An important device for modulation and frequency translation in the field of circuit quantum electrodynamics is the IQ mixer, an analog component for which calibration is necessary to achieve optimal performance. In this paper, we introduce techniques originally developed for wireless communication applications to calibrate upconversion and downconversion mixers. A Kalman filter together with a controllable carrier frequency offset calibrates both mixers without removing them from the embedding measurement infrastructure. These techniques can be embedded into room temperature control electronics and they will find widespread use as circuit QED devices continue to grow in size and complexity.
We introduce multiple parametrized circuit ansätze and present the results of a numerical study comparing their performance with a standard Quantum Alternating Operator Ansatz approach. The ansätze are inspired by mixing and phase separation in the QAOA, and also motivated by compilation considerations with the aim of running on near-term superconducting quantum processors. The methods are tested on random instances of a weighted quadratic binary constrained optimization problem that is fully connected for which the space of feasible solutions has constant Hamming weight. For the parameter set…
A superconducting qubit in a waveguide behaves as a point-like nonlinear element. If irradiated with nearly resonant microwave pulses, the qubit undergoes quantum evolution and generates coherent fields at sideband frequencies due to elastic scattering. This effect is called Quantum Wave Mixing (QWM), and the number of emerged side components depends on the number of interacting photons. By driving a superconducting qubit with short pulses with alternating carrier frequencies, we control the maximal number of photons simultaneously interacting with a two-level system by varying the number and …
Superconducting circuit testing and materials loss characterization requires robust and reliable methods for the extraction of internal and coupling quality factors of microwave resonators. A common method, imposed by limitations on the device design or experimental configuration, is the single-port reflection geometry, i.e. reflection-mode. However, impedance mismatches in cryogenic systems must be accounted for through calibration of the measurement chain while it is at low temperatures. In this paper, we demonstrate a data-based, single-port calibration using commercial microwave standards …
Magnetic flux tunability is an essential feature in most approaches to quantum computing based on superconducting qubits. Independent control of the fluxes in multiple loops is hampered by crosstalk. Calibrating flux crosstalk becomes a challenging task when the circuit elements interact strongly. We present a novel approach to flux crosstalk calibration, which is circuit model independent and relies on an iterative process to gradually improve calibration accuracy. This method allows us to reduce errors due to the inductive coupling between loops. The calibration procedure is automated and im…
Efforts to scale-up quantum computation have reached a point where the principal limiting factor is not the number of qubits, but the entangling gate infidelity. However, the highly detailed system characterization required to understand the underlying error sources is an arduous process and impractical with increasing chip size. Open-loop optimal control techniques allow for the improvement of gates but are limited by the models they are based on. To rectify the situation, we provide an integrated open-source tool-set for Control, Calibration and Characterization, capable of open-loop pulse o…
Superconducting qubits provide a promising platform for physically realising quantum computers at scale. Such devices require precision control at microwave frequencies. Common practice is to synthesise such control signals using IQ modulation, requiring calibration of a in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) signals alongside two DC offsets to generate pure tones. This paper presents an economic physical implementation of an alternative method referred to as double upconversion which requires considerably less hardware calibration and physical resources to operate a qubit. A physical circuit was cre…
We present a hybrid system consisting of a superconducting coplanar waveguide resonator coupled to a nanomechanical string and a transmon qubit acting as nonlinear circuit element. We perform spectroscopy for both the transmon qubit and the nanomechanical string. Measuring the ac-Stark shift on the transmon qubit as well as the electromechanically induced absorption on the string allows us to determine the average photon number in the microwave resonator in both the low and high power regimes. In this way, we measure photon numbers that are up to nine orders of magnitude apart. We find a quant…
Millisecond-Scale Calibration and Benchmarking of Superconducting Qubits
Center for Quantum Devices, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen（哥本哈根大学尼尔斯·玻尔研究所量子设备中心）；NNF Quantum Computing Programme, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen（哥本哈根大学尼尔斯·玻尔研究所NNF量子计算项目）；Center for the Mathematics of Quantum Theory, MATH Department, University of Copenhagen（哥本哈根大学数学系量子理论数学中心）；Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院电子研究实验室）；Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg（雷根斯堡大学实验与应用物理研究所）
Vibe Calibration: Autonomous Bring-up of a 112-Qubit Superconducting Quantum Processor by a Skill-Orchestrating Language Agent
Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences（北京量子信息科学研究院）；Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院物理研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；DP Technology（智谱AI）；Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院理论物理研究所）；Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS（中国科学院大学杭州高等研究院）
To Characterize and calibrate quantum processing devices a large amount of measurement data has to be collected. Active qubit reset increases the speed at which data can be gathered but requires additional hardware and/or calibration. The experimental apparatus can, however, be operated at elevated repetition rates without reset. In this case, the outcome of a first measurement serves as the initial state for the next experiment. Rol. $\textit{et al.}$ used this restless operation mode to accelerate the calibration of a single-qubit gate by measuring fixed-length sequences of Clifford gates wh…
High-fidelity control of superconducting qubits requires the generation of microwave-frequency pulses precisely tailored on nanosecond timescales. These pulses are most commonly synthesized by up-converting and superimposing two narrow-band intermediate-frequency signals referred to as the in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components. While the calibration of their DC-offsets, relative amplitude and phase allows one to cancel unwanted sideband and carrier leakage, this IQ mixing approach suffers from the presence of additional spurious frequency components. Here, we experimentally study an alter…
Graybox characterization and calibration with finite-shot estimation on superconducting-qubit experiments
Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus（庆应义塾大学湘南藤泽校区媒体治理研究生院）；Optical and Quantum Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University（马希隆大学理学院物理系光与量子物理实验室）；Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus（庆应义塾大学湘南藤泽校区环境信息研究学院）
Topology-Aware Block Coordinate Descent for Qubit Frequency Allocation of Superconducting Quantum Processors
Tsinghua University（清华大学）；Frontier Science Center for Quantum Information（量子信息前沿科学中心）；Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences（北京量子信息科学研究院）；Hefei National Laboratory（合肥国家实验室）
Qibocal: an open-source framework for calibration of self-hosted quantum devices
TIF Lab, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano（米兰大学物理系TIF实验室）；Quantum Research Center, Technology Innovation Institute（技术研究院量子研究中心）；INFN, Sezione di Milano（意大利国家核物理研究所米兰分部）；Departament de Física Quàntica i Astrofísica and Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona（巴塞罗那大学量子天体物理学系与宇宙科学研究所）；CERN, Theoretical Physics Department（欧洲核子研究中心理论物理部）；Medical Physics, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute（圣拉斐尔科研所医学物理部）；Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano-Bicocca（米兰比可卡大学物理系）；INFN - Sezione di Milano Bicocca（意大利国家核物理研究所米兰比可卡分部）；Bicocca Quantum Technologies (BiQuTe) Center（比可卡量子技术中心）
The continual success of superconducting photon-detection technologies in quantum photonics asserts cryogenic-compatible systems as a cornerstone of full quantum photonic integration. Here, we present a way to reversibly fine-tune the optical properties of individual waveguide structures through local changes to their geometry using solidified xenon. Essentially, we remove the need for additional on-chip calibration elements, effectively zeroing the power consumption tied to reconfigurable elements, with virtually no detriment to photonic device performance. We enable passive circuit tuning in…
QuBE/Qubex: an integrated hardware-software system for superconducting qubit experiments with broadband control
Graduate School of Engineering Science, The University of Osaka（大阪大学大学院工程学研究科）；Center for Quantum Information and Quantum Biology, The University of Osaka（大阪大学量子信息与量子生物学中心）；QuEL, Inc.（QuEL公司）；e-trees.Japan, Inc.（e-trees.Japan公司）
RF-Budgeted Frame Compilation for Frequency-Multiplexed Superconducting-Qubit Control Using Qubit-Control Identity Records and a Circuit-Informed RFSoC Model
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility（托马斯·杰斐逊国家加速器设施）
We describe a digital microwave platform called Presto, designed for measurement and control of multiple quantum bits (qubits) and based on the third-generation radio-frequency system on a chip. Presto uses direct digital synthesis to create signals up to 9 GHz on 16 synchronous output ports, while synchronously analyzing response on 16 input ports. Presto has 16 DC-bias outputs, 4 inputs and 4 outputs for digital triggers or markers, and two continuous-wave outputs for synthesizing frequencies up to 15 GHz. Scaling to a large number of qubits is enabled through deterministic synchronization o…
Next Generation Ta-STJ Sensor Arrays for BSM Physics Searches
Colorado School of Mines（科罗拉多矿业学院）；STAR Cryoelectronics LLC（STAR低温电子有限责任公司）；Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory（劳伦斯利弗莫尔国家实验室）；Pacific Northwest National Laboratory（太平洋西北国家实验室）；Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University（密歇根州立大学稀有同位束设施）
Machine learning (ML) is a promising approach for performing challenging quantum-information tasks such as device characterization, calibration and control. ML models can train directly on the data produced by a quantum device while remaining agnostic to the quantum nature of the learning task. However, these generic models lack physical interpretability and usually require large datasets in order to learn accurately. Here we incorporate features of quantum mechanics in the design of our ML approach to characterize the dynamics of a quantum device and learn device parameters. This physics-insp…
Novel qubits with intrinsic noise protection constitute a promising route for improving the coherence of quantum information in superconducting circuits. However, many protected superconducting qubits exhibit relatively low transition frequencies, which could make their integration with conventional transmon circuits challenging. In this work, we propose and study a scheme for entangling a tunable transmon with a Cooper-pair parity-protected qubit, a paradigmatic example of a low-frequency protected qubit that stores quantum information in opposite Cooper-pair parity states on a superconductin…
Nanyang Technological University（南洋理工大学）；National University of Singapore（新加坡国立大学）；Austrian Academy of Sciences（奥地利科学院）
Traditional machine learning applications, such as optical character recognition, arose from the inability to explicitly program a computer to perform a routine task. In this context, learning algorithms usually derive a model exclusively from the evidence present in a massive dataset. Yet in some scientific disciplines, obtaining an abundance of data is an impractical luxury, however; there is an explicit model of the domain based upon previous scientific discoveries. Here we introduce a new approach to machine learning that is able to leverage prior scientific discoveries in order to improve…
We introduce a technique for the suppression of state-dependent and correlated measurement errors, which are commonly observed on modern superconducting quantum devices. Our method leverages previous results, establishing that correlated errors tend to be physically localised on quantum devices to perform characterisations over the coupling map of the device, and to join overlapping measurement calibrations as a series of sparse matrices. We term this `Coupling Map Calibration'. We quantitatively demonstrate the advantages of our proposed error mitigation system design across a range of curren…
Experiments with superconducting circuits require careful calibration of the applied pulses and fields over a large frequency range. This remains an ongoing challenge as commercial semiconductor electronics are not able to probe signals arriving at the chip due to its cryogenic environment. Here, we demonstrate how the on-chip amplitude and frequency of a microwave signal can be inferred from the ac Stark shifts of higher transmon levels. In our time-resolved measurements we employ Ramsey fringes, allowing us to detect the amplitude of the systems transfer function over a range of several hund…
Near-term applications of quantum information processors will rely on optimized circuit implementations to minimize gate depth and therefore mitigate the impact of gate errors in noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) computers. More expressive gate sets can significantly reduce the gate depth of generic circuits. Similarly, structured algorithms can benefit from a gate set that more directly matches the symmetries of the problem. The XY interaction generates a family of gates that provides expressiveness well tailored to quantum chemistry as well as to combinatorial optimization problems, wh…
We demonstrate the local control of up to eight two-level systems interacting strongly with a microwave cavity. Following calibration, the frequency of each individual two-level system (qubit) is tunable without influencing the others. Bringing the qubits one by one on resonance with the cavity, we observe the collective coupling strength of the qubit ensemble. The splitting scales up with the square root of the number of the qubits, which is the hallmark of the Tavis-Cummings model. The local control circuitry causes a bypass shunting the resonator, and a Fano interference in the microwave re…
