High-contrast qubit interactions using multimode cavity QED.

We introduce a new multimode cavity QED architecture for superconducting circuits that can be used to implement photonic memories, more efficient Purcell filters, and quantum simulations of photonic materials. We show that qubit interactions mediated by multimode cavities can have exponentially improved contrast for two qubit gates without sacrificing gate speed. Using two qubits coupled via a three-mode cavity system we spectroscopically observe multimode strong couplings up to 102 MHz and demonstrate suppressed interactions off resonance of 10 kHz when the qubits are ≈600  MHz detuned from the cavity resonance.

Noise-resistant control for a spin qubit array.

We develop a systematic method of performing corrected gate operations on an array of exchange-coupled singlet-triplet qubits in the presence of both fluctuating nuclear Overhauser field gradients and charge noise. The single-qubit control sequences we present have a simple form, are relatively short, and form the building blocks of a corrected cnot gate when also implemented on the interqubit exchange link. This is a key step towards enabling large-scale quantum computation in a semiconductor-based architecture by facilitating error reduction below the quantum error correction threshold for both single-qubit and multiqubit gate operations.

Measurements of quasiparticle tunneling dynamics in a band-gap-engineered transmon qubit.

We have engineered the band gap profile of transmon qubits by combining oxygen-doped Al for tunnel junction electrodes and clean Al as quasiparticle traps to investigate energy relaxation due to quasiparticle tunneling. The relaxation time T1 of the qubits is shown to be insensitive to this band gap engineering. Operating at relatively low-E(J)/E(C) makes the transmon transition frequency distinctly dependent on the charge parity, allowing us to detect the quasiparticles tunneling across the qubit junction.

Composite pulses for robust universal control of singlet-triplet qubits.

Precise qubit manipulation is fundamental to quantum computing, yet experimental systems generally have stray coupling between the qubit and the environment, which hinders the necessary high-precision control. Here, we report the first theoretical progress in correcting an important class of errors stemming from fluctuations in the magnetic field gradient, in the context of the singlet-triplet spin qubit in a semiconductor double quantum dot. These errors are not amenable to correction via control techniques developed in other contexts, as here the experimenter has precise control only over the rotation rate about the z axis of the Bloch sphere, and this rate is furthermore restricted to be positive and bounded.

Observation of high coherence in Josephson junction qubits measured in a three-dimensional circuit QED architecture.

Superconducting quantum circuits based on Josephson junctions have made rapid progress in demonstrating quantum behavior and scalability. However, the future prospects ultimately depend upon the intrinsic coherence of Josephson junctions, and whether superconducting qubits can be adequately isolated from their environment. We introduce a new architecture for superconducting quantum circuits employing a three-dimensional resonator that suppresses qubit decoherence while maintaining sufficient coupling to the control signal.

Quantum-to-classical transition in cavity quantum electrodynamics.

The quantum properties of electromagnetic, mechanical or other harmonic oscillators can be revealed by investigating their strong coherent coupling to a single quantum two level system in an approach known as cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED). At temperatures much lower than the characteristic energy level spacing the observation of vacuum Rabi oscillations or mode splittings with one or a few quanta asserts the quantum nature of the oscillator. Here, we study how the classical response of a cavity QED system emerges from the quantum one when its thermal occupation-or effective temperature-is raised gradually over 5 orders of magnitude.

Response of the strongly driven Jaynes-Cummings oscillator.

We analyze the Jaynes-Cummings model of quantum optics, in the strong-dispersive regime. In the bad-cavity limit and on time scales short compared to the atomic coherence time, the dynamics are those of a nonlinear oscillator. A steady-state nonperturbative semiclassical analysis exhibits a finite region of bistability delimited by a pair of critical points, unlike the usual dispersive bistability from a Kerr nonlinearity.

Demonstration of two-qubit algorithms with a superconducting quantum processor.

Quantum computers, which harness the superposition and entanglement of physical states, could outperform their classical counterparts in solving problems with technological impact-such as factoring large numbers and searching databases. A quantum processor executes algorithms by applying a programmable sequence of gates to an initialized register of qubits, which coherently evolves into a final state containing the result of the computation. Building a quantum processor is challenging because of the need to meet simultaneously requirements that are in conflict: state preparation, long coherence times, universal gate operations and qubit readout.

Randomized benchmarking and process tomography for gate errors in a solid-state qubit.

We present measurements of single-qubit gate errors for a superconducting qubit. Results from quantum process tomography and randomized benchmarking are compared with gate errors obtained from a double pi pulse experiment. Randomized benchmarking reveals a minimum average gate error of 1.