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This research introduces an ultrastable Pound-Drever-Hall technique for superconducting qubit readout that mitigates microwave phase drift and prevents measurement-induced state transitions. By achieving high signal enhancement without unwanted errors, this method directly addresses the critical need for scalable parallel readouts in large-scale quantum processors. The work represents a significant hardware-level advancement essential for improving fidelity as quantum systems expand beyond current limits.
The Pound-Drever-Hall Method for Superconducting-Qubit Readout
arXiv:2512.03138v3 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Scaling quantum computers to large sizes requires the implementation of many parallel qubit readouts. Here we present an ultrastable superconducting-qubit readout method using the multi-tone self-phase-referenced Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) technique, originally developed for use with optical cavities. In this work, we benchmark PDH readout of a single transmon qubit, using room-temperature heterodyne detection of all tones to reconstruct the PDH signal. We demonstrate that PDH qubit readout is insensitive to microwave phase drift, displaying $0.73^\circ$ phase stability over 2 hours, and capable of single-shot readout in the presence of phase errors exceeding the phase shift induced by the qubit state. We show that the PDH sideband tones do not cause unwanted measurement-induced state transitions for a transmon qubit, leading to a potential signal enhancement of at least $14$~dB.
Abstract:Scaling quantum computers to large sizes requires the implementation of many parallel qubit readouts. Here we present an ultrastable superconducting-qubit readout method using the multi-tone self-phase-referenced Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) technique, originally developed for use with optical cavities. In this work, we benchmark PDH readout of a single transmon qubit, using room-temperature heterodyne detection of all tones to reconstruct the PDH signal. We demonstrate that PDH qubit readout is insensitive to microwave phase drift, displaying $0.73^\circ$ phase stability over 2 hours, and capable of single-shot readout in the presence of phase errors exceeding the phase shift induced by the qubit state. We show that the PDH sideband tones do not cause unwanted measurement-induced state transitions for a transmon qubit, leading to a potential signal enhancement of at least $14$~dB.
arXiv:2512.03138 [quant-ph]
(or arXiv:2512.03138v3 [quant-ph] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.1103/ng1d-6gb8 DOI(s) linking to related resources
Full text under the publisher's open licence · 141 words
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