Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 14, 2026
05:39
Scalable Quantum Integrated Circuits on Superconducting Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Platform
Published on: August 2, 2019
Metastable superconducting qubit
1Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington, Massachusetts, 02420, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|April 7, 2010
Summary
We developed a new superconducting qubit design using tunable rf SQUID and nanowire kinetic inductors. This design significantly reduces environmental electromagnetic coupling, potentially leading to much longer qubit lifetimes and higher fidelities.
Area of Science:
- Quantum computing
- Superconducting circuits
- Materials science
Background:
- Superconducting qubits are crucial for quantum computation.
- Current qubit designs suffer from limited lifetimes due to environmental electromagnetic interactions.
- Spontaneous decay hinders accurate qubit manipulation and readout.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a novel superconducting qubit design with enhanced stability.
- To investigate the potential for significantly longer qubit lifetimes.
- To explore the possibility of achieving higher quantum gate fidelities.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing a tunable radio-frequency superconducting quantum interference device (rf SQUID).
- Incorporating nanowire kinetic inductors into the qubit design.
- Minimizing transverse electromagnetic coupling to the environment.
Main Results:
- The proposed design exhibits dramatically reduced transverse electromagnetic coupling.
- The excited state of the qubit is expected to be metastable.
- A potential for qubit lifetimes orders of magnitude longer than current standards.
Conclusions:
- This design offers a promising pathway to overcome current limitations in superconducting qubit performance.
- Achieving longer lifetimes and higher fidelities could accelerate the development of practical quantum computers.
- Further experimental validation is needed to confirm the theoretical advantages.
Related Concept Videos
01:28Types Of Superconductors
A superconductor is a substance that offers zero resistance to the electric current when it drops below a critical temperature. Zero resistance is not the only interesting phenomenon as materials reach their transition temperatures. A second effect is the exclusion of magnetic fields. This is known as the Meissner effect. A light, permanent magnet placed over a superconducting sample will levitate in a stable position above the superconductor. High-speed trains that levitate on strong...
01:24Superconductor
A substance that reaches superconductivity, a state in which magnetic fields cannot penetrate, and there is no electrical resistance, is referred to as a superconductor. In 1911, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes of Leiden University, a Dutch physicist, observed a relation between the temperature and the resistance of the element mercury. The mercury sample was then cooled in liquid helium to study the linear dependence of resistance on temperature. It was observed that, as the temperature decreased, the...
02:42Valence Bond Theory
Coordination compounds and complexes exhibit different colors, geometries, and magnetic behavior, depending on the metal atom/ion and ligands from which they are composed. In an attempt to explain the bonding and structure of coordination complexes, Linus Pauling proposed the valence bond theory, or VBT, using the concepts of hybridization and the overlapping of the atomic orbitals. According to VBT, the central metal atom or ion (Lewis acid) hybridizes to provide empty orbitals of suitable...
01:17Theory of Metallic Conduction
The conduction of free electrons inside a conductor is best described by quantum mechanics. However, a classical model makes predictions close to the results of quantum mechanics. It is called the theory of metallic conduction.
In this theory, Newton's second law of motion is used to determine the acceleration of an electron in the presence of an applied electric field. Then, its velocity is expressed via this acceleration.
An electron moves through the crystal, containing positive ions,...
In this theory, Newton's second law of motion is used to determine the acceleration of an electron in the presence of an applied electric field. Then, its velocity is expressed via this acceleration.
An electron moves through the crystal, containing positive ions,...
01:12Fermi Level Dynamics
The vacuum level denotes the energy threshold required for an electron to escape from a material surface. It is usually positioned above the conduction band of a semiconductor and acts as a benchmark for comparing electron energies within various materials.
Electron affinity in semiconductors refers to the energy gap between the minimum of its conduction band and the vacuum level and it is a critical parameter in determining how easily a semiconductor can accept additional electrons.
The work...
Electron affinity in semiconductors refers to the energy gap between the minimum of its conduction band and the vacuum level and it is a critical parameter in determining how easily a semiconductor can accept additional electrons.
The work...
01:03Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Overview
NMR-active nuclei have energy levels called 'spin states' that are associated with the orientations of their nuclear magnetic moments. In the absence of a magnetic field, the nuclear magnetic moments are randomly oriented, and the spin states are degenerate. When an external magnetic field is applied, the spin states have only 2 + 1 orientations available to them. A proton with = ½ has two available orientations. Similarly, for a quadrupolar nucleus with a nuclear spin value of one, the...