Measurement of decoherence time in a flux qubit

We present a measurement of the relaxation and the dephasing times in a flux qubit. In order to improve coherence of the qubit, two external parameters were optimized: the applied flux through the qubit loop and the bias current of the SQUID which serves as a readout device of the qubit state. At the optimal point the dephasing time measured with spin-echo technique was twice longer than the energy relaxation time. By changing one of the two bias parameters while keeping the other at the optimal value, one can separate the contribution of the noise in each parameter to the decoherence of the qubit.