arXiv Analytics

Sign in

arXiv:1907.12131 [quant-ph]AbstractReferencesReviewsResources

The Kerr-Cat Qubit: Stabilization, Readout, and Gates

Alexander Grimm, Nicholas E. Frattini, Shruti Puri, Shantanu O. Mundhada, Steven Touzard, Mazyar Mirrahimi, Steven M. Girvin, Shyam Shankar, Michel H. Devoret

Published 2019-07-28Version 1

Quantum superpositions of macroscopically distinct classical states, so-called Schr\"{o}dinger 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 errors. However, several challenges have to be overcome in order 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 novel method for the generation and stabilization of Schr\"{o}dinger cat states based on the interplay between Kerr nonlinearity and single-mode squeezing in a superconducting microwave resonator. We show an increase in transverse relaxation time of the stabilized, error-protected qubit over the single-photon Fock-state encoding by more than one order of magnitude. We perform all single-qubit gate operations on time-scales 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 with the robustness against errors intrinsic to stabilized macroscopic states and open up the possibility of using these states as resources in quantum information processing.

Related articles: Most relevant | Search more
arXiv:1302.2806 [quant-ph] (Published 2013-02-12, updated 2013-05-15)
Collapse and Revival and Cat States with an N Spin System
arXiv:1411.0979 [quant-ph] (Published 2014-11-04)
Continuous Generation and Stabilization of Mesoscopic Field Superposition States in a Quantum Circuit
arXiv:2305.19988 [quant-ph] (Published 2023-05-31)
Non-stabilizerness and entanglement from cat-state injection