Circuit QED › Interactive › Pulse Simulator
InteractiveMicrowave pulsesQubit control

Pulse Simulator

Design microwave control pulses and visualise how they rotate a qubit on the Bloch sphere. Choose a pulse shape, adjust amplitude and duration, and see the resulting gate in real time.

Pulse shape
Drive axis
Parameters
Amplitude Ω₀25 MHz
Duration40 ns
Detuning Δ0 MHz
Final ⟨Z⟩
-1.000
population
Final ⟨X⟩
0.000
coherence
Rotation
178.2°
≈ X gate ✓
Pulse envelope
I (in-phase)
Bloch vector components during pulse
On-resonance Gaussian pulse. The Bloch vector rotates in the Y–Z plane. Total rotation angle θ = ∫Ω(t)dt. For a π-pulse (X gate), tune amplitude or duration until ⟨Z⟩ → –1.
Pulse shape reference
Gaussian
Low spectral leakage
Slower than square
Use: General qubit rotations
DRAG
Suppresses |2⟩ leakage
Requires β calibration
Use: High-fidelity transmon gates
Square
Fastest, simplest
Broadband — drives off-res
Use: Rough calibration, resonator drives
Cosine
Good sidelobe suppression
Slightly longer than Gaussian
Use: When neighbours are close in freq