Charge qubit in a triple quantum dot with tunable coherence

The energy landscape of a single electron in a triple quantum dot can be tuned such that the energy separation between ground and excited states becomes a flat function of the relevant gate voltages. These so-called sweet spots are beneficial for charge coherence since the decoherence effects caused by small fluctuations of gate voltages or surrounding charge fluctuators are minimized We propose a new operation point for a triple quantum dot charge qubit, a so-called CQ(3)-qubit, having a third-order sweet spot. We show strong coupling of the qubit to single photons in a frequency tunable high-impedance SQUID-array resonator. In the dispersive regime, we investigate the qubit linewidth in the vicinity of the proposed operating point. In contrast to the expectation for a higher-order sweet spot, we there find a local maximum of the linewidth. We find that this is due to a non-negligible contribution of noise on the quadrupolar detuning axis not being in a sweet spot at the proposed operating point. While the original motivation to realize a low-decoherence charge qubit was not fulfilled, our analysis provides insights into charge decoherence mechanisms relevant also for other qubits.

Automated summary

The energy landscape of a single electron in a triple quantum dot can be tuned to create a third-order sweet spot for charge qubits. Strong coupling of the qubit to single photons is shown, but a local maximum of the linewidth is found near the proposed operating point due to noise contributions. The analysis provides insights into charge decoherence mechanisms.