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Great attention has been paid to binomial codes utilizing bosonic systems as logical qubits with error correction capabilities. However, implementing single-qubit rotation operations on binomial codes has proven challenging, requiring an ancillary qubit in previous approaches. Here, we propose a method for performing logical qubit rotation on binomial codes without requiring an ancillary qubit. Specifically, we explain how to implement $X$-axis rotations by simultaneously applying two-frequency parametric drives to resonators with nonlinearity. Furthermore, we show that $Z$-axis rotations could be realized with the detuning. Due to the reduction of the need for the ancillary qubit for the logical qubit rotation, our proposed approach is advantageous for quantum computation in the NISQ era, where the number of qubits is limited.

A periodically-driven superconducting nonlinear resonator can implement a Kerr-cat qubit, which provides a promising route to a quantum computer with a long lifetime. However, the system is vulnerable to pure dephasing, which causes unwanted excitations outside the qubit subspace. Therefore, we require a refrigeration technology which confines the system in the qubit subspace. We theoretically study on-chip refrigeration for Kerr-cat qubits based on photon-assisted electron tunneling at tunneling junctions, called quantum circuit refrigerator (QCR). Rates of QCR-induced deexcitations of the system can be changed by more than four orders of magnitude by tuning a bias voltage across the tunneling junctions. Unwanted QCR-induced bit flips are greatly suppressed due to quantum interference in the tunneling process, and thus the long lifetime is preserved. The QCR can serve as a tunable dissipation source which stabilizes Kerr-cat qubits.

Cryogenic qubit controllers (QCs) are the key to build large-scale superconducting quantum processors. However, developing scalable QCs is challenging because the cooling power of a dilution refrigerator is too small (~10 $\mu$W at ~10 mK) to operate conventional logic families, such as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor logic and superconducting single-flux-quantum logic, near qubits. Here we report on a scalable QC using an ultra-low-power superconductor logic family, namely adiabatic quantum-flux-parametron (AQFP) logic. The AQFP-based QC, referred to as the AQFP-multiplexed QC (AQFP-mux QC), produces multi-tone microwave signals for qubit control with an extremely small power dissipation of 81.8 pW per qubit. Furthermore, the AQFP-mux QC adopts microwave multiplexing to reduce the number of coaxial cables for operating the entire system. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate an AQFP-mux QC chip that produces microwave signals at two output ports through microwave multiplexing and demultiplexing. Experimental results show an output power of approximately $-$80 dBm and on/off ratio of ~40 dB at each output port. Basic mixing operation is also demonstrated by observing sideband signals., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures

We investigate the heat flow of a qubit coupled to heat baths under continuous quantum measurement. In the steady-state limit, we show that heat always flows from the measurement apparatus into the qubit regardless of the measured qubit state and derive lower and upper bounds for the heat current between the qubit and the measurement apparatus. Furthermore, we study the transient dynamics of the heat current and the excess heat during the transient regime., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures

We report the spectroscopic characterization of a Kerr parametric oscillator (KPO) based on the measurement of its reflection coefficient under a two-photon drive induced by flux modulation. The measured reflection spectra show good agreement with numerical simulations in term of their dependence on the two-photon drive amplitude. The spectra can be interpreted as changes in system's eigenenergies, transition matrix elements, and the population of the eigenstates, although the linewidth of the resonance structure is not fully explained. We also show that the drive-amplitude dependence of the spectra can be explained analytically by using the concepts of Rabi splitting and the Stark shift. By comparing the experimentally obtained spectra with theory, we show that the two-photon drive amplitude at the device can be precisely determined, which is important for the application of KPOs in quantum information processing.

Kerr parametric oscillators (KPOs) implemented in the circuit QED architecture can operate as qubits. Their applications to quantum annealing and universal quantum computation have been studied intensely. For these applications, the readout of the state of KPOs is of practical importance. We develop a scheme of state tomography for KPOs with reflection measurement. Although it is known that the reflection coefficient depends on the state of the KPO, it is unclear whether tomography of a qubit encoded into a KPO can be performed in a practical way mitigating decoherence during the measurement, and how accurate it is. We show that the reflection coefficient has a one-to-one correspondence with a diagonal element of the density matrix of the qubit when a probe frequency is properly chosen and an additional single-photon-drive is introduced. Thus, our scheme offers a novel way to readout the qubit along an axis of the Bloch sphere, and therefore the reflection measurement and single-qubit gates can constitute state tomography.

We perform the noise spectroscopy of a Josephson parametric oscillator (JPO) by implementing a microwave homodyne interferometric measurement scheme. We observe the fluctuations in the self-oscillating output field of the JPO for a long 10 s time interval in a single shot measurement and characterize the phase and amplitude noise. Furthermore, we investigate the effects of the pump strength on the output noise power spectra of the JPO. We found strong fluctuations in the phase with a $1/f^2$ characteristics in the phase noise power spectrum, which is suppressed by increasing the pump strength.

Quantum annealing (QA) is a way to solve combinational optimization problems. Kerr nonlinear parametric oscillators (KPOs) are promising devices for implementing QA. When we solve the combinational optimization problems using KPOs, it is necessary to precisely control the photon number of the KPOs. Here, we propose a feasible method to estimate the photon number of the KPO. We consider coupling an ancillary qubit to the KPO and show that spectroscopic measurements on the ancillary qubit provide information on the photon number of the KPO.

We theoretically propose a method for on-demand generation of traveling Schr\"odinger cat states, namely, quantum superpositions of distinct coherent states of traveling fields. This method is based on deterministic generation of intracavity cat states using a Kerr-nonlinear parametric oscillator (KPO) via quantum adiabatic evolution. We show that the cat states generated inside a KPO can be released into an output mode by controlling the parametric pump amplitude dynamically. We further show that the quality of the traveling cat states can be improved by using a shortcut-to-adiabaticity technique., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures

Josephson parametric amplifiers (JPA) have become key devices in quantum science and technology with superconducting circuits. In particular, they can be utilized as quantum-limited amplifiers or as a source of squeezed microwave fields. Here, we report on the detailed measurements of five flux-driven JPAs, three of them exhibiting a hysteretic dependence of the resonant frequency versus the applied magnetic flux. We model the measured characteristics by numerical simulations based on the two-dimensional potential landscape of the dc superconducting quantum interference devices (dc-SQUID), which provide the JPA nonlinearity, for a finite screening parameter $\beta_\mathrm{L}\,{>}\,0$ and demonstrate excellent agreement between the numerical results and the experimental data. Furthermore, we study the nondegenerate response of different JPAs and accurately describe the experimental results with our theory., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures

Single photon detection is a requisite technique in quantum-optics experiments in both the optical and the microwave domains. However, the energy of microwave quanta are four to five orders of magnitude less than their optical counterpart, making the efficient detection of single microwave photons extremely challenging. Here, we demonstrate the detection of a single microwave photon propagating through a waveguide. The detector is implemented with an "impedance-matched" artificial $\Lambda$ system comprising the dressed states of a driven superconducting qubit coupled to a microwave resonator. We attain a single-photon detection efficiency of $0.66 \pm 0.06$ with a reset time of $\sim 400$~ns. This detector can be exploited for various applications in quantum sensing, quantum communication and quantum information processing., Comment: 5 pages (4 figures) + 4 pages (5 figures)

We propose a scheme for continuous detection of itinerant microwave photons in circuit quantum electrodynamics. In the proposed device, a superconducting qubit is coupled dispersively to two resonators: one is used to form an impedance-matched $\Lambda$ system that deterministically captures incoming photons, and the other is used for continuous monitoring of the event. The present scheme enables efficient photon detection: for realistic system parameters, the detection efficiency reaches 0.9 with a bandwidth of about ten megahertz., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

By properly driving a qubit-resonator system in the strong dispersive regime, we implement an "impedance-matched" $\Lambda$ system in the dressed states, where a resonant single photon deterministically induces a Raman transition and excites the qubit. Combining this effect and a fast dispersive readout of the qubit, we realize a detector of itinerant microwave photons. We theoretically analyze the single-photon response of the $\Lambda$ system and evaluate its performance as a detector. We achieve a high detection efficiency close to unity without relying on precise temporal control of the input pulse shape and under a conservative estimate of the system parameters. The detector can also be reset quickly by applying microwave pulses, which allows a short dead time and a high repetition rate., Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures

In one-dimensional optical setups, light-matter interaction is drastically enhanced by the interference between the incident and scattered fields. Particularly, in the impedance-matched \Lambda-type three-level systems, a single photon deterministically induces the Raman transition and switches the electronic state of the system. Here we show that such a \Lambda system can be implemented by using dressed states of a driven superconducting qubit and a resonator. The input microwave photons are perfectly absorbed and are down-converted into other frequency modes in the same waveguide. The proposed setup is applicable to single-photon detection in the microwave domain., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures

Minimizing phase and other errors in experimental quantum gates allows higher fidelity quantum processing. To quantify and correct for phase errors in particular, we have developed a new experimental metrology --- amplified phase error (APE) pulses --- that amplifies and helps identify phase errors in general multi-level qubit architectures. In order to correct for both phase and amplitude errors specific to virtual transitions and leakage outside of the qubit manifold, we implement "half derivative" an experimental simplification of derivative reduction by adiabatic gate (DRAG) control theory. The phase errors are lowered by about a factor of five using this method to $\sim 1.6^{\circ}$ per gate, and can be tuned to zero. Leakage outside the qubit manifold, to the qubit $|2\rangle$ state, is also reduced to $\sim 10^{-4}$ for $20\%$ faster gates., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures with 2 page supplemental