quant-ph↗

Remote Entangling Gates for Spin Qubits in Quantum Dots using a Charge-Sensitive Superconducting Coupler

We propose a method to realize microwave-activated CZ gates between two remote spin qubits in quantum dots using a charge-sensitive superconducting coupler. The qubits are longitudinally coupled to the coupler, so that the transition frequency of the coupler depends on the logical qubit states; a capacitive network model using first-quantized charge operators is developed to illustrate this. Driving the coupler transition then implements a conditional phase shift on the qubits. Two pulsing schemes are investigated: a rapid, off-resonant pulse with constant amplitude, and a pulse with envelope engineering that incorporates dynamical decoupling to mitigate charge noise. We develop non-Markovian time-domain simulations to accurately model gate performance in the presence of $1/f^β$ charge noise. Simulation results indicate that a CZ gate fidelity exceeding 90% is possible with realistic parameters and noise models.

quant-ph↗

Improving Transmon Qubit Performance with Fluorine-based Surface Treatments

Reducing materials and processing-induced decoherence is critical to the development of utility-scale quantum processors based on superconducting qubits. Here we report on the impact of two fluorine-based wet etches, which we use to treat the silicon surface underneath the Josephson junctions (JJs) of fixed-frequency transmon qubits made with aluminum base metallization. Using several materials analysis techniques, we demonstrate that these surface treatments can remove germanium residue introduced by our JJ fabrication with no other changes to the overall process flow. These surface treatments result in significantly improved energy relaxation times for the highest performing process, with median $T_1=334~μ$s, corresponding to quality factor $Q=6.6\times10^6$. This result suggests that the metal-substrate interface directly underneath the JJs was a major contributor to microwave loss in these transmon qubit circuits prior to integration of these surface treatments. Furthermore, this work illustrates how materials analysis can be used in conjunction with quantum device performance metrics to improve performance in superconducting qubits.

quant-ph↗

Emergent Harmonics in Josephson Tunnel Junctions Due to Series Inductance

Josephson tunnel junctions are essential elements of superconducting quantum circuits. The operability of these circuits presumes a $2π$-periodic sinusoidal potential of a tunnel junction, but higher-order corrections to this Josephson potential, often referred to as "harmonics," cause deviations from the expected circuit behavior. Two potential sources for these harmonics are the intrinsic current-phase relationship of the Josephson junction and the inductance of the metallic traces connecting the junction to other circuit elements. Here, we introduce a method to distinguish the origin of the observed harmonics using nearly-symmetric superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). Spectroscopic measurements of level transitions in multiple devices reveal features that cannot be explained by a standard cosine potential, but are accurately reproduced when accounting for a second-harmonic contribution to the model. The observed scaling of the second harmonic with Josephson-junction size indicates that it is due almost entirely to the trace inductance. These results inform the design of next-generation superconducting circuits for quantum information processing and the investigation of the supercurrent diode effect.

quant-ph↗

Temperature and Magnetic-Field Dependence of Energy Relaxation in a Fluxonium Qubit

Noise from material defects at device interfaces is known to limit the coherence of superconducting circuits, yet our understanding of the defect origins and noise mechanisms remains incomplete. Here we investigate the temperature and in-plane magnetic-field dependence of energy relaxation in a low-frequency fluxonium qubit, where the sensitivity to flux noise and charge noise arising from dielectric loss can be tuned by applied flux. We observe an approximately linear scaling of flux noise with temperature $T$ and a power-law dependence of dielectric loss $T^3$ up to 100 mK. Additionally, we find that the dielectric-loss-limited $T_1$ decreases with weak in-plane magnetic fields, suggesting a potential magnetic-field response of the underlying charge-coupled defects. We implement a multi-level decoherence model in our analysis, motivated by the widely tunable matrix elements and transition energies approaching the thermal energy scale in our system. These findings offer insight for fluxonium coherence modeling and should inform microscopic theories of intrinsic noise in superconducting circuits.

quant-ph↗

Pulse Design of Baseband Flux Control for Adiabatic Controlled-Phase Gates in Superconducting Circuits

Despite progress towards achieving low error rates with superconducting qubits, error-prone two-qubit gates remain a bottleneck for realizing large-scale quantum computers. Therefore, a systematic framework to design high-fidelity gates becomes imperative. One type of two-qubit gate in superconducting qubits is the controlled-phase (CPHASE) gate, which utilizes a conditional interaction between higher energy levels of the qubits controlled by a baseband flux pulse on one of the qubits or a tunable coupler. In this work, we study an adiabatic implementation of CPHASE gates and formulate the design of the control trajectory for the gate as a pulse-design problem. We show in simulation that the Chebyshev-based trajectory can, in certain cases, enable gates with gate infidelity lower by an average of 23.3% when compared to the widely used Slepian-based trajectory.

quant-ph↗

High-Efficiency, Low-Loss Floquet-mode Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifier

Advancing fault-tolerant quantum computing and fundamental science necessitates quantum-limited amplifiers with near-ideal quantum efficiency and multiplexing capability. However, existing solutions typically achieve one at the expense of the other. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate the first Floquet-mode traveling-wave parametric amplifier (Floquet TWPA), which achieves nearly quantum-limited noise performance, minimal dissipation, and broadband operation, breaking the presumption that broadband amplifiers introduce higher noise. We achieve a system measurement efficiency of $65.1\pm5.8\%$ when measuring a superconducting qubit, which to our knowledge is the highest-reported in a superconducting qubit readout experiment utilizing phase-preserving amplifiers. Our device exhibits $>20$-dB amplification over a $3$-GHz instantaneous bandwidth, $<\!0.5\,$-dB average in-band insertion loss, and the highest reported intrinsic quantum efficiency for a TWPA of $92.1\pm7.6\%$, relative to an ideal phase-preserving amplifier. Fabricated in a superconducting qubit process, these general-purpose Floquet TWPAs are suitable for fast, high-fidelity multiplexed readout in large-scale quantum systems and future monolithic integration with quantum processors.

quant-ph↗

Non-degenerate noise-resilient superconducting qubit

We propose a superconducting qubit based on engineering the first and second harmonics of the Josephson energy and phase relation $E_{J1}\cos φ$ and $E_{J2}\cos 2φ$. By constructing a circuit such that $E_{J2}$ is negative and $|E_{J1}| \ll |E_{J2}|$, we create a periodic potential with two non-degenerate minima. The qubit, which we dub "harmonium", is formed from the lowest-energy states of each minimum. Bit-flip protection of the qubit arises due to the localization of each qubit state to their respective minima, while phase-flip protection can be understood by considering the circuit within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. We demonstrate with time-domain simulations that single- and two-qubit gates can be performed in approximately one hundred nanoseconds. Finally, we compute the qubit coherence times using numerical diagonalization of the complete circuit in conjunction with state-of-the-art noise models. We estimate out-of-manifold heating times on the order of milliseconds, which can be treated as erasure errors using conventional dispersive readout. We estimate pure-dephasing times on the order of many tens of milliseconds, and bit-flip times on the order of seconds.

quant-ph↗

Flat-band (de)localization emulated with a superconducting qubit array

Arrays of coupled superconducting qubits are analog quantum simulators able to emulate a wide range of tight-binding models in parameter regimes that are difficult to access or adjust in natural materials. In this work, we use a superconducting qubit array to emulate a tight-binding model on the rhombic lattice, which features flat bands. Enabled by broad adjustability of the dispersion of the energy bands and of on-site disorder, we examine regimes where flat-band localization and Anderson localization compete. We observe disorder-induced localization for dispersive bands and disorder-induced delocalization for flat bands. Remarkably, we find a sudden transition between the two regimes and, in its vicinity, the semblance of quantum critical scaling.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Ultra-dispersive resonator readout of a quantum-dot qubit using longitudinal coupling

We perform readout of a quantum-dot hybrid qubit coupled to a superconducting resonator through a parametric, longitudinal interaction mechanism. Our experiments are performed with the qubit and resonator frequencies detuned by $\sim$10 GHz, demonstrating that longitudinal coupling can facilitate semiconductor qubit operation in the 'ultra-dispersive' regime of circuit quantum electrodynamics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Deterministic remote entanglement using a chiral quantum interconnect

Quantum interconnects facilitate entanglement distribution between non-local computational nodes. For superconducting processors, microwave photons are a natural means to mediate this distribution. However, many existing architectures limit node connectivity and directionality. In this work, we construct a chiral quantum interconnect between two nominally identical modules in separate microwave packages. We leverage quantum interference to emit and absorb microwave photons on demand and in a chosen direction between these modules. We optimize the protocol using model-free reinforcement learning to maximize absorption efficiency. By halting the emission process halfway through its duration, we generate remote entanglement between modules in the form of a four-qubit W state with 62.4 +/- 1.6% (leftward photon propagation) and 62.1 +/- 1.2% (rightward) fidelity, limited mainly by propagation loss. A chiral quantum network comprising many modules provides a platform for the exploration of novel many-body physics and quantum simulation. This quantum network architecture enables all-to-all connectivity between non-local processors for modular and extensible quantum computation.

quant-ph↗

Attention to Quantum Complexity

The imminent era of error-corrected quantum computing urgently demands robust methods to characterize complex quantum states, even from limited and noisy measurements. We introduce the Quantum Attention Network (QuAN), a versatile classical AI framework leveraging the power of attention mechanisms specifically tailored to address the unique challenges of learning quantum complexity. Inspired by large language models, QuAN treats measurement snapshots as tokens while respecting their permutation invariance. Combined with a novel parameter-efficient mini-set self-attention block (MSSAB), such data structure enables QuAN to access high-order moments of the bit-string distribution and preferentially attend to less noisy snapshots. We rigorously test QuAN across three distinct quantum simulation settings: driven hard-core Bose-Hubbard model, random quantum circuits, and the toric code under coherent and incoherent noise. QuAN directly learns the growth in entanglement and state complexity from experimentally obtained computational basis measurements. In particular, it learns the growth in complexity of random circuit data upon increasing depth from noisy experimental data. Taken to a regime inaccessible by existing theory, QuAN unveils the complete phase diagram for noisy toric code data as a function of both noise types. This breakthrough highlights the transformative potential of using purposefully designed AI-driven solutions to assist quantum hardware.

quant-ph↗

Qplacer: Frequency-Aware Component Placement for Superconducting Quantum Computers

Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) computers face a critical limitation in qubit numbers, hindering their progression towards large-scale and fault-tolerant quantum computing. A significant challenge impeding scaling is crosstalk, characterized by unwanted interactions among neighboring components on quantum chips, including qubits, resonators, and substrate. We motivate a general approach to systematically resolving multifaceted crosstalks in a limited substrate area. We propose Qplacer, a frequency-aware electrostatic-based placement framework tailored for superconducting quantum computers, to alleviate crosstalk by isolating these components in spatial and frequency domains alongside compact substrate design. Qplacer commences with a frequency assigner that ensures frequency domain isolation for qubits and resonators. It then incorporates a padding strategy and resonator partitioning for layout flexibility. Central to our approach is the conceptualization of quantum components as charged particles, enabling strategic spatial isolation through a 'frequency repulsive force' concept. Our results demonstrate that Qplacer carefully crafts the physical component layout in mitigating various crosstalk impacts while maintaining a compact substrate size. On various device topologies and NISQ benchmarks, Qplacer improves fidelity by an average of 36.7x and reduces spatial violations (susceptible to crosstalk) by an average of 12.76x, compared to classical placement engines. Regarding area optimization, compared to manual designs, Qplacer can reduce the required layout area by 2.14x on average

quant-ph↗

Superfluid Stiffness and Flat-Band Superconductivity in Magic-Angle Graphene Probed by cQED

The physics of superconductivity in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) is a topic of keen interest in moiré systems research, and it may provide insight into the pairing mechanism of other strongly correlated materials such as high-$T_{\mathrm{c}}$ superconductors. Here, we use DC-transport and microwave circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED) to measure directly the superfluid stiffness of superconducting MATBG via its kinetic inductance. We find the superfluid stiffness to be much larger than expected from conventional Fermi liquid theory; rather, it is comparable to theoretical predictions involving quantum geometric effects that are dominant at the magic angle. The temperature dependence of the superfluid stiffness follows a power-law, which contraindicates an isotropic BCS model; instead, the extracted power-law exponents indicate an anisotropic superconducting gap, whether interpreted within the Fermi liquid framework or by considering quantum geometry of flat-band superconductivity. Moreover, a quadratic dependence of the superfluid stiffness on both DC and microwave current is observed, which is consistent with Ginzburg-Landau theory. Taken together, our findings indicate that MATBG is an unconventional superconductor with an anisotropic gap and strongly suggest a connection between quantum geometry, superfluid stiffness, and unconventional superconductivity in MATBG. The combined DC-microwave measurement platform used here is applicable to the investigation of other atomically thin superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Dephasing in Fluxonium Qubits from Coherent Quantum Phase Slips

Phase slips occur across all Josephson junctions (JJs) at a rate that increases with the impedance of the junction. In superconducting qubits composed of JJ-array superinductors -- such as fluxonium -- phase slips in the array can lead to decoherence. In particular, phase-slip processes at the individual array junctions can coherently interfere, each with an Aharonov--Casher phase that depends on the offset charges of the array islands. These coherent quantum phase slips (CQPS) perturbatively modify the qubit frequency, and therefore charge noise on the array islands will lead to dephasing. By varying the impedance of the array junctions, we design a set of fluxonium qubits in which the expected phase-slip rate within the JJ-array changes by several orders of magnitude. We characterize the coherence times of these qubits and demonstrate that the scaling of CQPS-induced dephasing rates agrees with our theoretical model. Furthermore, we perform noise spectroscopy of two qubits in regimes dominated by either CQPS or flux noise. We find the noise power spectrum associated with CQPS dephasing appears to be featureless at low frequencies and not $1/f$. Numerical simulations indicate this behavior is consistent with charge noise generated by charge-parity fluctuations within the array. Our findings broadly inform JJ-array-design tradeoffs, relevant for the numerous superconducting qubit designs employing JJ-array superinductors.

quant-ph↗

Qubit-State Purity Oscillations from Anisotropic Transverse Noise

We explore the dynamics of qubit-state purity in the presence of transverse noise that is anisotropically distributed in the Bloch-sphere XY plane. We perform Ramsey experiments with noise injected along a fixed laboratory-frame axis and observe oscillations in the purity at twice the qubit frequency arising from the intrinsic qubit Larmor precession. We probe the oscillation dependence on the noise anisotropy, orientation, and power spectral density, using a low-frequency fluxonium qubit. Our results elucidate the impact of transverse noise anisotropy on qubit decoherence and may be useful to disentangle charge and flux noise in superconducting quantum circuits.

quant-ph↗