Characterization of Radiation-Induced Errors in Superconducting Qubits Protected with Various Gap-Engineering Strategies
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Quantum Physics arXiv:2603.13460 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 13 Mar 2026] Title:Characterization of Radiation-Induced Errors in Superconducting Qubits Protected with Various Gap-Engineering Strategies Authors:H. Douglas Pinckney, Thomas McJunkin, Alan W. Hunt, Patrick M. Harrington, Hannah P. Binney, Max Hays, Yenuel Jones-Alberty, Kate Azar, Felipe Contipelli, Renée DePencier Piñero, Jeffrey M. Gertler, Michael Gingras, Aranya Goswami, Cyrus F. Hirjibehedin, Mingyu Li, Mathis Moes, Bethany M. Niedzielski, Mallika T. Randeria, Ryan Sitler, Matthew K. Spear, Hannah Stickler, Jiatong Yang, Wouter Van De Pontseele, Mollie E. Schwartz, Jeffrey A. Grover, Kevin Schultz, Kyle Serniak, Joseph A. Formaggio, William D. Oliver View a PDF of the paper titled Characterization of Radiation-Induced Errors in Superconducting Qubits Protected with Various Gap-Engineering Strategies, by H. Douglas Pinckney and 28 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Impacts from high-energy particles cause correlated errors in superconducting qubits by increasing the quasiparticle density in the vicinity of the Josephson junctions (JJs). Such errors are particularly harmful as they cannot be easily remedied via conventional error correcting codes. Recent experiments reduced correlated errors by making the difference in superconducting gap energy across the JJ larger than the qubit energy. In this work, we assess gap engineering near the JJ ($\delta\Delta_{\mathrm{JJ}}$) and the capacitor/ground-plane ($\delta\Delta_{\mathrm{M1}}$) by exposing arrays of transmon qubits to two sources of radiation. For $\alpha$-particles from an $^{241}$Am source, we observe $T_1$ errors correlated in space and time, supporting a hypothesis that hadronic cosmic rays are a major contributor to the $10^{-10}$ error floor observed in Ref. 1. For electrons from a pulsed linear accelerator, we observe temporally correlated $T_1$ and $T_2$ errors, this measurement is insensitive to spatial correlations. We observe that the severity of correlated $T_1$ errors is reduced for qubit arrays with a greater degree of gap engineering at the JJ. For both $T_1$ and $T_2$ errors, the recovery time is hastened by an increased $\delta\Delta_{\mathrm{M1}}$, which we attribute to the trapping of quasiparticles into the capacitor/ground-plane. We construct a model of quasiparticle dynamics that qualitatively agrees with our observations. This work reinforces the multifaceted influence of radiation on superconducting qubits and provides strategies for improving radiation resilience. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall); Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det) Cite as: arXiv:2603.13460 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2603.13460v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2603.13460 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: H Douglas Pinckney [view email] [v1] Fri, 13 Mar 2026 17:05:51 UTC (1,433 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Characterization of Radiation-Induced Errors in Superconducting Qubits Protected with Various Gap-Engineering Strategies, by H. Douglas Pinckney and 28 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-03 Change to browse by: cond-mat cond-mat.mes-hall physics physics.ins-det References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... 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