Reducing the impact of radioactivity on quantum circuits in a deep-underground facility

As quantum coherence times of superconducting circuits have increased from nanoseconds to hundreds of microseconds, they are currently one of the leading platforms for quantum information processing. However, coherence needs to further improve by orders of magnitude to reduce the prohibitive hardware overhead of current error correction schemes. Reaching this goal hinges on reducing the density of broken Cooper pairs, so-called quasi-particles. Here, we show that environmental radioactivity is a significant source of nonequilibrium quasiparticles. Moreover, ionizing radiation introduces time-correlated quasiparticle bursts in resonators on the same chip, further complicating quantum error correction. Operating in a deep-underground lead-shielded cryostat decreases the quasiparticle burst rate by a factor thirty and reduces dissipation up to a factor four, showcasing the importance of radiation abatement in future solid-state quantum hardware.

Automated summary

As the coherence times of superconducting circuits have increased, they have become a leading platform for quantum information processing, but further improvements are needed. Environmental radioactivity is a significant source of nonequilibrium quasiparticles, introducing time-correlated bursts in resonators and complicating quantum error correction. Operating in a lead-shielded cryostat underground reduces quasiparticle bursts by a factor of thirty, highlighting the importance of radiation abatement in future solid-state quantum hardware.