QuTech Makes Progress Towards Protecting Quantum Information from Errors

(QuTech.NL) Protecting quantum information from errors is essential for the eventual realization of a large-scale quantum computer. A team of scientists from QuTech and Leiden University has now made significant progress in tackling a specific type of quantum error: leakage. They report their findings in Science Advances on Friday, March 20th.
A team of scientists and engineers from QuTech and Leiden University has demonstrated the use of repeated quantum parity measurements to produce and preserve the entanglement. While this has been done before, they have for the first time shown how the quantum parity measurement data can be efficiently used to identify a specific form of error: leakage.
Leakage is an important type of error that affects the leading platforms for quantum computing, including superconducting quantum circuits and trapped ions. Although typically less frequent than qubit errors, if ignored, leakage can produce dominant damage to encoded logical information.