A group of MIT-led researchers report they’re starting to higher perceive a major impediment within the progress of superconducting quantum processors. Particularly, the researchers say they’re nearer to understanding the underlying mechanism of 1/f magnetic flux noise in superconducting circuits, which has been an open query even after a number of many years of intensive analysis.

Eradicating the supply of 1/f flux noise has implication for quantum {hardware} design, the group added.

The researchers, who report their findings in the pre-print server ArXiv, writes: “The experimental progress in the direction of constructing quantum processors with superconducting qubits has superior considerably lately. Nonetheless, environmental noise and materials high quality restrict qubit coherence, which constrains the flexibility to scale to bigger gadgets and make the most of completely different qubit architectures. One main limitation to qubit coherence is the ever present low-frequency magnetic-flux noise which shows a 1/f energy spectral density.”

In line with the paper, the group utilized weak in-plane magnetic fields to a capacitively-shunted flux qubit, which revealed beforehand unexplored traits which will assist to tell a whole microscopic principle of 1/f flux noise in superconducting circuits.

Particularly, the examine reveals a definite 1/f to roughly Lorentzian transition of the noise spectrum under 10 Hz and noise suppression above 1 MHz.

The 1/f flux noise is a serious supply of qubit coherence limitation in superconducting qubits, which constrains the flexibility to scale to bigger gadgets and use completely different qubit architectures, in accordance with the researchers.

There’s nonetheless work to do, the researchers add, however the path seems promising.

They write: “Already, we anticipate that our outcomes can present a brand new experimental constraint for future flux noise fashions incorporating magnetic discipline dependence, which can carry us one step nearer to fixing the decades-long open query of the microscopic origin of 1/f flux noise in superconducting circuits.”

The U.S. Nationwide Science Basis (NSF), the U.S. Division of Power, the Underneath Secretary of Protection for Analysis and Engineering and the Workplace of Science Nationwide Quantum Data Science Analysis Heart’s Codesign Heart for Quantum Benefit supported this work.