Hotter is Easier: Unexpected Temperature Dependence of Spin Qubit Frequencies

• Published in: Physical review. X Vol. 13; no. 4; p. 041015
• Main Authors: Undseth, Brennan, Pietx-Casas, Oriol, Raymenants, Eline, Mehmandoost, Mohammad, Mądzik, Mateusz T., Philips, Stephan G. J., de Snoo, Sander L., Michalak, David J., Amitonov, Sergey V., Tryputen, Larysa, Wuetz, Brian Paquelet, Fezzi, Viviana, Esposti, Davide Degli, Sammak, Amir, Scappucci, Giordano, Vandersypen, Lieven M. K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Physical Society 01.10.2023
• ISSN: 2160-3308; 2160-3308
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.13.041015

As spin-based quantum processors grow in size and complexity, maintaining high fidelities and minimizing crosstalk will be essential for the successful implementation of quantum algorithms and error-correction protocols. In particular, recent experiments have highlighted pernicious transient qubit frequency shifts associated with microwave qubit driving. Work-arounds for small devices, including prepulsing with an off-resonant microwave burst to bring a device to a steady state, wait times prior to measurement, and qubit-specific calibrations all bode ill for device scalability. Here, we make substantial progress in understanding and overcoming this effect. We report a surprising nonmonotonic relation between mixing chamber temperature and spin Larmor frequency which is consistent with observed frequency shifts induced by microwave and baseband control signals. We find that purposefully operating the device at 200 mK greatly suppresses the adverse heating effect while not compromising qubit coherence or single-qubit fidelity benchmarks. Furthermore, systematic non-Markovian crosstalk is greatly reduced. Our results provide a straightforward means of improving the quality of multispin control while simplifying calibration procedures for future spin-based quantum processors.