Investigation of Superconducting Qubit Errors from Ionizing Radiation

Ionizing radiation presents a source of errors for superconducting qubits. Recent studies have modeled the various causes of radiation-induced error bursts. We present measurements to detect and quantify sources of high energy impacts in superconducting qubit quantum processors. These measurements clarify the contributing effects of gamma radiation and comic ray muons to spatiotemporally correlated error bursts that challenge quantum error correction schemes. We discuss strategies to reduce the rate of these error events and promote methods to minimize the impact of these errors on superconducting qubit processors.