Suppressing quasiparticle generation and transport in superconducting circuits
Abstract
Single-particle excitations of the superconducting state, known as quasiparticles, are a limiting source of error in superconducting quantum processors. They cause relaxation, spurious excitation, and dephasing errors in quantum devices, and can cause spatially-correlated errors that are particularly harmful to quantum error correction architectures. Superconducting quantum processors are typically operated at such low temperatures that no thermally-generated quasiparticles should exist. However, significant nonequilibrium quasiparticle populations are ubiquitous. In order to eliminate quasiparticle-induced errors and allow the development of large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computers and simulators, it is necessary to reduce the generation of quasiparticles, enhance their annihilation, and isolate them so that they do not spread throughout a quantum processor chip. This project is a 3-year experimental program aimed at solving the quasiparticle problem. The main tasks are to develop novel spatially- and temporally-resolved quasiparticle detector devices; to design novel filters that eliminate quasiparticle-generating infrared radiation from propagating down microwave signal lines; to develop and test techniques that confine quasiparticles and force them to quickly annihilate; and to study basic quasiparticle behavior to aid future mitigation efforts. If successful, the results will eliminate quasiparticles as a significant source of error in superconducting quantum processors.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 29, 2024
- Source ID
- FA95502310165
Entities
People
- Eli Levenson-Falk
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of Southern California