Quantum control of a cat qubit with bit-flip times exceeding ten seconds

Quantum bits (qubits) are prone to several types of error as the result of uncontrolled interactions with their environment. Common strategies to correct these errors are based on architectures of qubits involving daunting hardware overheads. One possible solution is to build qubits that are inherently protected against certain types of error, so the overhead required to correct the remaining errors is greatly reduced. However, this strategy relies on one condition: any quantum manipulations of the qubit must not break the protection that has been so carefully engineered. A type of qubit known as a cat qubit is encoded in the manifold of metastable states of a quantum dynamical system, and thereby acquires continuous and autonomous protection against bit-flips. Here, in a superconducting-circuit experiment, we implemented a cat qubit with bit-flip times exceeding 10 s. This is an improvement of four orders of magnitude over previously published cat-qubit implementations. We prepared and imaged quantum superposition states, and measured phase-flip times greater than 490 ns. Most importantly, we controlled the phase of these quantum superpositions without breaking the bit-flip protection. This experiment demonstrates the compatibility of quantum control and inherent bit-flip protection at an unprecedented level, showing the viability of these dynamical qubits for future quantum technologies.