Control of Frequency Tunable Superconducting Processors

A key challenge in realizing a large-scale fault tolerant computer is in the design of a scalable control electronics approach to operate future quantum processors. The application requires the generation and delivery of low-noise high-precision signals across a large temperature gradient starting at room temperature and ultimately ending at the mix plate of a dilution refrigerator. This opens many possibilities, and raises many questions in the design of future systems such as how different parts of the system should be distributed across this temperature gradient. In this talk we examine the problem of designing a scalable control electronics approach. We begin by briefly reviewing the current state of quantum computing development through a discussion of recent significant results and review the current (COTS/rack-based) control electronics architecture. We then motivate the problem of scaling this architecture through the development of custom ASICs and discuss a prototype cryo-CMOS chip that was developed as part of an on-going effort to address future anticipated needs.