QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

Superconducting qubits shine out among other qubit implementations with respect to their excellent scalability. In collaboration with the group of E. Ilichev at IPHT in Jena, the Karlsruhe experimental group of A. Ustinov has performed experiments on a chip containing 7 flux qubits. A newly developed measurement scheme based on frequency multiplexing allowed the researchers to read out all qubits simultaneously, using only a single signal cable.

We have developed a combined photolithography and electron-beam lithography fabrication process for sub-µm to µm-size Nb/Al–AlOx/Nb Josephson junctions. In order to define the junction size and protect its top electrode during anodic oxidation, we developed and used the new concept of an aluminum hard mask. Josephson junctions of sizes down to 0.5 µm2 have been fabricated and thoroughly characterized.

We present experimental results on a microwave scheme for reading out a Josephson phase qubit. A capacitively shunted superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) is used as a nonlinear resonator which is inductively coupled to the qubit. The flux state of the qubit is detected by measuring the amplitude and phase of a microwave pulse reflected from the SQUID resonator. By this low-dissipative method, the qubit state measurement time is reduced to 25 μs, which is much faster than the conventional readout performed by switching the SQUID to its nonzero dc voltage state.

Frequency-selective readout for superconducting qubits opens up the way towards scaling qubit circuits without increasing the number of measurement lines. Here we demonstrate the readout of an array of 7 flux qubits located on the same chip using a single measurement line. Each qubit is placed near an individual λ/4 resonator which, in turn, is coupled to a common microwave transmission line. We performed spectroscopy and coherent manipulation of all qubits and determined their parameters in a single measurement run. 

For many types of superconducting qubits, magnetic flux noise is a source of pure dephasing. Measurements on a representative dc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) over a range of temperatures show that $S_\Phi(f) = A^2/(f/1 \hbox{Hz})^\alpha$, where $S_\Phi$ is the flux noise spectral density, $A$ is of the order of 1 $\mu\Phi_0 \, \hbox{Hz}^{-1/2}$ and $0.61 \leq \alpha \leq 0.95$; $\Phi_{0}$ is the flux quantum.

We study the use of a pair of qubits as a decoherence probe of a nontrivial environment. This dual-probe configuration is modelled by three two-level systems (TLSs), which are coupled in a chain in which the middle system represents an environmental TLS. This TLS resides within the environment of the qubits and therefore its coupling to perturbing fluctuations (i.e. its decoherence) is assumed much stronger than the decoherence acting on the probe qubits.

We study a double quantum-dot system coherently coupled to an electromagnetic resonator. A current through the dot system can create a population inversion in the dot levels and, within a narrow resonance window, a lasing state in the resonator. The lasing state correlates with the transport properties. On one hand, this allows probing the lasing state via a current measurement. On the other hand, the resulting narrow current peak allows resolving small differences in the dot properties (e.g., a small difference in the Zeeman splittings of the two dots).