High-fidelity quantum memory realized via Wigner crystals of polar molecules

The collective excitations of spin states of an ensemble of polar molecules are studied as a candidate for high-fidelity quantum memory. To avoid the collisional properties of the molecules, they are arranged in dipolar crystals under one or two dimensional trapping conditions. We calculate the lifetime of the quantum memory by identifying the dominant decoherence mechanisms and estimating their effects on gate operations when a molecular ensemble qubit is transferred to a microwave cavity.     

Hybrid quantum circuit with a superconducting qubit coupled to a spin ensemble

We report the experimental realization of a hybrid quantum circuit combining a superconducting qubit and an ensemble of electronic spins. The qubit, of the transmon type, is coherently coupled to the spin ensemble consisting of nitrogen-vacancy centers in a diamond crystal via a frequency-tunable superconducting resonator acting as a quantum bus. Using this circuit, we prepare a superposition of the qubit states that we store into collective excitations of the spin ensemble and retrieve back into the qubit later on. These results constitute a proof of concept of spin-ensemble based quantum memory for superconducting qubits.     

Holographic quantum computing

We propose to use a single mesoscopic ensemble of trapped polar molecules for quantum computing. A "holographic quantum register" with hundreds of qubits is encoded in collective excitations with definite spatial phase variations. Each phase pattern is uniquely addressed by optical Raman processes with classical optical fields, while one- and two-qubit gates and qubit readout are accomplished by transferring the qubit states to a stripline microwave cavity field and a Cooper pair box where controllable two-level unitary dynamics and detection is governed by classical microwave fields.     

Towards a spin-ensemble quantum memory for superconducting qubits

This article reviews efforts to build a new type of quantum device, which combines an ensemble of electronic spins with long coherence times, and a small-scale superconducting quantum processor. The goal is to store over long times arbitrary qubit states in orthogonal collective modes of the spin-ensemble, and to retrieve them on-demand. We first present the protocol devised for such a multi-mode quantum memory. We then describe a series of experimental results using NV (as in nitrogen vacancy) center spins in diamond, which demonstrate its main building blocks: the transfer of arbitrary quantum states from a qubit into the spin ensemble, and the multi-mode retrieval of classical microwave pulses down to the single-photon level with a Hahn-echo like sequence. A reset of the spin memory is implemented in-between two successive sequences using optical repumping of the spins.     

A quantum computer in the scheme of an atomic quantum transistor with logical encoding of qubits

A scheme of a multiqubit quantum computer on atomic ensembles using a quantum transistor implementing two qubit gates is proposed. We demonstrate how multiatomic ensembles permit one to work with a large number of qubits that are represented in a logical encoding in which each qubit is recorded on a superposition of single-particle states of two atomic ensembles. The access to qubits is implemented by appropriate phasing of quantum states of each of atomic ensembles. An atomic quantum transistor is proposed for use when executing two qubit operations. The quantum transistor effect appears when an excitation quantum is exchanged between two multiatomic ensembles located in two closely positioned QED cavities connected with each other by a gate atom. The dynamics of quantum transfer between atomic ensembles can be different depending on one of two states of the gate atom. Using the possibilities of control for of state of the gate atom, we show the possibility of quantum control for the state of atomic ensembles and, based on this, implementation of basic single and two qubit gates. Possible implementation schemes for a quantum computer on an atomic quantum transistor and their advantages in practical implementation are discussed.     

Scalable ion trap quantum computing without moving ions

A hybrid quantum computing scheme is studied where the hybrid qubit is made of an ion trap qubit serving as the information storage and a solid-state charge qubit serving as the quantum processor, connected by a superconducting cavity. In this paper, we extend our previous work [CITE] and study the decoherence, coupling and scalability of the hybrid system. We present our calculations of the decoherence of the coupled ion-charge system due to the charge fluctuations in the solid-state system and the dissipation of the superconducting cavity under laser radiation. A gate scheme that exploits rapid state flips of the charge qubit to reduce decoherence by the charge noise is designed. We also study a superconducting switch that is inserted between the cavity and the charge qubit and provides tunable coupling between the qubits. The scalability of the hybrid scheme is discussed together with several potential experimental obstacles in realizing this scheme.     

Topological quantum memory interfacing atomic and superconducting qubits

We propose a scheme to manipulate a topological spin qubit which is realized with cold atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice. In particular, by introducing a quantum opto-electro-mechanical interface, we are able to first transfer a superconducting qubit state to an atomic qubit state and then to store it into the topological spin qubit. In this way, an efficient topological quantum memory could be constructed for the superconducting qubit. Therefore, we can consolidate the advantages of both the noise resistance of the topological qubits and the scalability of the superconducting qubits in this hybrid architecture.     

Demonstration of a stable atom-photon entanglement source for quantum repeaters

We demonstrate a novel way to efficiently create a robust entanglement between an atomic and a photonic qubit. A single laser beam is used to excite one atomic ensemble and two different modes of Raman fields are collected to generate the atom-photon entanglement. With the help of built-in quantum memory, the entanglement still exists after 20.5 micros storage time which is further proved by the violation of Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt type Bell's inequality. The entanglement procedure can serve as a building block for a novel robust quantum repeater architecture [Zhao, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 240502 (2007)10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.240502] and can be extended to generate high-dimensional atom-photon entanglements.     

One-shot quantum measurement using a hysteretic dc SQUID

We propose a single shot quantum measurement to determine the state of a Josephson charge quantum bit (qubit). The qubit is a Cooper pair box and the measuring device is a two junction superconducting quantum interference device (dc SQUID). This coupled system exhibits a close analogy with a Rydberg atom in a high Q cavity, except that in the present device we benefit from the additional feature of escape from the supercurrent state by macroscopic quantum tunneling, which provides the final readout. We test the feasibility of our idea against realistic experimental circuit parameters and by analyzing the phase fluctuations of the qubit.     

Preparation of multi-photon Fock states and quantum entanglement properties in circuit QED

We demonstrate the controllable generation of multi-photon Fock states in circuit quantum electrodynamics （circuit QED）. The external bias flux regulated by a counter can effectively adjust the bias time on each superconducting flux qubit so that each flux qubit can pass in turn through the circuit cavity and thereby avoid the effect of decoherence. We further investigate the quantum correlation dynamics of coupling superconducting qubits in a Fock state. The results reveal that the lower the photon number of the light field in the number state, the stronger the interaction between qubits is, then the more beneficial to maintaining entanglement between qubits it will be.     

All linear optical quantum memory based on quantum error correction

When photons are sent through a fiber as part of a quantum communication protocol, the error that is most difficult to correct is photon loss. Here we propose and analyze a two-to-four qubit encoding scheme, which can recover the loss of one qubit in the transmission. This device acts as a repeater, when it is placed in series to cover a distance larger than the attenuation length of the fiber, and it acts as an optical quantum memory, when it is inserted in a fiber loop. We call this dual-purpose device a "quantum transponder."     

Enhanced quantum state detection efficiency through quantum information processing

We investigate theoretically and experimentally how quantum state-detection efficiency is improved by the use of quantum information processing (QIP). Experimentally, we encode the state of one 9Be(+) ion qubit with one additional ancilla qubit. By measuring both qubits, we reduce the state-detection error in the presence of noise. The deviation from the theoretically allowed reduction is due to infidelities of the QIP operations. Applying this general scheme to more ancilla qubits suggests that error in the individual qubit measurements need not be a limit to scalable quantum computation.     

Coupling nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond to superconducting flux qubits

We propose a method to achieve coherent coupling between nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond and superconducting (SC) flux qubits. The resulting coupling can be used to create a coherent interaction between the spin states of distant NV centers mediated by the flux qubit. Furthermore, the magnetic coupling can be used to achieve a coherent transfer of quantum information between the flux qubit and an ensemble of NV centers. This enables a long-term memory for a SC quantum processor and possibly an interface between SC qubits and light.     

Observation of quantum jumps in a superconducting artificial atom

We continuously measure the state of a superconducting quantum bit coupled to a microwave readout cavity by using a fast, ultralow-noise parametric amplifier. This arrangement allows us to observe quantum jumps between the qubit states in real time, and should enable quantum error correction and feedback--essential components of quantum information processing.     

Quantum leakage of collective excitations of atomic ensemble induced by spatial motion

We generalize the conception of quantum leakage for the atomic collective excitation states. By making use of the atomic coherence state approach, we study the influence of the atomic spatial motion on the symmetric collective states of 2-level atomic ensemble due to inhomogeneous coupling. In the macroscopic limit, we analyze the quantum decoherence of the collective atomic state by calculating the quantum leakage for a very large ensemble at a finite temperature. Our investigations show that the fidelity of the atomic system will not be good in the case of atom numberN→∞. Therefore, quantum leakage is an inevitable problem in using the atomic ensemble as a quantum information memory. The detailed calculations shed theoretical light on quantum processing using atomic ensemble collective qubit.     

Quantum light memory using quantum dot spins in a microdisk cavity via Raman process

A solid state quantum circuit where an ensemble of self-assembled quantum dots in a microdisk cavity served as long-lived quantum light memory, is investigated. It is shown that via laser coupling Raman process, the coherent transfer between the light field (qubits) and the ensemble spin states of the quantum dots can be efficient and fast. The coherence properties of the system are analyzed, which enables us to obtain a long coherence time.     

Quantum trajectories of superconducting qubits

In this review, we discuss recent experiments that investigate how the quantum sate of a superconducting qubit evolves during measurement. We provide a pedagogical overview of the measurement process, when the qubit is dispersively coupled to a microwave frequency cavity, and the qubit state is encoded in the phase of a microwave tone that probes the cavity. A continuous measurement record is used to reconstruct the individual quantum trajectories of the qubit state, and quantum state tomography is performed to verify that the state has been tracked accurately. Furthermore, we discuss ensembles of trajectories, time-symmetric evolution, two-qubit trajectories, and potential applications in measurement-based quantum error correction.     

Universal quantum gates between distant quantum dot spins

We propose a scheme to engineer a nonlocal two-qubit phase gate between two remote quantum-dot spins in cavities. As the effect of cavity decay is considered and strong coupling condition is not used, the scheme has good adaptability. Along with single qubit operations, one can perform in principle various types of distributed quantum information processing.     

The transition from quantum Zeno to anti-Zeno effects for a qubit in a cavity by varying the cavity frequency

We propose a strategy to demonstrate the transition from the quantum Zeno effect (QZE) to the anti-Zeno effect (AZE) using a superconducting qubit coupled to a transmission line cavity, by varying the central frequency of the cavity mode. Our results are obtained without the rotating wave approximation (RWA), and the initial state (a dressed state) is easy to prepare. Moreover, we find that in the presence of both qubit?s intrinsic bath and the cavity bath, the emergence of the QZE and the AZE behaviors relies not only on the match between the qubit energy-level-spacing and the central frequency of the cavity mode, but also on the coupling strength between the qubit and the cavity mode.