Alex Retzker

We address a question of leveraging the noise bias to simplify quantum error correction (QEC) protocols and improve their performance. We focus on the previously unexplored bias between the amplitude damping and dephasing errors that is fundamental to many quantum technologies. We propose a simple scheme to convert amplitude damping errors into erasure errors. Despite its simplicity, our scheme significantly improves the performance of QEC protocols and can be extended to handle leakage errors. Importantly, we provide two concrete realizations with superconducting circuits, analyzing their performance both from the analytical and numerical perspective. Our results provide a breakthrough shift in the current architecture paradigm. Namely, they suggest that engineering efforts should focus on improving the dephasing and the quality of quantum coherent control, as they effectively limit the performance of fault-tolerant protocols.