Dynamical suppression of telegraph and 1/f noise due to quantum bistable fluctuator

We study dynamical decoupling of a qubit from non gaussian quantum noise due to discrete sources, as bistable fluctuators and 1/f noise. We obtain analytic and numerical results for generic operating point. For very large pulse frequency, where dynamic decoupling compensates decoherence, we found universal behavior. At intermediate frequencies noise can be compensated or enhanced, depending on the nature of the fluctuators and on the operating point. Our technique can be applied to a larger class of non-gaussian environments.Comment: Revtex 4, 5 pages, 3 figures. Title revised and some other minor changed. Final version as published in PR

Optimal operating conditions of an entangling two-transmon gate

We identify optimal operating conditions of an entangling two-qubit gate realized by a capacitive coupling of two superconducting charge qubits in a transmission line resonator (the so called "transmons"). We demonstrate that the sensitivity of the optimized gate to 1/f flux and critical current noise is suppressed to leading order. The procedure only requires a preliminary estimate of the 1/f noise amplitudes. No additional control or bias line beyond those used for the manipulation of individual qubits are needed. The proposed optimization is effective also in the presence of relaxation processes and of spontaneous emission through the resonator (Purcell effect).Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Electron transfer in the nonadiabatic regime: Crossover from quantum-mechanical to classical behaviour

We study nonadiabatic electron transfer within the biased spin-boson model. We calculate the incoherent transfer rate in analytic form at all temperatures for a power law form of the spectral density of the solvent coupling. In the Ohmic case, we present the exact low temperature corrections to the zero temperature rate for arbitrarily large bias energies between the two redox sites. Both for Ohmic and non-Ohmic coupling, we give the rate in the entire regime extending from zero temperature, where the rate depends significantly on the detailed spectral behaviour, via the crossover region, up to the classical regime. For low temperatures, the rate shows characteristic quantum features, in particular the shift of the rate maximum to a bias value below the reorganization energy, and the asymmetry of the rate around the maximum. We study in detail the gradual extinction of the quantum features as temperature is increased.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Chem. Phy

Characterization of coherent impurity effects in solid state qubits

We propose a characterisation of the effects of bistable coherent impurities in solid state qubits. We introduce an effective impurity description in terms of a tunable spin-boson environment and solve the dynamics for the qubit coherences. The dominant rate characterizing the asymptotic time limit is identified and signatures of non-Gaussian behavior of the quantum impurity at intermediate times are pointed out. An alternative perspective considering the qubit as a measurement device for the spin-boson impurity is proposed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. Replaced with published version, minor change

Decoherence due to telegraph and 1/f noise in Josephson qubits

We study decoherence due to random telegraph and 1/f noise in Josephson qubits. We illustrate differences between gaussian and non gaussian effects at different working points and for different protocols. Features of the intrinsically non-gaussian and non-Markovian low-frequency noise may explain the rich physics observed in the spectroscopy and the dynamics of charge based devices.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Mesoscopic Superconductivity and Spintronics 2004 (MS+S2004), Atsugi, Japa

Structured environments in solid state systems: crossover from Gaussian to non-Gaussian behavior

The variety of noise sources typical of the solid state represents the main limitation toward the realization of controllable and reliable quantum nanocircuits, as those allowing quantum computation. Such ``structured environments'' are characterized by a non-monotonous noise spectrum sometimes showing resonances at selected frequencies. Here we focus on a prototype structured environment model: a two-state impurity linearly coupled to a dissipative harmonic bath. We identify the time scale separating Gaussian and non-Gaussian dynamical regimes of the Spin-Boson impurity. By using a path-integral approach we show that a qubit interacting with such a structured bath may probe the variety of environmental dynamical regimes.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures. Proceedings of the DECONS '06 Conferenc

Decoherence due to discrete noise in Josephson qubits

We study decoherence produced by a discrete environment on a charge Josephson qubit by introducing a model of an environment of bistable fluctuators. In particular we address the effect of $1/f$ noise where memory effects play an important role. We perform a detailed investigation of various computation procedures (single shot measurements, repeated measurements) and discuss the problem of the information needed to characterize the effect of the environment. Although in general information beyond the power spectrum is needed, in many situations this results in the knowledge of only one more microscopic parameter of the environment. This allows to determine which degrees of freedom of the environment are effective sources of decoherence in each different physical situation considered.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figure