Time to Result: Randomized Benchmarking with Advanced Quantum Control

I never got to performing Randomized Benchmarking (RB) on my Ph.D. setup. I remember considering it the holy grail of experiments, the entry point in the race to practical quantum computing. If you are benchmarking and comparing to others, you are playing the game!

Nowadays, Randomized Benchmarking experiments are becoming the standard and are slowly getting into the realm of characterization routines. With this, one would hope that it wouldn’t take too long to have them implemented in a lab. So here comes the question:

Say you scrap all the controls of your lab, keep the qubits and get a brand-new controller. 
How long would you guess it will take you to perform Randomized Benchmarking?

Will it be ready in days, weeks, months, or even years?

Coming from a Ph.D. in a not-so-mature subfield, I would have guessed many months. Now, learning about state-of-the-art, e.g., superconducting qubit labs, I am sure many fellow physicists would guess weeks or just a few months. You know what you are doing, but you still need to write calibration routines, configurations, pulse sequences, and so on. 

Then my frame of reference for what is possible abruptly changed. I witnessed Randomized Benchmarking working in a customer lab in less than 48 hours since unboxing the OPX+ quantum controller.

From Qubit Spectroscopy to Randomized Benchmarking in Two Days

I have talked before about how the point of view of the lab manager has changed thanks to how Quantum Machines does business, with on-site support from experts interested in experiments rather than tools. But this, for me, was beyond incredible.

In this specific instance, the team did not set out to do Randomized Benchmarking as fast as possible. They just did what they usually do: set up the system and work with the lab’s team to implement whatever the research group needed. This specific lab uses both spin and superconducting qubits, and they had in mind very clearly what needed to be done. So the Customer Success team from Quantum Machines and the customer’s group paired up, producing a storm of results. 

Initially, they replicated results obtained previously in the lab, from resonator and qubit spectroscopy to Rabi and T₁ measurements. Seeing how smoothly things went, our hero team quickly went above and beyond expectations. Already on the second day, they coded state characterization in the IQ plane, more advanced pulse sequences, and even optimization of readouts. Then the cherry on top, Randomized Benchmarking working before the end of day two.

The Magic Formula for Faster Time to Result

The recipe is straightforward: take a dedicated, highly-performing quantum controller, the OPX+. Then add a bunch of people passionate about quantum experiments, a room full of qubits, and a highly intuitive programming language, QUA. You won’t need to stir if you get the proportions right. You will not be counting the time to result in days or weeks but in minutes and hours.

Curious to learn more? Feel free to drop us a line at: [email protected]. Our team of experimentalists is eager to hear about your next milestone and help you set it up with our advanced quantum control tools.