DRAG Pulse Shaping | Leakage Reduction & Phase Error Mitigation
Quick Technical Answer:
Derivative Removal by Adiabatic Gate (DRAG) is a microwave pulse shaping technique that adds a derivative of the in-phase Gaussian envelope onto the quadrature channel (Y) to suppress state leakage into the non-computational |2⟩ state of weakly anharmonic transmons.
Formula / Unitary:
\Omega(t) = \Omega_x(t) - i \frac{\dot{\Omega}_x(t)}{\alpha}, \quad \alpha = \omega_{12} - \omega_{01}
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why is standard Gaussian pulsing insufficient for fast single-qubit gates?
Due to Fourier spectral broadening, driving a transmon gate faster than ~20 ns with a pure Gaussian pulse excites the nearby |1⟩→|2⟩ transition. DRAG creates destructive interference at the 1-2 frequency.