The perfect entangler spectrum as a tool to analyze crosstalk

Abstract

Crosstalk is a key obstacle to scaling up quantum computers. It may arise from persistent qubit-qubit couplings or dynamically during gate operation, with the latter being particularly difficult to detect. Here, we introduce the perfect entangler spectrum as a means to identify dynamic crosstalk leading to undesired entanglement. It leverages the geometric classification of two-qubit gates in terms of perfect entanglers. We exemplify application of the spectroscopy for fixed-frequency transmons and parametrically driven gates: When scanning the frequency of a spectator qubit, peaks in the perfect entangler spectrum signal dynamic crosstalk, and analysis of the peaks reveals the mechanisms causing the crosstalk. We discuss the experimental implementation of the crosstalk spectroscopy which requires two two-qubit gate tomographies.