22 research outputs found
A photonic crystal Josephson traveling wave parametric amplifier
An amplifier combining noise performances as close as possible to the quantum
limit with large bandwidth and high saturation power is highly desirable for
many solid state quantum technologies such as high fidelity qubit readout or
high sensitivity electron spin resonance for example. Here we introduce a new
Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifier based on Superconducting QUantum
Interference Devices. It displays a 3 GHz bandwidth, a -102 dBm 1-dB
compression point and added noise near the quantum limit. Compared to previous
state-of-the-art, it is an order of magnitude more compact, its characteristic
impedance is in-situ tunable and its fabrication process requires only two
lithography steps. The key is the engineering of a gap in the dispersion
relation of the transmission line. This is obtained using a periodic modulation
of the SQUID size, similarly to what is done with photonic crystals. Moreover,
we provide a new theoretical treatment to describe the non-trivial interplay
between non-linearity and such periodicity. Our approach provides a path to
co-integration with other quantum devices such as qubits given the low
footprint and easy fabrication of our amplifier.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, Appendixe
The Thermal Structure of Gas in Pre-Stellar Cores: A Case Study of Barnard 68
We present a direct comparison of a chemical/physical model to
multitransitional observations of C18O and 13CO towards the Barnard 68
pre-stellar core. These observations provide a sensitive test for models of low
UV field photodissociation regions and offer the best constraint on the gas
temperature of a pre-stellar core. We find that the gas temperature of this
object is surprisingly low (~7-8 K), and significantly below the dust
temperature, in the outer layers (Av < 5 mag) that are traced by C18O and 13CO
emission. As shown previously, the inner layers (Av > 5 mag) exhibit
significant freeze-out of CO onto grain surfaces. Because the dust and gas are
not fully coupled, depletion of key coolants in the densest layers raises the
core (gas) temperature, but only by ~1 K. The gas temperature in layers not
traced by C18O and 13CO emission can be probed by NH3 emission, with a
previously estimated temperature of ~10-11 K. To reach these temperatures in
the inner core requires an order of magnitude reduction in the gas to dust
coupling rate. This potentially argues for a lack of small grains in the
densest gas, presumably due to grain coagulation.Comment: 33 pages, 11 figures, accepted by Astrophysical Journa
A tunable Josephson platform to explore many-body quantum optics in circuit-QED
Coupling an isolated emitter to a single mode of the electromagnetic field is
now routinely achieved and well understood. Current efforts aim to explore the
coherent dynamics of emitters coupled to several electromagnetic modes (EM).
freedom. Recently, ultrastrong coupling to a transmission line has been
achieved where the emitter resonance broadens to a significant fraction of its
frequency. In this work we gain significantly improved control over this
regime. We do so by combining the simplicity of a transmon qubit and a bespoke
EM environment with a high density of discrete modes, hosted inside a
superconducting metamaterial. This produces a unique device in which the
hybridisation between the qubit and up to 10 environmental modes can be
monitored directly. Moreover the frequency and broadening of the qubit
resonance can be tuned independently of each other in situ. We experimentally
demonstrate that our device combines this tunability with ultrastrong coupling
and a qubit nonlinearity comparable to the other relevant energy scales in the
system. We also develop a quantitative theoretical description that does not
contain any phenomenological parameters and that accurately takes into account
vacuum fluctuations of our large scale quantum circuit in the regime of
ultrastrong coupling and intermediate non-linearity. The demonstration of this
new platform combined with a quantitative modelling brings closer the prospect
of experimentally studying many-body effects in quantum optics. A limitation of
the current device is the intermediate nonlinearity of the qubit. Pushing it
further will induce fully developed many-body effects, such as a giant Lamb
shift or nonclassical states of multimode optical fields. Observing such
effects would establish interesting links between quantum optics and the
physics of quantum impurities.Comment: Main paper and Supplementary Information combined in one file. List
of the modifications in the final version: new abstract and introduction,
comparison to RWA treatment, more precise capacitance mode
Fabrication and characterization of aluminum SQUID transmission lines
We report on the fabrication and characterization of 50 Ohms, flux-tunable,
low-loss, SQUID-based transmission lines. The fabrication process relies on the
deposition of a thin dielectric layer (few tens of nanometers) via Atomic Layer
Deposition (ALD) on top of a SQUID array, the whole structure is then covered
by a non-superconducting metallic top ground plane. We present experimental
results from five different samples. We systematically characterize their
microscopic parameters by measuring the propagating phase in these structures.
We also investigate losses and discriminate conductor from dielectric losses.
This fabrication method offers several advantages. First, the SQUID array
fabrication does not rely on a Niobium tri-layer process but on a simpler
double angle evaporation technique. Second, ALD provides high quality
dielectric leading to low-loss devices. Further, the SQUID array fabrication is
based on a standard, all-aluminum process, allowing direct integration with
superconducting qubits. Moreover, our devices are in-situ flux tunable,
allowing mitigation of incertitude inherent to any fabrication process.
Finally, the unit cell being a single SQUID (no extra ground capacitance is
needed), it is straightforward to modulate the size of the unit cell
periodically, allowing band-engineering. This fabrication process can be
directly applied to traveling wave parametric amplifiers.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, Appendixe
Experimental advances with the QICK (Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit) for superconducting quantum hardware
The QICK is a standalone open source qubit controller that was first
introduced in 2022. In this follow-up work, we present recent experimental use
cases that the QICK uniquely enabled for superconducting qubit systems. These
include multiplexed signal generation and readout, mixer-free readout,
pre-distorted fast flux pulses, and phase-coherent pulses for parametric
operations, including high-fidelity parametric entangling gates. We explain in
detail how the QICK was used to enable these experiments
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome associated with COVID-19: An Emulated Target Trial Analysis.
RATIONALE: Whether COVID patients may benefit from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) compared with conventional invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the effect of ECMO on 90-Day mortality vs IMV only Methods: Among 4,244 critically ill adult patients with COVID-19 included in a multicenter cohort study, we emulated a target trial comparing the treatment strategies of initiating ECMO vs. no ECMO within 7 days of IMV in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (PaO2/FiO2 <80 or PaCO2 ≥60 mmHg). We controlled for confounding using a multivariable Cox model based on predefined variables. MAIN RESULTS: 1,235 patients met the full eligibility criteria for the emulated trial, among whom 164 patients initiated ECMO. The ECMO strategy had a higher survival probability at Day-7 from the onset of eligibility criteria (87% vs 83%, risk difference: 4%, 95% CI 0;9%) which decreased during follow-up (survival at Day-90: 63% vs 65%, risk difference: -2%, 95% CI -10;5%). However, ECMO was associated with higher survival when performed in high-volume ECMO centers or in regions where a specific ECMO network organization was set up to handle high demand, and when initiated within the first 4 days of MV and in profoundly hypoxemic patients. CONCLUSIONS: In an emulated trial based on a nationwide COVID-19 cohort, we found differential survival over time of an ECMO compared with a no-ECMO strategy. However, ECMO was consistently associated with better outcomes when performed in high-volume centers and in regions with ECMO capacities specifically organized to handle high demand. This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Side-Channel Analysis of the Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ Encryption Engine
The Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ (ZU+) is a powerful and flexible System-on- Chip (SoC) computing platform for next generation applications such as autonomous driving or industrial Internet-of-Things (IoT) based on 16 nm production technology. The devices are equipped with a secure boot mechanism in order to provide confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of the configuration files that are loaded during power-up. This includes a dedicated encryption engine which features a protocol-based countermeasure against passive Side-Channel Attacks (SCAs) called key rolling. The mechanism ensures that the same key is used only for a certain number of data blocks that has to be defined by the user. However, a suitable choice for the key rolling parameter depends on the power leakage behavior of the chip and is not published by the manufacturer. To close this gap, this paper presents the first publicly known side-channel analysis of the ZU+ encryption unit. We conduct a black-box reverse engineering of the internal hardware architecture of the encryption engine using Electromagnetic (EM) measurements from a decoupling capacitor of the power supply. Then, we illustrate a sophisticated methodology that involves the first five rounds of an AES encryption to attack the 256-bit secret key. We apply the elaborated attack strategy using several new Deep Learning (DL)-based evaluation methods for cryptographic implementations. Even though we are unable to recover all bytes of the secret key, the experimental results still allow us to provide concrete recommendations for the key rolling parameter under realistic conditions. This eventually helps to configure the secure boot mechanism of the ZU+ and similar devices appropriately
Transportin-1 binds to the HIV-1 capsid via a nuclear localization signal and triggers uncoating
International audienc
A tale of two chitons: Is habitat specialisation linked to distinct associated bacterial communities?
Although most chitons (Mollusca: Polyplacophora) are shallow-water molluscs, diverse species also occur in deep-sea habitats. We investigated the feeding strategies of two species, Leptochiton boucheti and Nierstraszella lineata, recovered on sunken wood sampled in the western Pacific, close to the Vanuatu Islands. The two species display distinctly different associations with bacterial partners. Leptochiton boucheti harbours Mollicutes in regions of its gut epithelium and has no abundant bacterium associated with its gill. Nierstraszella lineata displays no dense gut-associated bacteria, but harbours bacterial filaments attached to its gill epithelium, related to the Deltaproteobacteria symbionts found in gills of the wood-eating limpet Pectinodonta sp. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures and an absence of cellulolytic activity give evidence against a direct wood-feeding diet; both species are secondary consumers within the wood food web. We suggest that the distinct associations with bacterial partners are linked to niche specialisations of the two species. Nierstraszella lineata is in a taxonomic family restricted to sunken wood and is possibly adapted to more anoxic conditions thanks to its gill-associated bacteria. Leptochiton boucheti is phylogenetically more proximate to an ancestral form not specialised on wood and may itself be more of a generalist; this observation is congruent with its association with Mollicutes, a bacterial clade comprising gut-associated bacteria occurring in several metazoan phyla