Spincontrol software helps control and test spin-qubit devices efficiently
SpinControl: Control Software for Prototyping and Benchmarking of Spin-Qubit Devices and Measurement Protocols
Software Engineering
Summary
Quantum computers need special software to manage their quantum bits, or qubits. The authors created SpinControl, a software that allows device builders to easily tune and test spin-qubits by letting them customize measurements, programs, and data analysis. SpinControl is designed to be flexible, modular, and reliable, making it easier to prototype new devices and run complex calibration experiments safely. It also supports cloud connectivity and uses tools developed by Delft University of Technology for pulse and circuit control.
What this means in practice
- •For spin qubit engineers: Control and test spin-qubit devices with customizable measurement and calibration software designed for prototyping and benchmarking.
- •For quantum hardware developers: Run complex calibration sequences with robust experiment scheduling and data analysis to improve device tuning.
Authors
Harold B. Meerwaldt, Daniël P. van der Velde, Pieter T. Eendebak, Michiel J. Haye
Abstract
Quantum computers require software to control the states of the qubits. As the actions on qubits grow in complexity with circuit execution, calibration, and benchmarking, the complexity of the control software grows in tandem. Spin-qubit quantum computers are at a stage where experimentalists need low-level access for tuning and calibration, and quantum algorithm researchers want high-level circuit-level access. In this article, we present the software design of SpinControl. SpinControl integrates three architectural metrics: 1) customizability, to allow prototyping devices and measurement protocols, is achieved by separating data and behaviour; 2) modularity and extensibility are achieved by separating functionalities into different components; and 3) robustness, to reliably execute quantum circuits on many qubits, is achieved by CI pipelines and input validation. SpinControl allows different types of measurements while customizing the instruments used, the pulse or circuit program executed, and the data processing. It allows building standardized experiments from measurement and analysis building blocks and executing these for calibration in a custom and conditional order. SpinControl implements these functionalities alongside robust configuration and data management, a connection to the cloud, and calibration scheduling. Pulse and circuit compilation, virtual gate matrices, as well as spin-qubit-specific GUIs integrated by SpinControl, make heavy use of software packages developed by Delft University of Technology: pulse lib, core-tools (both open source), and QConstruct