Oliver Dial

Demonstration of entanglement of electrostatically coupled singlet-triplet qubits.

Entangling Qubits The basic building block of a quantum computer, a qubit, has been realized in many physical settings, each of which has its advantages and drawbacks. Solid-state spin qubits interact weakly with their environment and each other, leading not only to long coherence times but also to difficulties in performing multiqubit operations. Shulman et al. (p. 202) used a double quantum dot to produce a singlet-triplet qubit, where the two quantum states available are a singlet and a triplet formed by two spin-1/2 electrons. Two such qubits are then entangled by electrical gating, which affects the charge configuration of one qubit and that, in turn, influences the electric field experienced by the other. This type of two-qubit entanglement is essential for further development of quantum computing in these systems. The states of two qubits residing in a pair of double quantum dots are rendered interdependent through electrical gating. Quantum computers have the potential to solve certain problems faster than classical computers. To exploit their power, it is necessary to perform interqubit operations and generate entangled states. Spin qubits are a promising candidate for implementing a quantum processor because of their potential for scalability and miniaturization. However, their weak interactions with the environment, which lead to their long coherence times, make interqubit operations challenging. We performed a controlled two-qubit operation between singlet-triplet qubits using a dynamically decoupled sequence that maintains the two-qubit coupling while decoupling each qubit from its fluctuating environment. Using state tomography, we measured the full density matrix of the system and determined the concurrence and the fidelity of the generated state, providing proof of entanglement.

Charge Noise Spectroscopy Using Coherent Exchange Oscillations in a Singlet-Triplet Qubit

Two level systems that can be reliably controlled and measured hold promise as qubits both for metrology and for quantum information science. Since a fluctuating environment limits the performance of qubits in both capacities, understanding environmental coupling and dynamics is key to improving qubit performance. We show measurements of the level splitting and dephasing due to the voltage noise of a GaAs singlet-triplet qubit during exchange oscillations. Unexpectedly, the voltage fluctuations are non-Markovian even at high frequencies and exhibit a strong temperature dependence. This finding has impacts beyond singlet-triplet qubits since nearly all solid state qubits suffer from some kind of charge noise. The magnitude of the fluctuations allows the qubit to be used as a charge sensor with a sensitivity of 2 × 10(-8)e/sqrt[Hz], 2 orders of magnitude better than a quantum-limited rf single electron transistor. Based on these measurements, we provide recommendations for improving qubit coherence, allowing for higher fidelity operations and improved charge sensitivity.

Long-Distance Spin-Spin Coupling via Floating Gates

The electron spin is a natural two-level system that allows a qubit to be encoded. When localized in a gate-defined quantum dot, the electron spin provides a promising platform for a future functional quantum computer. The essential ingredient of any quantum computer is entanglement-for the case of electronspin qubits considered here-commonly achieved via the exchange interaction. Nevertheless, there is an immense challenge as to how to scale the system up to include many qubits. In this paper, we propose a novel architecture of a large-scale quantum computer based on a realization of long-distance quantum gates between electron spins localized in quantum dots. The crucial ingredients of such a long-distance coupling are floating metallic gates that mediate electrostatic coupling over large distances. We show, both analytically and numerically, that distant electron spins in an array of quantum dots can be coupled selectively, with coupling strengths that are larger than the electron-spin decay and with switching times on the order of nanoseconds.

Bulk and surface loss in superconducting transmon qubits

Decoherence of superconducting transmon qubits is purported to be consistent with surface loss from two-level systems on the substrate surface. Here, we present a study of surface loss in transmon devices, explicitly designed to have varying sensitivities to different surface loss contributors. Our experiments also encompass two particular different sapphire substrates, which reveal the onset of a yet unknown additional loss mechanism outside of surface loss for one of the substrates. Tests across different wafers and devices demonstrate substantial variation, and we emphasize the importance of testing large numbers of devices for disentangling different sources of decoherence.

Optimized pulse shapes for a resonator-induced phase gate

The resonator-induced phase gate is a multi-qubit controlled-phase gate for fixed-frequency superconducting qubits. Through off-resonant driving of a bus resonator, statically coupled qubits acquire a state-dependent phase. However, photon loss leads to dephasing during the gate, and any residual entanglement between the resonator and qubits after the gate leads to decoherence. Here we consider how to shape the drive pulse to minimize these unwanted effects. First, we review how the gates entangling and dephasing rates depend on the system parameters and validate closed-form solutions against direct numerical solution of a master equation. Next, we propose spline pulse shapes that reduce residual qubit-bus entanglement, are robust to imprecise knowledge of the resonator shift, and can be shortened by using higher-degree polynomials. Finally, we present a procedure that optimizes over the subspace of pulses that leave the resonator unpopulated. This finds shaped drive pulses that further reduce the gate duration. Assuming realistic parameters, we exhibit shaped pulses that have the potential to realize ~212 ns spline pulse gates and ~120 ns optimized gates with ~6e-4 average gate infidelity. These examples do not represent fundamental limits of the gate and in principle even shorter gates may be achievable.

Anomalous structure in the single particle spectrum of the fractional quantum Hall effect

The two-dimensional electron system is a powerful laboratory for investigating the physics of interacting particles. Application of a large magnetic field produces massively degenerate quantum levels known as Landau levels; within a Landau level the kinetic energy of the electrons is suppressed, and electron–electron interactions set the only energy scale. Coulomb interactions break the degeneracy of the Landau levels and can cause the electrons to order into complex ground states. Here we observe, in the high energy single particle spectrum of this system, salient and unexpected structure that extends across a wide range of Landau level filling fractions. The structure appears only when the two-dimensional electron system is cooled to very low temperatures, indicating that it arises from delicate ground state correlations. We characterize this structure by its evolution with changing electron density and applied magnetic field, and present two possible models for understanding these observations. Some of the energies of the features agree qualitatively with what might be expected for composite fermions, which have proven effective for interpreting other experiments in this regime. At the same time, a simple model with electrons localized on ordered lattice sites also generates structure similar to that observed in the experiment. Neither of these models alone is sufficient to explain the observations across the entire range of densities measured. The discovery of this unexpected prominent structure in the single particle spectrum of an otherwise thoroughly studied system suggests that there exist core features of the two-dimensional electron system that have yet to be understood.

Investigating Surface Loss Effects in Superconducting Transmon Qubits

Superconducting qubits are sensitive to a variety of loss mechanisms including dielectric loss from interfaces. By changing the physical footprint of the qubit, it is possible to modulate sensitivity to surface loss. Here, we show a systematic study of planar superconducting transmons of differing physical footprints to optimize the qubit design for maximum coherence. We find that qubits with small footprints are limited by surface loss and that qubits with large footprints are limited by other loss mechanisms, which are currently not understood.