A universal quantum gate set for transmon qubits with strong ZZ interactions
Junling Long, Tongyu Zhao, Mustafa Bal, Ruichen Zhao, George S. Barron, Hsiang‐Sheng Ku, Joel Howard, Xian Wu, Corey Rae McRae, Xiu–Hao Deng, Ribeill, Guilhem J., Singh, Meenakshi, Ohki, Thomas A., Barnes, Edwin, Economou, Sophia E., Pappas, David P. · arXiv (Cornell University) · 2021
High-fidelity single- and two-qubit gates are essential building blocks for a fault-tolerant quantum computer. While there has been much progress in suppressing single-qubit gate errors in superconducting qubit systems, two-qubit gates still suffer from error rates that are orders of magnitude higher. One limiting factor is the residual ZZ-interaction, which originates from a coupling between computational states and higher-energy states. While this interaction is usually viewed as a nuisance, here we experimentally demonstrate that it can be exploited to produce a universal set of fast single- and two-qubit entangling gates in a coupled transmon qubit system. To implement arbitrary single-qubit rotations, we design a new protocol called the two-axis gate that is based on a three-part composite pulse. It rotates a single qubit independently of the state of the other qubit despite the strong ZZ-coupling. We achieve single-qubit gate fidelities as high as 99.1% from randomized benchmarking measurements. We then demonstrate both a CZ gate and a CNOT gate. Because the system has a strong ZZ-interaction, a CZ gate can be achieved by letting the system freely evolve for a gate time $t_g=53.8$ ns. To design the CNOT gate, we utilize an analytical microwave pulse shape based on the SWIPHT protocol for realizing fast, low-leakage gates. We obtain fidelities of 94.6% and 97.8% for the CNOT and CZ gates respectively from quantum progress tomography.