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Offset Charge Dependence of Measurement-Induced Transitions in Transmons

Mathieu Féchant1,*, Marie Frédérique Dumas2,†, Denis Bénâtre1, Nicolas Gosling1, Philipp Lenhard1, Martin Spiecker1, Simon Geisert3, Sören Ihssen3, Wolfgang Wernsdorfer1,3 et al.

Benjamin D’Anjou2, Alexandre Blais2,4, and Ioan M. Pop1,3,5,‡

  • *Contact author: mathieu.fechant@kit.edu
  • †Contact author: Marie.Frederique.Dumas@USherbrooke.ca
  • ‡Contact author: ioan.pop@kit.edu
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 180603 – Published 29 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yljv-b4kj

Abstract

A key challenge in achieving scalable fault tolerance in superconducting quantum processors is readout fidelity, which lags behind one- and two-qubit gate fidelity. A major limitation in improving qubit readout is measurement-induced transitions, also referred to as qubit ionization, caused by multiphoton qubit-resonator excitation occurring at specific photon numbers. Since ionization can involve highly excited states, it has been predicted that in transmons—the most widely used superconducting qubit—the photon number at which measurement-induced transitions occur is gate-charge dependent. This dependence is expected to persist deep in the transmon regime where the qubit frequency is gate-charge insensitive. We experimentally confirm this prediction by characterizing measurement-induced transitions with increasing resonator photon population while actively calibrating the transmon’s gate charge. Furthermore, because highly excited states are involved, achieving quantitative agreement between theory and experiment requires accounting for higher-order harmonics in the transmon Hamiltonian.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 180603– Published 29 October, 2025
  • Received 8 May 2025
  • Revised 16 September 2025
  • Accepted 7 October 2025
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