1. NIST Time and Frequency Division, Boulder, Colorado, 80305, USA
2. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, 30332, USA
3. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa
4. These authors contributed equally to this work.
5. Present address: NICT, Tokyo, Japan.

Correspondence to: Michael J. Biercuk^1,2,4 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to M.J.B. (Email: biercuk@boulder.nist.gov).

Abstract

Any quantum system, such as those used in quantum information or magnetic resonance, is subject to random phase errors that can dramatically affect the fidelity of a desired quantum operation or measurement¹. In the context of quantum information, quantum error correction techniques have been developed to correct these errors, but resource requirements are extraordinary. The realization of a physically tractable quantum information system will therefore be facilitated if qubit (quantum bit) error rates are far below the so-called fault-tolerance error threshold¹, predicted to be of the order of 10^-3–10^-6. The need to realize such low error rates motivates a search for alternative strategies to suppress dephasing in quantum systems². Here we experimentally demonstrate massive suppression of qubit error rates by the application of optimized dynamical decoupling^{3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8} pulse sequences, using a model quantum system capable of simulating a variety of qubit technologies. We demonstrate an analytically derived pulse sequence⁹, UDD, and find novel sequences through active, real-time experimental feedback. The latter sequences are tailored to maximize error suppression without the need for a priori knowledge of the ambient noise environment, and are capable of suppressing errors by orders of magnitude compared to other existing sequences (including the benchmark multi-pulse spin echo^{10, 11}). Our work includes the extension of a treatment to predict qubit decoherence^{12, 13} under realistic conditions, yielding strong agreement between experimental data and theory for arbitrary pulse sequences incorporating nonidealized control pulses. These results demonstrate the robustness of qubit memory error suppression through dynamical decoupling techniques across a variety of qubit technologies^{11, 14, 15, 16}.

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