Alice & Bob shows voltage-driven cat qubit stabilization

Quantum hardware startup Alice & Bob and ENS Lyon have experimentally demonstrated using a tiny direct-current voltage—rather than complex microwave signals—to stabilize cat qubits, a key error-resistant type in superconducting quantum computers. Their setup showed reliable photon-pair extraction rates of up to 18.2 MHz, with lower hardware complexity and less heat than traditional methods. The team also enabled swapping one, two, or four photons at a time, paving the way for more robust, multi-state qubits.

• Replaces microwave control with DC voltage bias
• Achieved photon-pair extraction up to 18.2 MHz
• Less heat and simpler hardware wiring
• Enables selective multi-photon exchanges
• Supports higher error protection via four-component cat qubits