Superconducting qubit without Josephson junctions manipulated by the orbital angular momentum of light

Abstract

Conventional superconducting qubits have used Josephson junctions as an essential part to provide anharmonicity for well-separated energy-level spacings. However, because a superconducting ring without Josephson junctions has intrinsically well-separated energy-level spacings, Josephson junctions are not necessary as long as one can achieve single-qubit operations. We show that the orbital angular momentum of light can be adopted as a qubit-control means and can eliminate the need for Josephson junctions. The feasibility study reveals that the proposed qubit has many advantages over the previous ones. The lifetime of the qubit is extended due to the lack of the junction resistance. Very fast (sub-nanosecond) qubit manipulation in both single- and two-qubit gate is achieved. Without Josephson junctions, the fabrication process is simple and the deviations in the characteristics of each qubit can be improved.