We show that qubit decoherence due to zero-temperature energy relaxation can be almost completely suppressed by using the quantum uncollapsing (measurement reversal) procedure. To protect a qubit state, a partial quantum measurement moves it toward the ground state, where it is kept during the storage period, while the second partial measurement restores the initial state. This procedure preferentially selects the cases without energy decay events. Stronger decoherence suppression requires smaller selection probability; a desired point in this trade-off can be chosen by varying the measurement strength. The experiment can be realized in a straightforward way using the superconducting phase qubit.

• Received 1 September 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.81.040103