Interqubit Coupling Research Articles

Exceptional points and quantum dynamics in a non-Hermitian two-qubit system

We study the exceptional-point (EP) structure and the associated quantum dynamics in a system consisting of a non-Hermitian qubit and a Hermitian qubit. We find that the system possesses two sets of EPs, which divide the system-parameter space into PT -symmetry unbroken, partially broken and fully broken regimes, each with distinct quantum-dynamics characteristics. Particularly, in the partially broken regime, while the PT -symmetry is generally broken in the whole four-dimensional Hilbert space, it is preserved in a two-dimensional subspace such that the quantum dynamics in the subspace are similar to those in the PT -symmetry unbroken regime. In addition, we reveal that the competition between the inter-qubit coupling and the intra-qubit driving gives rise to a complex pattern in the EP variation with system parameters.

Tunable spectral narrowing enabling the functionality of graphene qubit circuits at room temperature

Electrically controllable quantum coherence in quantum dot clusters and arrays based on graphene stripes with zigzag atomic edges (ZZ-stripes) is studied using the Dirac equation and S-matrix technique. We find that respective multiqubit circuits promise stable operation up to room temperatures when the coherence time is prolonged up by a few orders of magnitude through the intrinsic spectral narrowing owing to electron transport between at bands in adjacent sections. Respectively, the coupling of qubits to a noisy environment is diminished, while the inelastic electron-phonon scattering is suppressed. The Stark splitting technique enables a broad range of operations such as all{electrical tuning of the energy level positions and width, level splitting, controlling of the inter-qubit coupling, and the coherence time. At the resonant energies, the phase coherence spreads over thousands of periods. Such phenomena potentially can be utilized in quantum computing and communication applications at room temperature.

Suppression of Crosstalk in Superconducting Qubits Using Dynamical Decoupling

Currently available superconducting quantum processors with interconnected transmon qubits are noisy and prone to various errors. The errors can be attributed to sources such as open quantum system effects and spurious inter-qubit couplings (crosstalk). The ZZ-coupling between qubits in fixed frequency transmon architectures is always present and contributes to both coherent and incoherent crosstalk errors. Its suppression is therefore a key step towards enhancing the fidelity of quantum computation using transmons. Here we propose the use of dynamical decoupling to suppress the crosstalk, and demonstrate the success of this scheme through experiments performed on several IBM quantum cloud processors. In particular, we demonstrate improvements in quantum memory as well as the performance of single-qubit and two-qubit gate operations. We perform open quantum system simulations of the multi-qubit processors and find good agreement with the experimental results. We analyze the performance of the protocol based on a simple analytical model and elucidate the importance of the qubit drive frequency in interpreting the results. In particular, we demonstrate that the XY4 dynamical decoupling sequence loses its universality if the drive frequency is not much larger than the system-bath coupling strength. Our work demonstrates that dynamical decoupling is an effective and practical way to suppress crosstalk and open system effects, thus paving the way towards higher-fidelity logic gates in transmon-based quantum computers.

Quantum Crosstalk Analysis for Simultaneous Gate Operations on Superconducting Qubits

Maintaining or even improving gate performance with growing numbers of parallel controlled qubits is a vital requirement towards fault-tolerant quantum computing. For superconducting quantum processors, though isolated one- or two-qubit gates have been demonstrated with high-fidelity, implementing these gates in parallel commonly show worse performance. Generally, this degradation is attributed to various crosstalks between qubits, such as quantum crosstalk due to residual inter-qubit coupling. An understanding of the exact nature of these crosstalks is critical to figuring out respective mitigation schemes and improved qubit architecture designs with low crosstalk. Here we give a theoretical analysis of quantum crosstalk impact on simultaneous gate operations in a qubit architecture, where fixed-frequency transmon qubits are coupled via a tunable bus, and sub-100-ns controlled-Z (CZ) gates can be realized by applying a baseband flux pulse on the bus. Our analysis shows that for microwave-driven single qubit gates, the dressing from qubit-qubit coupling can cause non-negligible cross-driving errors when qubits operate near frequency collision regions. During CZ gate operations, although unwanted near-neighbor interactions are nominally turned off, sub-MHz parasitic next-near-neighbor interactions involving spectator qubits can still exist, causing considerable leakage or control error when one operates qubit systems around these parasitic resonance points. To ensure high-fidelity simultaneous operations, this could rise a request to figure out a better way to balance the gate error from target qubit systems themselves and the error from non-participating spectator qubits. Overall, our analysis suggests that towards useful quantum processors, the qubit architecture should be examined carefully in the context of high-fidelity simultaneous gate operations in a scalable qubit lattice.

Impact of charge noise on electron exchange interactions in semiconductors

The electron exchange interaction is a promising medium for the entanglement of single-spin qubits in semiconductors as it results in high-speed two-qubit gates. The quality of such entangling gates is reduced by the presence of noise caused by nearby defects acting as two-level fluctuators. To date, the effect of charge noise has been calculated assuming a Gaussian distribution of exchange interaction frequencies between the qubits equivalent to a linear coupling of charge noise with the exchange interaction. In reality the coupling can differ significantly from this linear-coupling approximation depending on the inter-qubit tunnel coupling, detuning of the qubit system, and the magnitude of charge noise. We derive analytical expressions for the frequency spectra of exchange oscillations that encompasses both linear and non-linear coupling to charge-noise. The resulting decoherence times and decay profiles of the exchange oscillations vary considerably. When compared with recent experiments our model shows that non-linear charge-noise coupling is significant and requires consideration to characterise and optimise exchange-based entangling gates.

Ring-Resonator-Based Coupling Architecture for Enhanced Connectivity in a Superconducting Multiqubit Network

Qubit coherence and gate fidelity are typically considered the two most useful metrics for characterizing a quantum processor. An equally useful metric is interqubit connectivity as it minimizes gate count and allows implementing algorithms efficiently with reduced error. However, interqubit connectivity in superconducting processors tends to be limited to nearest neighbor due to practical constraints in typical planar realizations. Here, we introduce a superconducting architecture that uses a ring resonator as a multiqubit coupling element to provide beyond nearest-neighbor connectivity without compromising on coupling uniformity or introducing fabrication complexities. We theoretically analyze the interqubit coupling as a function of frequency for a pair of qubits placed at different positions along the ring resonator and show that for carefully chosen operating frequency and angular spacing between the qubits, the variation of coupling can be minimized. For an operating frequency between the first two resonances of the ring resonator and a ${30}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ angular spacing for qubits, we compute interqubit coupling for a device capable of supporting up to 12 qubits with each qubit connected to nine other qubits. Using four qubits positioned strategically in the ring-resonator coupler, we experimentally verify the theoretical prediction for all possible angular spacings between the two qubits and demonstrate good agreement. Just like the standard bus resonator coupler, the coupling in the ring-resonator coupler is mediated via virtual photons since the operating frequency is far away from the resonant modes of the ring coupler. This ensures that any small internal loss in the ring resonator does not introduce decoherence during the coupling operation. We also compute extensions of this idea involving larger ring resonators and a multiring system and show the possibility of highly connected networks with larger number of qubits. Apart from being plug and play for existing superconducting architectures, our concept is scalable, adaptable to other platforms and has the potential to significantly accelerate progress in quantum computing, annealing, simulations, and error correction.

Modeling Enclosures for Large-Scale Superconducting Quantum Circuits

Superconducting quantum circuits are typically housed in conducting enclosures in order to control their electromagnetic environment. As devices grow in physical size, the electromagnetic modes of the enclosure come down in frequency and can introduce unwanted long-range cross-talk between distant elements of the enclosed circuit. Incorporating arrays of inductive shunts such as through-substrate vias or machined pillars can suppress these effects by raising these mode frequencies. Here, we derive simple, accurate models for the modes of enclosures that incorporate such inductive-shunt arrays. We use these models to predict that cavity-mediated interqubit couplings and drive-line cross-talk are exponentially suppressed with distance for arbitrarily large quantum circuits housed in such enclosures, indicating the promise of this approach for quantum computing. We find good agreement with a finite-element simulation of an example device containing more than 400 qubits.

Critical heat current for operating an entanglement engine

Autonomous entanglement engines have recently been proposed to generate steady-state bipartite and multipartite entanglement exploiting only incoherent interactions with thermal baths at different temperatures. In this work, we investigate the interplay between heat current and entanglement in a two-qubit entanglement engine, deriving a critical heat current for successful operation of the engine, i.e. a cut-off above which entanglement is present. The heat current can thus be seen as a witness to the presence of entanglement. In the regime of weak-inter-qubit coupling, we also investigate the effect of two experimentally relevant parameters for the qubits, the energy detuning and tunnelling, on the entanglement production. Finally, we show that the regime of strong inter-qubit coupling provides no clear advantage over the weak regime, in the context of out-of-equilibrium entanglement engines.

High-fidelity gate set for exchange-coupled singlet-triplet qubits

In order to enable semiconductor-based quantum computing with many qubits, issues like residual interqubit coupling and constraints from scalable control hardware need to be tackled to retain the high gate fidelities demonstrated in current single-qubit devices. Here, we focus on two exchange-coupled singlet-triplet spin qubits, considering realistic control hardware as well as Coulomb and exchange coupling that cannot be fully turned off. Using measured noise spectra, we optimize realistic control pulses and show that two-qubit (single-qubit) gate fidelities of 99.90\% ($\ge 99.69\%$) can be reached in GaAs, while 99.99\% ($\ge 99.95\%$) can be achieved in Si.

Inter-qubit interaction mediated by collective modes in a linear array of three-dimensional cavities

A design of LEGO-like construction set that allows assembling of different linear arrays of three-dimensional (3D) cavities and qubits for circuit quantum electrodynamics experiments has been developed. A study of electromagnetic properties of qubit-3D cavity arrays has been done by using high frequency structure simulator (HFSS). A technique for estimation of inter-qubit coupling strength between qubits embedded in different cavities of cavity array, which combines Hamiltonian description of the system with simple HFSS simulations, has been proposed. A good agreement between inter-qubit coupling strengths, which were obtained by using this technique and directly from simulation, demonstrates the suitability of the method for more complex qubit–cavity arrays where usage of finite-element electromagnetic simulators is limited.

High-fidelity entangling gates for quantum-dot hybrid qubits based on exchange interactions

Quantum dot hybrid qubits exploit an extended charge-noise sweet spot that suppresses dephasing and has enabled the experimental achievement of high-fidelity single-qubit gates. However, current proposals for two-qubit gates require tuning the qubits away from their sweet spots. Here, we propose a two-hybrid-qubit coupling scheme, based on exchange interactions, that allows the qubits to remain at their sweet spots at all times. The interaction is controlled via the inter-qubit tunnel coupling. By simulating such gates in the presence of realistic quasistatic and $1\!/\!f$ charge noise, we show that our scheme should enable controlled-$Z$ gates of length $\sim$5~ns, and Z-CNOT gates of length $\sim$7~ns, both with fidelities $>$99.9\%.

Simulation of the coupling strength of capacitively coupled singlet-triplet qubits

We consider a system of two purely capacitively coupled singlet-triplet qubits and numerically simulate the energy structure of four electrons in two double quantum dots with a large potential barrier between them. We calculate the interqubit coupling strength using an extended Hund-Mulliken approach which includes excited orbitals in addition to the lowest-energy orbital for each quantum dot. We show the coupling strength as a function of the qubit separation as well as plotting it against the detunings of the two double quantum dots and show that the general qualitative features of our results can be captured by a potential-independent toy model of the system.

Steady-state entanglement and coherence of two coupled qubits in equilibrium and nonequilibrium environments

We investigate analytically and numerically the steady-state entanglement and coherence of two coupled qubits each interacting with a local boson or fermion reservoir, based on the Bloch-Redfield master equation beyond the secular approximation. We find that there is non-vanishing steady-state coherence in the nonequilibrium scenario, which grows monotonically with the nonequilibrium condition quantified by the temperature difference or chemical potential difference of the two baths. The steady-state entanglement in general is a non-monotonic function of the nonequilibrium condition as well as the bath parameters in the equilibrium setting. We also find that weak inter-qubit coupling and high base temperature or chemical potential of the baths can strongly suppress the steady-state entanglement and coherence, regardless of the strength of the nonequilibrium condition. On the other hand, the energy detuning of the two qubits, when used in a compensatory way with the nonequilibrium condition, can lead to significant enhancement of the steady-state entanglement in some parameter regimes. In addition, the qubits typically have a stronger steady-state entanglement when coupled to fermion baths exchanging particle with the system than boson baths exchanging energy with the system under similar conditions. We also discussed the possible experimental realization of measuring the steady state entanglement and coherence for coupled qubits systems in nonequilibrium environments. These results offer some general guidelines for optimizing the steady-state entanglement and coherence in the coupled qubit system and may find potential applications in quantum information technology.

A fast quantum interface between different spin qubit encodings

Single-spin qubits in semiconductor quantum dots hold promise for universal quantum computation with demonstrations of a high single-qubit gate fidelity above 99.9% and two-qubit gates in conjunction with a long coherence time. However, initialization and readout of a qubit is orders of magnitude slower than control, which is detrimental for implementing measurement-based protocols such as error-correcting codes. In contrast, a singlet-triplet qubit, encoded in a two-spin subspace, has the virtue of fast readout with high fidelity. Here, we present a hybrid system which benefits from the different advantages of these two distinct spin-qubit implementations. A quantum interface between the two codes is realized by electrically tunable inter-qubit exchange coupling. We demonstrate a controlled-phase gate that acts within 5.5 ns, much faster than the measured dephasing time of 211 ns. The presented hybrid architecture will be useful to settle remaining key problems with building scalable spin-based quantum computers.

Multimode superconducting circuits for realizing strongly coupled multiqubit processor units

Inter-qubit coupling and qubit connectivity in a processor are crucial for achieving high fidelity multi-qubit gates and efficient implementation of quantum algorithms. Typical superconducting processors employ relatively weak transverse inter-qubit coupling which are activated via frequency tuning or microwave drives. Here, we propose a class of multi-mode superconducting circuits which realize multiple transmon qubits with all-to-all longitudinal coupling. These "artificial molecules" directly implement a multi-dimensional Hilbert space that can be easily manipulated due to the always-on longitudinal coupling. We describe the basic technique to analyze such circuits, compute the relevant properties and discuss how to optimize them to create efficient small-scale quantum processors with universal programmability.

Relaxation of Rabi dynamics in a superconducting multiple-qubit circuit

We investigate a superconducting circuit consisting of multiple capacitively-coupled charge qubits. The collective Rabi oscillation of qubits is numerically studied in detail by imitating environmental fluctuations according to the experimental measurement. For the quantum circuit composed of identical qubits, the energy relaxation of the system strongly depends on the interqubit coupling strength. As the qubit–qubit interaction is increased, the system’s relaxation rate is enhanced first and then significantly reduced. In contrast, the inevitable inhomogeneity caused by the nonideal fabrication always accelerates the collective energy relaxation of the system and weakens the interqubit correlation. However, such an inhomogeneous quantum circuit is an interesting test bed for studying the effect of the system inhomogeneity in quantum many-body simulation.

Superconducting gatemon qubit based on a proximitized two-dimensional electron gas.

The coherent tunnelling of Cooper pairs across Josephson junctions (JJs) generates a nonlinear inductance that is used extensively in quantum information processors based on superconducting circuits, from setting qubit transition frequencies1 and interqubit coupling strengths2 to the gain of parametric amplifiers3 for quantum-limited readout. The inductance is either set by tailoring the metal oxide dimensions of single JJs, or magnetically tuned by parallelizing multiple JJs in superconducting quantum interference devices with local current-biased flux lines. JJs based on superconductor-semiconductor hybrids represent a tantalizing all-electric alternative. The gatemon is a recently developed transmon variant that employs locally gated nanowire superconductor-semiconductor JJs for qubit control4,5. Here we go beyond proof-of-concept and demonstrate that semiconducting channels etched from a wafer-scale two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) are a suitable platform for building a scalable gatemon-based quantum computer. We show that 2DEG gatemons meet the requirements6 by performing voltage-controlled single qubit rotations and two-qubit swap operations. We measure qubit coherence times up to ~2 μs, limited by dielectric loss in the 2DEG substrate.

Entanglement control and magic angles for acceptor qubits in Si

Full electrical control of quantum bits could facilitate fast, low-power, scalable quantum computation. Although electric dipoles are highly attractive to couple spin qubits electrically over long distances, mechanisms identified to control two-qubit couplings do not permit single-qubit operations while two-qubit couplings are off. Here, we identify a mechanism to modulate electrical coupling of spin qubits which overcomes this drawback for hole spin qubits in acceptors which is based on the electrical tuning of the direction of the spin-dependent electric dipole by a gate. This allows the inter-qubit coupling to be turned off electrically by tuning to a “magic angle” of vanishing electric dipole-dipole interactions, while retaining the ability to manipulate the individual qubits. This effect stems from the interplay of the Td symmetry of the acceptor state in the Si lattice with the magnetic field orientation and the spin-3/2 characteristic of hole systems. The magnetic field direction also allows us to greatly suppress spin relaxation by phonons that limit single qubit performance, while retaining sweet spots where the qubits are insensitive to charge noise. We propose suitable protocols to practically achieve full electrical tunability of entanglement and the isolation of the qubit.

Geometric Phase and Quantum Phase Transition in Charge-Qubit Array

The geometric phase, being a measure of the curvature of the Hilbert space, is able to capture drastic changes in the properties of the ground state. In superconducting-qubit array, the relations of geometric phase and the quantum phase transition are addressed in detail. The results show that the derivative of the geometric phase with respect to the interqubit couplings strength could reflect the typical features of quantum criticality.

Tunable inductive coupling of superconducting qubits in the strongly nonlinear regime

For a variety of superconducting qubits, tunable interactions are achieved through mutual inductive coupling to a coupler circuit containing a nonlinear Josephson element. In this paper we derive the general interaction mediated by such a circuit under the Born-Oppenheimer Approximation. This interaction naturally decomposes into a classical part, with origin in the classical circuit equations, and a quantum part, associated with the coupler's zero-point energy. Our result is non-perturbative in the qubit-coupler coupling strengths and in the coupler nonlinearity. This can lead to significant departures from previous, linear theories for the inter-qubit coupling, including non-stoquastic and many-body interactions. Our analysis provides explicit and efficiently computable series for any term in the interaction Hamiltonian and can be applied to any superconducting qubit type. We conclude with a numerical investigation of our theory using a case study of two coupled flux qubits, and in particular study the regime of validity of the Born-Oppenheimer Approximation.