The QICK Box: A Modular RF Front-End System for Quantum Control and Readout
Abstract
The QICK (Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit), first introduced in 2022, is a standalone open source control system for quantum information science. Since then, QICK has been migrated to new hardware platforms, expanded its functionality for applications with different types of qubits (superconducting, atomic, ion-trapped, and spin defects), as well as quantum sensors, and quantum networks. QICK is a highly optimized control kit, with a library of functions that can be used for more than one application. In particular, the software and firmware are customized to minimize latency and maximize control performance and throughput. In this white paper, we describe hardware details and performance of the QICK Box. The QICK Box features up to 16 outputs, up to 8 inputs, and 8 20-bit DC biases. Modular output and input daughtercards give the choice of signal chains optimized for fast DC-coupled signals or RF signals up to 10 GHz. Power levels, step attenuation, and bandpass filtering are controlled by software. We demonstrate the system's performance through single-shot readout measurements of a six-transmon device at the Quantum Underground Instrumentation Experimental Testbed (QUIET) at Fermilab, achieving (91.7 +/- 0.4)% readout fidelity limited by T1 decay during the readout. The single shot readout signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is 4.4 +/- 0.1 without a quantum amplifier, confirming that the QICK Box is suitable for high-fidelity quantum control and measurement applications. Advances in firmware and software will be described in a separate paper.
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BibTeX
@misc{arnaldi2026qick,
title = {{The QICK Box: A Modular RF Front-End System for Quantum Control and Readout}},
author = {L. Arnaldi and D. Martin and S. Sussman and S. Uemura and K. Treptow and N. Wilcer and A. Colón Cesaní and O. Seidel and K. Anyang and G. Bratrud and F. Abouzahr and J. Christiansen-Salameh and D. Baxter and G. Cancelo},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.03609},
eprint = {2610.03609},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.03609},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The QICK Box: A Modular RF Front-End System for Quantum Control and Readout
AU - L. Arnaldi
AU - D. Martin
AU - S. Sussman
AU - S. Uemura
AU - K. Treptow
AU - N. Wilcer
AU - A. Colón Cesaní
AU - O. Seidel
AU - K. Anyang
AU - G. Bratrud
AU - F. Abouzahr
AU - J. Christiansen-Salameh
AU - D. Baxter
AU - G. Cancelo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.03609
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.03609
AB - The QICK (Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit), first introduced in 2022, is a standalone open source control system for quantum information science. Since then, QICK has been migrated to new hardware platforms, expanded its functionality for applications with different types of qubits (superconducting, atomic, ion-trapped, and spin defects), as well as quantum sensors, and quantum networks. QICK is a highly optimized control kit, with a library of functions that can be used for more than one application. In particular, the software and firmware are customized to minimize latency and maximize control performance and throughput. In this white paper, we describe hardware details and performance of the QICK Box. The QICK Box features up to 16 outputs, up to 8 inputs, and 8 20-bit DC biases. Modular output and input daughtercards give the choice of signal chains optimized for fast DC-coupled signals or RF signals up to 10 GHz. Power levels, step attenuation, and bandpass filtering are controlled by software. We demonstrate the system's performance through single-shot readout measurements of a six-transmon device at the Quantum Underground Instrumentation Experimental Testbed (QUIET) at Fermilab, achieving (91.7 +/- 0.4)% readout fidelity limited by T1 decay during the readout. The single shot readout signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is 4.4 +/- 0.1 without a quantum amplifier, confirming that the QICK Box is suitable for high-fidelity quantum control and measurement applications. Advances in firmware and software will be described in a separate paper.
ER -