1/f noise: implications for solid-state quantum information

TL;DR

This paper reviews how 1/f noise, originating from microscopic fluctuators, impacts decoherence in solid-state quantum devices, emphasizing models, mechanisms, and strategies to mitigate its effects on qubit coherence.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of the theory and models of 1/f noise in solid-state quantum devices, highlighting its role in decoherence and potential mitigation strategies.

Findings

1/f noise arises from microscopic two-state fluctuators with broad hopping time distributions.

Models show 1/f noise significantly affects qubit coherence in superconducting circuits.

Strategies discussed include device engineering to minimize noise impact.

Abstract

The efficiency of the future devices for quantum information processing will be limited mostly by the finite decoherence rates of the individual qubits and quantum gates. Recently, substantial progress was achieved in enhancing the time within which a solid-state qubit demonstrates coherent dynamics. This progress is based mostly on a successful isolation of the qubits from external decoherence sources obtained by clever engineering. Under these conditions, the material-inherent sources of noise start to play a crucial role. In most cases, quantum devices are affected by noise decreasing with frequency, f, approximately as 1/f. According to the present point of view, such noise is due to material- and device-specific microscopic degrees of freedom interacting with quantum variables of the nanodevice. The simplest picture is that the environment that destroys the phase coherence of the device can be thought of as a system of two-state fluctuators, which experience random hops between their states. If the hopping times are distributed in a exponentially broad domain, the resulting fluctuations have a spectrum close to 1/f in a large frequency range. In this paper we review the current state of the theory of decoherence due to degrees of freedom producing 1/f noise. We discuss basic mechanisms of such noises in various nanodevices and then review several models describing the interaction of the noise sources with quantum devices. The main focus of the review is to analyze how the 1/f noise destroys their coherent operation. We start from individual qubits concentrating mostly on the devices based on superconductor circuits, and then discuss some special issues related to more complicated architectures. Finally, we consider several strategies for minimizing the noise-induced decoherence.