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Published on: August 2, 2019
Quasiparticle Dynamics in a Superconducting Qubit Irradiated by a Localized Infrared Source
R Benevides1,2, M Drimmer1,2, G Bisson1,2
1Department of Physics, <a href="https://ror.org/05a28rw58">ETH Zürich</a>, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
A known source of decoherence in superconducting qubits is the presence of broken Cooper pairs, or quasiparticles. These can be generated by high-energy radiation, either present in the environment or purposefully introduced, as in the case of some hybrid quantum devices. Here, we systematically study the properties of a transmon qubit under illumination by focused infrared radiation with various powers, durations, and spatial locations. Despite the high energy of incident photons, our observations agree well with a model of low-energy quasiparticle dynamics dominated by trapping. This technique can be used for understanding and potentially mitigating the effects of high-energy radiation on superconducting circuits with a variety of geometries and materials.
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