Multi-junction effects in dc SQUID phase qubits

Abstract

I discuss experimental and theoretical results on an LC filtered dc SQUID phase qubit. This qubit is an asymmetric aluminum dc SQUID, with junction critical currents 1.5 and 26.8 μA, on a sapphire substrate. The layout differs from earlier designs by incorporating a superconducting ground plane and weakly coupled coplanar waveguide microwave drive line to control microwave-qubit coupling.

I begin with a discussion of quantizing lumped element circuit models. I use nodal analysis to construct a 2d model for the dc SQUID phase qubit that goes beyond a single junction approximation. I then discuss an extension of this ``normal modes'' SQUID model to include the on-chip LC filter with design frequency ∼ 180 MHz. I show that the filter plus SQUID model yields an effective Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian for the filter-SQUID system with coupling g / 2 π ∼ 32 MHz.

I present the qubit design, including a noise model predicting a lifetime T₁ = 1.2 μs for the qubit based on the design parameters. I characterized the qubit with measurements of the current-flux characteristic, spectroscopy, and Rabi oscillations. I measured T₁ = 230 ns, close to the value 320 ns given by the noise model using the measured parameters. Rabi oscillations show a pure dephasing time T_φ = 1100 ns. The spectroscopic and Rabi data suggest two-level qubit dynamics are inadequate for describing the system. I show that the effective Jaynes-Cummings model reproduces some of the unusual features.