Our publications
2021
A practical guide for building superconducting quantum devices
Y.Y. Gao, M.A. Rol, S. Touzard, C. Wang, PRX Quantum 2, 040202
Quantum computing offers a powerful new paradigm of information processing that has the potential to transform a wide range of industries. In the pursuit of the tantalizing promises of a universal quantum computer, a multitude of new knowledge and expertise has been developed, enabling the construction of novel quantum algorithms as well as increasingly robust quantum hardware. In particular, we have witnessed rapid progress in the circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED) technology, which has emerged as one of the most promising physical systems that is capable of addressing the key challenges in realizing full-stack quantum computing on a large scale. In this Tutorial, we present some of the most crucial building blocks developed by the cQED community in recent years and a précis of the latest achievements towards robust universal quantum computation. More importantly, we aim to provide a synoptic outline of the core techniques that underlie most cQED experiments and offer a practical guide for a novice experimentalist to design, construct, and characterize their first quantum device.
2020
Quantum error correction of a qubit encoded in grid states of an oscillator
P. Campagne-Ibarcq* & A. Eickbusch* & S. Touzard*, E. Zalys-Geller, N.E. Frattini, V.V. Sivak, P. Reinhold, S. Puri, S. Shankar, R.J. Schoelkopf, L. Frunzio, M. Mirrahimi, and M.H. Devoret, Nature 584, 368–372
∗Equal contributions
The accuracy of logical operations on quantum bits (qubits) must be improved for quantum computers to outperform classical ones in useful tasks. One method to achieve this is quantum error correction (QEC), which prevents noise in the underlying system from causing logical errors. This approach derives from the reasonable assumption that noise is local, that is, it does not act in a coordinated way on different parts of the physical system. Therefore, if a logical qubit is encoded non-locally, we can—for a limited time—detect and correct noise-induced evolution before it corrupts the encoded information1. In 2001, Gottesman, Kitaev and Preskill (GKP) proposed a hardware-efficient instance of such a non-local qubit: a superposition of position eigenstates that forms grid states of a single oscillator2. However, the implementation of measurements that reveal this noise-induced evolution of the oscillator while preserving the encoded information3,4,5,6,7 has proved to be experimentally challenging, and the only realization reported so far relied on post-selection8,9, which is incompatible with QEC. Here we experimentally prepare square and hexagonal GKP code states through a feedback protocol that incorporates non-destructive measurements that are implemented with a superconducting microwave cavity having the role of the oscillator. We demonstrate QEC of an encoded qubit with suppression of all logical errors, in quantitative agreement with a theoretical estimate based on the measured imperfections of the experiment. Our protocol is applicable to other continuous-variable systems and, in contrast to previous implementations of QEC10,11,12,13,14, can mitigate all logical errors generated by a wide variety of noise processes and facilitate fault-tolerant quantum computation.ironments.
Stabilization and operation of a Kerr-cat qubit
A. Grimm, N.E. Frattini, S. Puri, S.O. Mundhada, S. Touzard, M. Mirrahimi, S.M. Girvin, S. Shankar,
and M.H. Devoret, Nature 584, 205–209
Quantum superpositions of macroscopically distinct classical states—so-called Schrödinger cat states—are a resource for quantum metrology, quantum communication and quantum computation. In particular, the superpositions of two opposite-phase coherent states in an oscillator encode a qubit protected against phase-flip errors1,2. However, several challenges have to be overcome for this concept to become a practical way to encode and manipulate error-protected quantum information. The protection must be maintained by stabilizing these highly excited states and, at the same time, the system has to be compatible with fast gates on the encoded qubit and a quantum non-demolition readout of the encoded information. Here we experimentally demonstrate a method for the generation and stabilization of Schrödinger cat states based on the interplay between Kerr nonlinearity and single-mode squeezing1,3 in a superconducting microwave resonator4. We show an increase in the transverse relaxation time of the stabilized, error-protected qubit of more than one order of magnitude compared with the single-photon Fock-state encoding. We perform all single-qubit gate operations on timescales more than sixty times faster than the shortest coherence time and demonstrate single-shot readout of the protected qubit under stabilization. Our results showcase the combination of fast quantum control and robustness against errors, which is intrinsic to stabilized macroscopic states, as well as the potential of these states as resources in quantum information processing5,6,7,8.
Rugged mHz-linewidth superradiant laser driven by a hot atomic beam
H. Liu, S.B. Jäger, X. Yu, S. Touzard, A. Shankar, M.J. Holland, T.L. Nicholso, Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 253602.
We propose a new type of superradiant laser based on a hot atomic beam traversing an optical cavity. We show that the theoretical minimum linewidth and maximum power are competitive with the best ultracoherent clock lasers. Also, our system operates naturally in continuous wave mode, which has been elusive for superradiant lasers so far. Unlike existing ultracoherent lasers, our design is simple and rugged. This makes it a candidate for the first widely accessible ultracoherent laser, as well as the first to realize sought-after applications of ultracoherent lasers in challenging environments.
Bias-preserving gates with stabilized cat qubits
S. Puri, L. St-Jean, J.A. Gross, A. Grimm, N.E. Frattini, P.S. Iyer, A. Krishna, S. Touzard, L. Jiang, A. Blais, S.T. Flammia, and S.M. Girvin, Sci. Adv. 6, 34
The code capacity threshold for error correction using biased-noise qubits is known to be higher than with qubits without such structured noise. However, realistic circuit-level noise severely restricts these improvements. This is because gate operations, such as a controlled-NOT (CX) gate, which do not commute with the dominant error, unbias the noise channel. Here, we overcome the challenge of implementing a bias-preserving CX gate using biased-noise stabilized cat qubits in driven nonlinear oscillators. This continuous-variable gate relies on nontrivial phase space topology of the cat states. Furthermore, by following a scheme for concatenated error correction, we show that the availability of bias-preserving CX gates with moderately sized cats improves a rigorous lower bound on the fault-tolerant threshold by a factor of two and decreases the overhead in logical Clifford operations by a factor of five. Our results open a path toward high-threshold, low-overhead, fault-tolerant codes tailored to biased-noise cat qubits.
2019 & prior
Gated conditional displacement readout of superconducting qubits
S. Touzard, A. Kou, N.E. Frattini, V.V. Sivak, S. Puri, A. Grimm, L. Frunzio, S. Shankar, and M.H.
Devoret, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 080502 (2019)
We have realized a new interaction between superconducting qubits and a readout cavity that results in the displacement of a coherent state in the cavity, conditioned on the state of the qubit. This conditional state, when it reaches the cavity-following, phase-sensitive amplifier, matches its measured observable, namely, the in phase quadrature. In a setup where several qubits are coupled to the same readout resonator, we show it is possible to measure the state of a target qubit with minimal dephasing of the other qubits. Our results suggest novel directions for faster readout of superconducting qubits and implementations of bosonic quantum error-correcting codes.
Coherent Oscillations inside a Quantum Manifold Stabilized by Dissipation
S. Touzard, A. Grimm, Z. Leghtas, S.O. Mundhada, P. Reinhold, C. Axline, M. Reagor, K. Chou, J.Z. Blumoff, K.M. Sliwa, S. Shankar, L. Frunzio, R.J. Schoelkopf, M. Mirrahimi, and M.H. Devoret, Phys. Rev. X 8, 021005 (2018)
Manipulating the state of a logical quantum bit (qubit) usually comes at the expense of exposing it to decoherence. Fault-tolerant quantum computing tackles this problem by manipulating quantum information within a stable manifold of a larger Hilbert space, whose symmetries restrict the number of independent errors. The remaining errors do not affect the quantum computation and are correctable after the fact. Here we implement the autonomous stabilization of an encoding manifold spanned by Schrödinger cat states in a superconducting cavity. We show Zeno-driven coherent oscillations between these states analogous to the Rabi rotation of a qubit protected against phase flips. Such gates are compatible with quantum error correction and hence are crucial for fault-tolerant logical qubits.
Confining the State of Light to a Quantum Manifold by Engineered Two-Photon Loss
Z. Leghtas, S. Touzard, I.M. Pop, A. Kou, B. Vlastakis, A. Petrenko, K.M. Sliwa, A. Narla, S. Shankar,
M.J. Hatridge, M. Reagor, L. Frunzio, R.J. Schoelkopf, M. Mirrahimi, and M.H. Devoret, Science 347, 853 (2015)
Physical systems usually exhibit quantum behavior, such as superpositions and entanglement, only when they are sufficiently decoupled from a lossy environment. Paradoxically, a specially engineered interaction with the environment can become a resource for the generation and protection of quantum states. This notion can be generalized to the confinement of a system into a manifold of quantum states, consisting of all coherent superpositions of multiple stable steady states. We have confined the state of a superconducting resonator to the quantum manifold spanned by two coherent states of opposite phases and have observed a Schrödinger cat state spontaneously squeeze out of vacuum before decaying into a classical mixture. This experiment points toward robustly encoding quantum information in multidimensional steady-state manifolds.
Dynamically protected cat qubits: a new paradigm for universal quantum computation
M. Mirrahimi, Z. Leghtas, V.V. Albert, S. Touzard, R.J. Schoelkopf, M.H. Devoret, New J. Phys. 16, 045014 (2014)
We present a new hardware-efficient paradigm for universal quantum computation which is based on encoding, protecting and manipulating quantum information in a quantum harmonic oscillator. This proposal exploits multi-photon driven dissipative processes to encode quantum information in logical bases composed of Schrödinger cat states. More precisely, we consider two schemes. In a first scheme, a two-photon driven dissipative process is used to stabilize a logical qubit basis of two-component Schrödinger cat states. While such a scheme ensures a protection of the logical qubit against the photon dephasing errors, the prominent error channel of single-photon loss induces bit-flip type errors that cannot be corrected. Therefore, we consider a second scheme based on a four-photon driven dissipative process which leads to the choice of four-component Schrödinger cat states as the logical qubit. Such a logical qubit can be protected against single-photon loss by continuous photon number parity measurements. Next, applying some specific Hamiltonians, we provide a set of universal quantum gates on the encoded qubits of each of the two schemes. In particular, we illustrate how these operations can be rendered fault-tolerant with respect to various decoherence channels of participating quantum systems. Finally, we also propose experimental schemes based on quantum superconducting circuits and inspired by methods used in Josephson parametric amplification, which should allow one to achieve these driven dissipative processes along with the Hamiltonians ensuring the universal operations in an efficient manner.