Development of nanowire-based fluxonium devices

This thesis presents the design, development and first spectroscopy measurements of nanowire-based fluxonium devices. We demonstrate the strong external flux and gate voltage tunability of their spectrum, which allows to accurately tune their first transition frequency over a range of more than 10 GHz. We also show the nanowire fluxonium resilience to magnetic fields up to 800 mT, demonstrating its compatibility with the creation of Majorana bound states (MBSs) at the junction ends, what would open the door to the exploration of new physics and new technological applications. First, the emergence of MBSs in a nanowire fluxonium would result in new Majorana signatures, obtained by radio-frequency spectroscopy techniques. This would complement the current experimental evidence for the creation of MBSs in semiconducting nanowires and would allow to characterize their coupling energy scales, that are, up to date, unknown. And second, the nanowire fluxonium devices presented here can be used for addressing a qubit whose state is topologically protected from local perturbations. Integrating topological qubits into a cQED platform would solve the currently existing problems of the lack of a universal set of quantum gates and reliable methods for qubit operation and readout, establishing a path for the development of topological quantum computing.Applied Physic

Realizing superconducting spin qubits

Josephson junctions implemented in semiconducting nanowires proximitized by a superconductor exhibit intricate physics arising from the interplay of electron-electron interactions, superconductivity, spin-orbit coupling, and the Zeeman effect. This thesis explores these phenomena through a series of experiments conducted using circuit quantum electrodynamics techniques.After establishing the fundamental theoretical concepts and experimental methodologies, we introduce a crucial element for probing our devices with microwaves: magnetic field-compatible resonators. We then describe various experiments conducted over the past years in which superconducting resonators and other circuits are used to explore the physics of nanowire Josephson junctions.In an initial experiment, we develop a magnetic-field-resilient fluxoniumcircuit that incorporates an InAs semiconducting nanowire at its core. We show that the device’s spectrum is highly dependent on both the electrostatic gate voltage and the magnetic field strength, allowing us to detect signatures of non-conventional phenomena in semiconducting Josephson junctions.The bulk of this thesis revolves around a second set of experiments, where a quantum dot is electrostatically defined within the nanowire Josephson junction. This time, we use a transmon circuit to investigate singlet-doublet ground state transitions and their dynamics. The two spinful doublet states of the junction define a novel type of qubit with intriguing properties: a superconducting (or Andreev) spin qubit (ASQ). Thus, we then shift our focus to the doublet states and explore their magnetic field dependence with transmon spectroscopy. Subsequently,we turn to directly investigating the spin-flip transition and the coherence properties of the two spin states. We find that the intrinsic coupling between the spin state and the supercurrent through the junction enablesstrong coupling between the ASQ and the transmon qubit in which it is embedded.In a final experiment, we connect two such Andreev spin qubits in parallel and investigate their supercurrent-mediated longitudinal coupling. We find that the qubits are strongly coupled and their coupling strength can be switched on and off by adjusting the magnetic flux. Notably, given that the spins are placed micrometers apart, this mechanism enables interaction between distant spins. Building on these promising characteristics, we end by introducing a proposal that outlines our vision for scaling up ASQs. The proposed architecture, where multiple ASQs are connected in parallel, enables the selective coupling of any pair of qubits in the system, regardless of their spatial separation, through flux control.This thesis concludes by outlining potential future experiments that could be conducted with devices and techniques similar to those investigated here.QRD/Kouwenhoven La

Gate-Tunable Kinetic Inductance in Proximitized Nanowires

We report the detection of a gate-tunable kinetic inductance in a hybrid InAs/Al nanowire. For this purpose, we embed the nanowire into a quarter-wave coplanar waveguide resonator and measure the resonance frequency of the circuit. We find that the resonance frequency can be changed via the gate voltage that controls the electron density of the proximitized semiconductor and thus the nanowire inductance. Applying Mattis-Bardeen theory, we extract the gate dependence of the normal-state conductivity of the nanowire, as well as its superconducting gap. Our measurements complement existing characterization methods for hybrid nanowires and provide a useful tool for gate-controlled superconducting electronics. QRD/Kouwenhoven LabQN/Andersen La

Microwave spectroscopy of interacting Andreev spins

Andreev bound states are fermionic states localized in weak links between superconductors which can be occupied with spinful quasiparticles. Microwave experiments using superconducting circuits with InAs/Al nanowire Josephson junctions have recently enabled probing and coherent manipulation of Andreev states but have remained limited to zero or small magnetic fields. Here, we use a flux-tunable superconducting circuit compatible in magnetic fields up to 1T to perform spectroscopy of spin-polarized Andreev states up to ∼250mT, beyond which the spectrum becomes gapless. We identify singlet and triplet states of two quasiparticles occupying different Andreev states through their dispersion in magnetic field. These states are split by exchange interaction and couple via spin-orbit coupling, analogously to two-electron states in quantum dots. We also show that the magnetic field allows to drive a direct spin-flip transition of a single quasiparticle trapped in the junction. Finally, we measure a gate- and field-dependent anomalous phase shift of the Andreev spectrum, of magnitude up to ∼0.7π. Our observations demonstrate alternative ways to manipulate Andreev states in a magnetic field and reveal spin-polarized triplet states that carry supercurrent.QRD/Kouwenhoven LabQRD/Goswami LabQN/Kouwenhoven LabAndersen La

Direct manipulation of a superconducting spin qubit strongly coupled to a transmon qubit

Spin qubits in semiconductors are a promising platform for producing highly scalable quantum computing devices. However, it is difficult to realize multiqubit interactions over extended distances. Superconducting spin qubits provide an alternative by encoding a qubit in the spin degree of freedom of an Andreev level. These Andreev spin qubits have an intrinsic spin–supercurrent coupling that enables the use of recent advances in circuit quantum electrodynamics. The first realization of an Andreev spin qubit encoded the qubit in the excited states of a semiconducting weak link, leading to frequent decay out of the computational subspace. Additionally, rapid qubit manipulation was hindered by the need for indirect Raman transitions. Here we use an electrostatically defined quantum dot Josephson junction with large charging energy, which leads to a spin-split doublet ground state. We tune the qubit frequency over a frequency range of 10 GHz using a magnetic field, which also enables us to investigate the qubit performance using direct spin manipulation. An all-electric microwave drive produces Rabi frequencies exceeding 200 MHz. We embed the Andreev spin qubit in a superconducting transmon qubit, demonstrating strong coherent qubit–qubit coupling. These results are a crucial step towards a hybrid architecture that combines the beneficial aspects of both superconducting and semiconductor qubits.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.QRD/Kouwenhoven LabQN/Kouwenhoven LabAndersen La

Mitigation of Quasiparticle Loss in Superconducting Qubits by Phonon Scattering

Quantum error correction will be an essential ingredient in realizing fault-tolerant quantum computing. However, most correction schemes rely on the assumption that errors are sufficiently uncorrelated in space and time. In superconducting qubits, this assumption is drastically violated in the presence of ionizing radiation, which creates bursts of high-energy phonons in the substrate. These phonons can break Cooper pairs in the superconductor and, thus, create quasiparticles over large areas, consequently reducing qubit coherence across the quantum device in a correlated fashion. A potential mitigation technique is to place large volumes of normal or superconducting metal on the device, capable of reducing the phonon energy to below the superconducting gap of the qubits. To investigate the effectiveness of this method, we fabricate a quantum device with four nominally identical nanowire-based transmon qubits. On the device, half of the niobium-titanium-nitride ground plane is replaced with aluminum (Al), which has a significantly lower superconducting gap. We deterministically inject high-energy phonons into the substrate by voltage biasing a galvanically isolated Josephson junction. In the presence of the small-gap material, we find a factor of 2–5 less degradation in the injection-dependent qubit lifetimes and observe that the undesired excited qubit state population is mitigated by a similar factor. We furthermore turn the Al normal with a magnetic field, finding no change in the phonon protection. This suggests that the efficacy of the protection in our device is not limited by the size of the superconducting gap in the Al ground plane. Our results provide a promising foundation for protecting superconducting-qubit processors against correlated errors from ionizing radiation.QRD/Kouwenhoven LabQN/Kouwenhoven LabAndersen La

Dynamical Polarization of the Fermion Parity in a Nanowire Josephson Junction

Josephson junctions in InAs nanowires proximitized with an Al shell can host gate-tunable Andreev bound states. Depending on the bound state occupation, the fermion parity of the junction can be even or odd. Coherent control of Andreev bound states has recently been achieved within each parity sector, but it is impeded by incoherent parity switches due to excess quasiparticles in the superconducting environment. Here, we show that we can polarize the fermion parity dynamically using microwave pulses by embedding the junction in a superconducting LC resonator. We demonstrate polarization up to 94%±1% (89%±1%) for the even (odd) parity as verified by single shot parity readout. Finally, we apply this scheme to probe the flux-dependent transition spectrum of the even or odd parity sector selectively, without any postprocessing or heralding.QRD/Kouwenhoven LabQN/Wimmer GroupBUS/Quantum Delf

Spectroscopy of Spin-Split Andreev Levels in a Quantum Dot with Superconducting Leads

We use a hybrid superconductor-semiconductor transmon device to perform spectroscopy of a quantum dot Josephson junction tuned to be in a spin-1/2 ground state with an unpaired quasiparticle. Because of spin-orbit coupling, we resolve two flux-sensitive branches in the transmon spectrum, depending on the spin of the quasiparticle. A finite magnetic field shifts the two branches in energy, favoring one spin state and resulting in the anomalous Josephson effect. We demonstrate the excitation of the direct spin-flip transition using all-electrical control. Manipulation and control of the spin-flip transition enable the future implementation of charging energy protected Andreev spin qubits.QRD/Kouwenhoven LabQN/Kouwenhoven LabAndersen La