Quantum memory for superconducting qubits

Many protocols for quantum computation require a memory element to store qubits. We discuss the speed and accuracy with which quantum states prepared in a superconducting qubit can be stored in and later retrieved from an attached high-Q resonator. The memory fidelity depends on both the qubit-resonator coupling strength and the location of the state on the Bloch sphere. Our results show that a quantum memory demonstration should be possible with existing superconducting qubit designs, which would be an important milestone in solid-state quantum information processing. Although we specifically focus on a large-area, current-biased Josesphson-junction phase qubit coupled to the dilatational mode of a piezoelectric nanoelectromechanical disk resonator, many of our results will apply to other qubit-oscillator models.