Ion-ion coupling over long distances represents a highly useful resource for quantum technologies, for example, to sympathetically cool or interconnect qubits in ion-based quantum computing architectures. In this respect, the recently demonstrated wire-mediated ion-ion coupling stands due to the simplification of its trap layout and its prospects for deterministic entanglement. However, the strength of such coherent ion-wire-ion coupling is typically weak, hindering its practical utilization. Here, we propose a wire-mediated scheme for coherent ion-electron coupling. The scheme not only enables the sympathetic cooling of electrons via advanced ion-cooling techniques, but also allows promotion of the effective ion-ion coupling strength by orders of magnitudes via electron mediation. Our work thus paves a way toward quantum information processing in ion-electron hybrid quantum systems.

The scalability of spin-qubit devices is conditioned by qubit-to-qubit variability. Disorder in the host materials indeed affects the wave functions of the confined carriers, which leads to variations in their charge and spin properties. Charge disorder in the amorphous oxides is particularly detrimental owing to its long-range influence. Here we analyze the effects of charge traps at the semiconductor-oxide interface, which are generally believed to play a dominant role in variability. We consider multiple random distributions of these interface traps and numerically calculate their impact on the chemical potentials, detuning, and tunnel coupling of two adjacent quantum dots in $\mathrm{Si}\mathrm{Ge}$ heterostructure. Our results highlight the beneficial screening effect of the metal gates. The surface of the heterostructure shall, therefore, be covered as much as possible by the gates in order to limit variability. We propose an alternative layout with tip-shaped gates that maximizes the coverage of the semiconductor-oxide interface and outperforms the usual planar layout in some regimes. This highlights the importance of design in the management of device-to-device variability.

Quantum circuit mapping is a crucial process in the quantum circuit compilation pipeline, facilitating the transformation of a logical quantum circuit into a list of instructions directly executable on a target quantum system. Recent research has introduced a postcompilation step known as remapping, which seeks to reconfigure the initial circuit mapping to mitigate quantum circuit errors arising from system variability. As quantum processors continue to scale in size, the efficiency of quantum circuit mapping and the overall compilation process has become of paramount importance. In this work, we introduce a quantum circuit remapping algorithm that leverages the intrinsic symmetries in quantum processors, making it well suited for large-scale quantum systems. This algorithm identifies all topologically equivalent circuit mappings by constraining the search space using symmetries and accelerates the scoring of each mapping using vector computation. Notably, this symmetry-based-circuit-remapping algorithm exhibits linear scaling with the number of qubits in the target quantum hardware and is proven to be optimal in terms of its time complexity. Moreover, we conduct a comparative analysis against existing methods in the literature, demonstrating the superior performance of our symmetry-based method on state-of-the-art quantum hardware architectures and highlighting the practical utility of our algorithm, particularly for large-scale quantum computing.

Efficient optical quantum memories are a milestone required for several quantum technologies, including repeater-based quantum key distribution and on-demand multiphoton generation. We present an efficiency optimization of an optical electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) memory experiment in a warm cesium vapor using a genetic algorithm and analyze the resulting wave forms. The control pulse is represented either as a Gaussian or free-form pulse and the results from the optimization are compared. We see an improvement factor of 3(7)% when using optimized free-form pulses. By limiting the allowed pulse energy in a solution, we show an energy-based optimization giving a 30% reduction in energy, with minimal efficiency loss.

Parametric converters are parametric amplifiers that mix two spatially separate nondegenerate modes and are commonly used for amplifying and squeezing microwave signals in quantum computing and sensing. In Josephson parametric converters, the strong localized nonlinearity of the Josephson junction limits the amplification and squeezing, as well as the dynamic range, in current devices. In contrast, a weak distributed nonlinearity can provide higher gain and dynamic range, when implemented as a kinetic inductance (KI) nanowire of a dirty superconductor, and has additional benefits such as resilience to magnetic field, higher-temperature operation, and simplified fabrication. Here, we propose, demonstrate, and analyze the performance of a KI parametric converter that relies on the weak distributed nonlinearity of a Nb-Ti-N KI nanowire. The device utilizes three-wave mixing induced by a dc current bias. We demonstrate its operation as a nondegenerate parametric amplifier with high phase-sensitive gain, reaching two-mode amplification and deamplification of approximately 30 dB for two resonances separated by 0.8 GHz, in excellent agreement with our theory of the device. We observe a dynamic range of $-108$ dBm at 30 dB gain. Our device can significantly broaden applications of quantum-limited signal processing devices including phase-preserving amplification and two-mode squeezing.

High-precision remote clock synchronization is crucial for many classical and quantum network applications. Evaluating options for space-Earth links, we find that traditional solutions may not produce the desired synchronization for low Earth orbits and unnecessarily complicate quantum networking architectures. Demonstrating an alternative, we use commercial off-the-shelf quantum photon sources and detection equipment to synchronize two remote clocks across our free-space testbed utilizing a method called two-way quantum time transfer (QTT). We reach picosecond-scale timing precision under very lossy and noisy channel conditions representative of daytime space-Earth links and software-emulated satellite motion. This work demonstrates how QTT is potentially relevant for daytime space-Earth quantum networking and/or providing high-precision timing in GPS-denied environments.

We demonstrate qubit-state measurements assisted by a supervised convolutional neural network (CNN) in a neutral-atom quantum processor. We present two CNN architectures for analyzing neutral-atom qubit readout data: a compact five-layer single-qubit CNN architecture and a six-layer multiqubit CNN architecture. We benchmark both architectures against a conventional Gaussian-threshold analysis method. In a sparse array (9-$\text{μ}\mathrm{m}$ atom separation) which experiences negligible crosstalk, we have observed up to 32% and 56% error reduction for the multiqubit and single-qubit architectures, respectively, as compared to the benchmark. In a tightly spaced array (5-$\text{μ}\mathrm{m}$ atom separation), which suffers from readout crosstalk, we have observed up to 43% and 32% error reduction in the multiqubit and single-qubit CNN architectures, respectively, as compared to the benchmark. By examining the correlation between the predicted states of neighboring qubits, we have found that the multiqubit CNN architecture reduces the crosstalk correlation by up to 78.5%. This work demonstrates a proof of concept for a CNN network to be implemented as a real-time readout-processing method on a neutral-atom quantum computer, enabling faster readout time and improved fidelity.

Solving optimization problems using variational algorithms stands out as a crucial application for noisy intermediate-scale devices. Instead of constructing gate-based quantum computers, our focus centers on designing variational quantum algorithms within the analog paradigm. This involves optimizing parameters that directly control pulses, driving quantum states toward target states without the necessity to compile a quantum circuit. In this work, we introduce pulse-based variational quantum optimization (PBVQO) as a hardware-level framework. We illustrate the framework by optimizing external fluxes on superconducting quantum interference devices, effectively driving the wave function of this specific quantum architecture to the ground state of an encoded problem Hamiltonian. Given that the performance of variational algorithms relies heavily on appropriate initial parameters, we introduce a global optimizer as a metalearning technique to tackle a simple problem. The synergy between PBVQO and metalearning provides an advantage over conventional gate-based variational algorithms.

Given a quantum system $S$ entangled with another system $I$, the entanglement-testing problem arises, prompting the identification of the system $S$ within a set of $m\ge 2$ identical systems. This scenario serves as a model for the measurement task encountered in quantum ranging and entanglement-assisted communication [Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 240501, (2021)]. In this context, the optimal measurement approach typically involves joint measurements on all $m+1$ systems. However, we demonstrate that this is not the case when the subsystems containing system $S$ are subjected to entanglement-breaking noise. Our approach utilizes the recently developed measurement technique of correlation-to-displacement conversion. We present a structured design for the entanglement-testing measurement, implementable with local operations and classical communications (LOCC) on the $m+1$ systems, while joint between multiple identical copies. Furthermore, we prove that this measurement approach, combining Gaussian operations and on and off photon detection, achieves optimality in terms of error probability asymptotically under noisy conditions. When applied to quantum illumination, our measurement design enables optimal ranging in scenarios with low signal brightness and high levels of noise. Similarly, when applied to entanglement-assisted pulse-position-modulated classical communication, the measurement design leads to a significant relative advantage in communication rates, particularly in scenarios with low signal brightness.

Achieving high-fidelity direct two-qubit gates over meter-scale quantum interconnects is challenging, in part due to the multimode nature of such systems. One alternative scheme is to combine local operations with remote quantum state transfer or remote entanglement. Here, we theoretically study quantum state transfer and entanglement generation for two distant qubits, equipped with tunable interactions, over a common multimode interconnect. We model the performance of the superadiabatic transitionless driving (SATD) protocol for adiabatic passage and demonstrate various favorable improvements over the standard method. In particular, by suppressing leakage to a select (resonant) interconnect mode, SATD breaks the speed-limit relation imposed by the qubit-interconnect interaction $g$, where instead the operation time is limited by leakage to the adjacent modes, i.e., the free spectral range ${\mathrm{\Delta }}_c$ of the interconnect, allowing for fast operations even with weak $g$. Furthermore, we identify a multimode error mechanism for Bell-state generation using such adiabatic protocols, in which the even/odd modal dependence of qubit-interconnect interaction breaks down the dark-state symmetry, leading to detrimental adiabatic overlap with the odd modes growing as $(g/{\mathrm{\Delta }}_c{)}^2$. Therefore, adopting a weak coupling, imposed by a multimode interconnect, SATD provides a significant improvement in terms of operation speed and consequently sensitivity to incoherent error.

Reducing errors in quantum gates is critical to the development of quantum computers. To do so, any distortions in the control signals should be identified; however, conventional tools are not always applicable when part of the system is under high vacuum, cryogenic, or microscopic. Here, we demonstrate a method to detect and compensate for amplitude-dependent phase changes, using the qubit itself as a probe. The technique is implemented using a microwave-driven trapped-ion qubit, where correcting phase distortions leads to a threefold improvement in the error of single-qubit gates implemented with pulses of different amplitudes, to attain state-of-the-art performance benchmarked at $1.6(4)\times {10}^{-6}$ error per Clifford gate.

We present a design and implementation of a frequency-tunable superconducting resonator. The resonance frequency tunability is achieved by flux-coupling a superconducting LC loop to a current-biased feedline; the resulting screening current leads to a change of the kinetic inductance and shift in the resonance frequency. The thin-film aluminum resonator consists of an interdigitated capacitor and thin line inductors forming a closed superconducting loop. The magnetic flux from the nearby niobium current feedline induces Meissner shielding currents in the resonator loop leading to a change in the kinetic part of the total inductance of the resonator. We demonstrate continuous frequency tuning within 160 MHz around the resonant frequency of 2.7 GHz. We show that: (1) frequency up-conversion is achieved when a kilohertz ac modulation signal is superimposed onto the dc bias resulting in sidebands to the resonator tone; (2) three-wave mixing is attained by parametrically pumping the nonlinear kinetic inductance using a strong rf pump signal in the feedline. The simple architecture is amenable to large-array multiplexing and on-chip integration with other circuit components. The concept could be applied in flux magnetometers, up-converters, and parametric amplifiers operating above 4 K when alternative high-critical-temperature material with high kinetic inductance is used.

Much attention has focused on the transmon architecture for large-scale superconducting quantum devices; however, the fluxonium qubit has emerged as a possible successor. With a shunting inductor in parallel to a Josephson junction, the fluxonium offers larger anharmonicity and stronger protection against dielectric loss, leading to higher coherence times as compared to conventional transmon qubits. The interplay between the inductive and Josephson energy potentials of the fluxonium qubit leads to a rich dispersive-shift landscape when tuning the external flux. Here, we propose to exploit the features in the dispersive shift to improve qubit readout. Specifically, we report on theoretical simulations showing improved readout times and error rates by performing the readout at a flux-bias point with large dispersive shift. We expand the scheme to include different error channels and show that with an integration time of 155 ns, flux-pulse-assisted readout offers about a $5$-times improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio. Moreover, we show that the performance improvement persists in the presence of finite measurement efficiency combined with quasistatic flux noise and also when considering the increased Purcell rate at the flux-pulse-assisted readout point. We suggest a set of reasonable energy parameters for the fluxonium architecture that will allow for the implementation of our proposed flux-pulse-assisted readout scheme.

We propose silicon nitride ($\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{i}}_3{\mathrm{N}}_4$) nanowaveguide-based CMOS-compatible integrated sources of spectrally pure visible-telecom photon pairs. Our designs are intrinsically devoid of spectral correlations, eradicating the need for narrow-band filtering that reduces the source brightness. Further, the signal photons lie in the visible–near-infrared (vis-NIR) band, which can provide increased heralding efficiency of the idler photon in the telecom band using high-efficiency single-photon detectors. For example, a rectangular-cross-section silica-clad $\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{i}}_3{\mathrm{N}}_4$ nanowaveguide with dimensions $680\text{~nm}\times 840\text{~nm}$ and length 7 cm provides a heralded single-photon purity of approximately $91\mathrm{\%}$ for a pump wavelength of 956.8 nm and a pump bandwidth of 1200 GHz, with the signal and idler lying in the visible and telecom bands at approximately $701$ nm and approximately $1505$ nm, respectively, demonstrating a peak spectral brightness of approximately $1.2\times {10}^4$ photon $\mathrm{pairs}/\mathrm{s}/\mathrm{nm}/{\mathrm{mW}}^2$ for a linear propagation loss of 0.5 dB/cm. The effect of propagation losses on the purity is also studied for such source designs. We also propose some designs capable of generating high-purity photon pairs to address various specific vis-NIR quantum memory transitions with telecom-band interfacing for long-distance hybrid quantum networks. Such compact on-chip sources could have potential applications in various quantum technologies, such as sensing, simulation, computing, communication, and networking.

Quantum entanglement is a fundamental property commonly used in various quantum information protocols and algorithms. Nonetheless, the problem of identifying entanglement has still not reached a general solution for systems larger than $2\times 3$. In this study, we use deep convolutional NNs, a type of supervised machine learning, to identify quantum entanglement for any bipartition in a three-qubit system. We demonstrate that training the model on synthetically generated datasets of random density matrices excluding challenging positive-under-partial-transposition entangled states (PPTES), which cannot be identified (and correctly labeled) in general, leads to good model accuracy even for PPTES states, that were outside the training data. Our aim is to enhance the model’s generalization on PPTES. By applying entanglement-preserving symmetry operations through a triple Siamese network trained in a semisupervised manner, we improve the model’s accuracy and ability to recognize PPTES. Moreover, by constructing an ensemble of Siamese models, even better generalization is observed, in analogy with the idea of finding separate types of entanglement witnesses for different classes of states.

Two-level system (TLS) loss typically limits the coherence of superconducting quantum circuits. The loss induced by TLS defects is nonlinear, resulting in quality factors with a strong dependence on the circulating microwave power. We observe frequency mixing due to this nonlinearity by applying a two-tone drive to a coplanar waveguide resonator and measuring the intermodulation products using a multifrequency lock-in technique. This intermodulation spectroscopy method provides an efficient approach to characterizing TLS loss in superconducting circuits. Using harmonic balance reconstruction, we recover the nonlinear parameters of the device-TLS interaction, which are in good agreement with the standard tunneling model for TLSs.

Universal robust quantum control is essential for large-scale quantum computation. The geometric phase, as a key element with intrinsic error-resilient features, can be well integrated into a quantum control process to enhance control robustness. However, due to the inability to optionally avoid some trajectory segments seriously affected by systematic errors, the robust universality of current geometric quantum control based on some special geometric evolution trajectories is still lacking, resulting in unsatisfactory performance of arbitrary geometric gate. Here, we propose another scheme for universal robust geometric control based on geometric trajectory correction, where enough available evolution parameters are introduced, without more experimental demands, to ensure the effective reduction of sensitivity to systematic errors. Numerical simulation shows that our implemented arbitrary geometric gates have error-resilient features better than conventional ones. In addition, we also verify the feasibility of the high-fidelity physical implementation of our scheme on superconducting quantum circuits. Therefore, our theoretical work is expected to offer an attractive avenue for realizing practical quantum computation in existing experimental platforms.

We analyze the experimental error budget of parametric resonance gates in a tunable coupler architecture. We identify and characterize various sources of errors, including incoherent, leakage, amplitude, and phase errors. By varying the two-qubit gate time, we explore the dynamics of these errors and their impact on the gate fidelity. To accurately capture the impact of incoherent errors on gate fidelity, we measure the coherence times of qubits under gate operating conditions. Our findings reveal that the incoherent errors, mainly arising from qubit relaxation and dephasing due to white noise, limit the fidelity of the two-qubit gates. Moreover, we demonstrate that leakage to noncomputational states is the second largest contributor to the two-qubit gates infidelity, as characterized using leakage-randomized benchmarking. The error budgeting methodology we develop here can be effectively applied to other types of gate implementations.

Quantum simulators offer the potential to utilize the quantum nature of a physical system to study another physical system. In contrast to conventional simulation, which experiences an exponential increase in computational complexity, quantum simulation cost increases only linearly with increasing size of the problem, rendering it a promising tool for applications in quantum chemistry. The variational-quantum-eigensolver algorithm is a particularly promising application for investigating molecular electronic structures. For its experimental implementation, spin-based solid-state qubits have the advantage of long decoherence time and high-fidelity quantum gates, which can lead to high accuracy in the ground-state finding. This study uses the nitrogen-vacancy-center system in diamond to implement the variational-quantum-eigensolver algorithm and successfully finds the eigenvalue of a specific Hamiltonian without the need for error-mitigation techniques. With a fidelity of 98.9% between the converged state and the ideal eigenstate, the demonstration provides an important step toward realizing a scalable quantum simulator in solid-state spin systems.