Related papers: Characterization of Radiation-Induced Errors in Su…
One of the roadblocks towards the implementation of a fault-tolerant superconducting quantum processor is impacts of ionizing radiation with the qubit substrate. Such impacts temporarily elevate the density of quasiparticles (QPs) across…
Errors in superconducting qubits that are correlated in time and space can pose problems for quantum error correction codes. Radiation from cosmic and terrestrial sources can increase the quasiparticle (QP) density in a superconducting…
Quantum error correction (QEC) provides a practical path to fault-tolerant quantum computing through scaling to large qubit numbers, assuming that physical errors are sufficiently uncorrelated in time and space. In superconducting qubit…
Quantum information processing at scale will require sufficiently stable and long-lived qubits, likely enabled by error-correction codes. Several recent superconducting-qubit experiments, however, reported observing intermittent…
Superconducting qubits are one of the most advanced candidates to realize scalable and fault-tolerant quantum computing. Despite recent significant advancements in the qubit lifetimes, the origin of the loss mechanism for state-of-the-art…
The performance of various superconducting devices operating at ultra-low temperatures is impaired by the presence of non-equilibrium quasiparticles. Inelastic quasiparticle (QP) tunneling across Josephson junctions in superconducting…
Non-equilibrium quasiparticles are possible sources for decoherence in superconducting qubits because they can lead to energy decay or dephasing upon tunneling across Josephson junctions (JJs). Here, we investigate the impact of the…
Designing the spatial profile of the superconducting gap -- gap engineering -- has long been recognized as an effective way of controlling quasiparticles in superconducting devices. In aluminum films, their thickness modulates the gap;…
Error-corrected quantum computers can only work if errors are small and uncorrelated. Here I show how cosmic rays or stray background radiation affects superconducting qubits by modeling the phonon to electron/quasiparticle down-conversion…
Ionizing radiation is a known source of correlated errors in superconducting quantum processors, inhibiting the functionality of quantum error correction surface codes. High-energy photons and charged particles deposit pair-breaking energy…
The quasiparticle density observed in low-temperature superconducting circuits is several orders of magnitude larger than the value expected at thermal equilibrium. The tunneling of this excess of quasiparticles across Josephson junctions…
Josephson junctions form the essential non-linearity for almost all superconducting qubits. The junction is formed when two superconducting electrodes come within $\sim$1 nm of each other. Although the capacitance of these electrodes is a…
As quantum coherence times of superconducting circuits have increased from nanoseconds to hundreds of microseconds, they are currently one of the leading platforms for quantum information processing. However, coherence needs to further…
Ionizing radiation impacts create bursts of quasiparticle density in superconducting qubits. These bursts temporarily degrade qubit coherence which can be detrimental for quantum error correction. Here, we experimentally resolve…
The central challenge in building a quantum computer is error correction. Unlike classical bits, which are susceptible to only one type of error, quantum bits ("qubits") are susceptible to two types of error, corresponding to flips of the…
Quantum error correction will be an essential ingredient in realizing fault-tolerant quantum computing. However, most correction schemes rely on the assumption that errors are sufficiently uncorrelated in space and time. In superconducting…
The dominant contribution to the energy relaxation of state-of-the-art superconducting qubits is often attributed to their coupling to an ensemble of material defects which behave as two-level systems. These defects have varying microscopic…
Superconducting integrated circuits have demonstrated a tremendous potential to realize integrated quantum computing processors. However, the downside of the solid-state approach is that superconducting qubits suffer strongly from energy…
When a high-energy particle, such as a $\gamma$-ray or muon, impacts the substrate of a superconducting qubit chip, large numbers of electron-hole pairs and phonons are created. The ensuing dynamics of the electrons and holes changes the…
Scalable quantum computing can become a reality with error correction, provided coherent qubits can be constructed in large arrays. The key premise is that physical errors can remain both small and sufficiently uncorrelated as devices…