Twinned Dynamical Decoupling

Abstract

Systematic pulse-area errors limit the fidelity of quantum control across many qubit platforms. We introduce twinned dynamical decoupling (TDD), an analytic family of sequences $T2n$ in which a pulse sequence is paired with its $π$-phase-shifted twin. This $π$-phase step cancels common-mode systematic pulse-area errors to all orders on exact resonance. Then the phases of the pulses in each of the constituent twins are determined in such a manner that detuning errors are suppressed to the highest possible order as well. We have derived a simple analytic formula for these phases applicable to arbitrary sequence length. We demonstrate the sequences with superconducting transmon qubits on the IBM Quantum processor ibm$\_$torino and the IQM Quantum processor Garnet. The measured population plateaus agree closely with theory and show enhanced robustness compared to the most frequently used dynamical decoupling protocols.