Energy Decay in Josephson Qubits from Non-equilibrium Quasiparticles

Published

August 26, 2009

Author(s)

Jose A. Aumentado, John M. Martinis, M Ansmann

Abstract

We calculate the energy decay rate of Josephson qubits and superconducting resonators from non-equilibrium quasiparticles. The decay rates from experiments are shown to be consistent with our predictions based on a prior measurement of the quasiparticle density, which suggests that non-equilibrium quasiparticles is an important decoherence mechanism for Josephson qubits. Calculations of the energy-decay and diffusion of quasiparticles also indicates that prior engineered gap and trap structures, which reduce the density of quasiparticles, should be redesigned to improve their efficacy. This model also explains a striking feature in Josephson qubits and resonators - a small reduction in decay rate with increasing temperature.

Citation

Physical Review Letters

Volume

103

Issue

9

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Superconductivity, Josephson junctions, quantum computing, qubits

Citation

Aumentado, J. , Martinis, J. and Ansmann, M. (2009), Energy Decay in Josephson Qubits from Non-equilibrium Quasiparticles, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=902421 (Accessed April 11, 2025)