Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:0909.4585 · Physical Review Letters

Decoherence Dynamics of Complex Photon States in a Superconducting Circuit

H. Wang, M. Hofheinz, M. Ansmann, Radoslaw C. Bialczak, Erik A. Lucero, M. Neeley, A. D. O’Connell, D. Sank, Martin P. Weides, J. Wenner, Andrew N. Cleland, John M. Martinis

Published Nov 13, 2009• 52 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum states inevitably decay with time into a probabilistic mixture of classical states due to their interaction with the environment and measurement instrumentation. We present the first measurement of the decoherence dynamics of complex photon states in a condensed-matter system. By controllably preparing a number of distinct quantum-superposed photon states in a superconducting microwave resonator, we show that the subsequent decay dynamics can be quantitatively described by taking into account only two distinct decay channels: energy relaxation and pure dephasing. Our ability to prepare specific initial quantum states allows us to measure the evolution of specific elements in the quantum density matrix in a very detailed manner that can be compared with theory.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.103.200404

Related papers

Measurement of the Decay of Fock States in a Superconducting Quantum Circuit

H. Wang, M. Hofheinz, M. Ansmann +8 more

We demonstrate the controlled generation of Fock states with up to 15 photons in a microwave coplanar waveguide resonator coupled to a superconducting phase qubit. The subsequent decay of the Fock states, due to dissipation, is then monitored by varying the time delay between preparing the state and performing a number-state analysis. We find that the decay dynamics can be described by a master equation where the lifetime of the n-photon Fock state scales as 1/n, in agreement with theory. We have also generated a coherent state in the microwave resonator, and monitored its decay process. We demonstrate that the coherent state maintains a Poisson distribution as it decays, with an average photon number that decreases with the same characteristic decay time as the one-photon Fock state.

arXiv:0808.3279•Physical Review Letters•Dec 8, 2008•161 citations

Measurement, Dissipation, and Quantum Control with Superconducting Circuits

P. M. Harrington

The interaction between a superconducting circuit and its environment can cause decoherence. However, interactions with an environment are necessary for quantum state preparation and measurement. Through the dynamics of open quantum systems, the environment is a resource to control and readout superconducting circuit states. I present an experimental result demonstrating qubit state stabilization from engineered dissipation with a microwave photonic crystal. In addition, I discuss the statistical arrow of time in the dynamics of continuous quantum measurement. These results demonstrate an interplay between open quantum system dynamics and statistics, which highlights the role of both dissipation and measurement for quantum control.

•Aug 3, 2020•1 citation

Characterizing decoherence rates of a superconducting qubit by direct microwave scattering

Yong Lu, Andreas Bengtsson, Jonathan Burnett +8 more

Abstract We experimentally investigate a superconducting qubit coupled to the end of an open transmission line, in a regime where the qubit decay rates to the transmission line and to its own environment are comparable. We perform measurements of coherent and incoherent scattering, on- and off-resonant fluorescence, and time-resolved dynamics to determine the decay and decoherence rates of the qubit. In particular, these measurements let us discriminate between non-radiative decay and pure dephasing. We combine and contrast results across all methods and find consistent values for the extracted rates. The results show that the pure dephasing rate is one order of magnitude smaller than the non-radiative decay rate for our qubit. Our results indicate a pathway to benchmark decoherence rates of superconducting qubits in a resonator-free setting.

arXiv:1912.02124•npj Quantum Information•Feb 16, 2021•48 citations

Synthesizing Arbitrary Photon States in a Superconducting Resonator: the Quantum Digital to Analog Converter

John M. Martinis, M. Hofheinz, H. Wang +8 more

Two-level systems, or qubits, afford complete quantum control using only classical electrical signals. Achieving the same degree of control over harmonic resonators and photons has remained elusive, due to their infinite number of equally spaced energy levels. We exploit our complete qubit control by using a superconducting phase qubit to pump microwave photons into a high-Q coplanar wave guide resonator and, subsequently, use the qubit to read out the resonator state. This scheme has previously allowed us to prepare and detect photon number states (Fock states [1]) in the resonator and to measure their decay. Using a generalization of a scheme developed by Law and Eberly [2], we can now create arbitrary quantum states of the photon field with up to approximately 10 photons [3]. We analyze the prepared states by directly mapping out the corresponding Wigner function, which is the phase-space equivalent of the density matrix, and provides a complete description of the quantum state. Movies of the decay of a variety of non-classical states show a loss of quantum coherence over the energy decay time of the resonator.

Frontiers in Optics•Jan 1, 2009•0 citations

The Interplay of Superconducting Quantum Circuits and Propagating Microwave States

Jan Goetz

PhD Thesis: Superconducting circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED) has developed into a powerful platform for studying the interaction between matter and different states of light. In this context, superconducting quantum bits (qubits) act as artificial atoms interacting with quantized modes of the electromagnetic field. The field can be trapped in superconducting microwave resonators or propagating in transmission lines. In this thesis, we particularly study circuit QED systems where microwave fields are coupled with superconducting flux and transmon qubits. We optimize the coherence properties of the resonators, by analyzing loss mechanisms at excitation powers of approximately one photon on average. We find that two-level fluctuators associated with oxide layers at substrate and metal surfaces and metal-metal interfaces represent the predominant loss channel. Furthermore, we show how broadband thermal photon fields influence the relaxation and dephasing properties of a superconducting transmon qubit. To this end, we study several second-order loss channels of the transmon qubit and find that the broadband fields introduce a larger decay rate than expected from the Purcell filter defined by the resonator. Additionally, we show that qubit dephasing at the flux-insensitive point as well as low-frequency parameter fluctuations can be enhanced by thermal fields. Finally, we study how artificial atoms react to changes in inherent properties of the light fields. We perform a detailed analysis of the photon statistics of thermal fields using their relation to the qubits coherence properties. We quantitatively recover the expected $n^{2}\,{+}\,n$-law for the photon number variance and confirm this result by direct correlation measurements. We then show a novel technique for the in-situ conversion of the interaction parity in light-matter interaction. To this end, we couple spatially controlled microwave fields to a flux qubit with two degrees of freedom.

•Jun 23, 2016•0 citations

Dephasing-assisted diffusive dynamics in superconducting quantum circuits

Yongqi Liang, Changrong Xie, Zechen Guo +21 more

Random fluctuations caused by environmental noise can lead to decoherence in quantum systems. Exploring and controlling such dissipative processes is both fundamentally intriguing and essential for harnessing quantum systems to gain practical advantages and deeper insights. In this work, we first demonstrate the diffusive dynamics assisted by controlled dephasing noise in superconducting quantum circuits, contrasting with coherent evolution. We show that dephasing can give distinct dynamical behavior in a superconducting qubit array with quasiperiodic order. Furthermore, by preparing different excitation distributions in the qubit array, we observe that a more localized initial state relaxes to a uniformly distributed mixed state faster with dephasing noise, illustrating another counterintuitive phenomenon called Mpemba-effect-like quantum dynamics, i.e., a far-from-equilibrium state can relax toward the equilibrium faster. These results deepen our understanding of diffusive dynamics at the microscopic level and demonstrate controlled dissipative processes as a valuable tool for investigating Markovian open quantum systems.

arXiv:2411.15571•Applied Physics Letters•Oct 13, 2025•6 citations
Quantum states inevitably decay with time into a probabilistic mixture of classical states due to their interaction with the environment and measurement instrumentation. We present the first measurement of the decoherence dynamics of complex photon states in a condensed-matter system. By controllably preparing a number of distinct quantum-superposed photon states in a superconducting microwave resonator, we show that the subsequent decay dynamics can be quantitatively described by taking into account only two distinct decay channels: energy relaxation and pure dephasing. Our ability to prepare specific initial quantum states allows us to measure the evolution of specific elements in the quantum density matrix in a very detailed manner that can be compared with theory.
We demonstrate the controlled generation of Fock states with up to 15 photons in a microwave coplanar waveguide resonator coupled to a superconducting phase qubit. The subsequent decay of the Fock states, due to dissipation, is then monitored by varying the time delay between preparing the state and performing a number-state analysis. We find that the decay dynamics can be described by a master equation where the lifetime of the n-photon Fock state scales as 1/n, in agreement with theory. We have also generated a coherent state in the microwave resonator, and monitored its decay process. We demonstrate that the coherent state maintains a Poisson distribution as it decays, with an average photon number that decreases with the same characteristic decay time as the one-photon Fock state.
The interaction between a superconducting circuit and its environment can cause decoherence. However, interactions with an environment are necessary for quantum state preparation and measurement. Through the dynamics of open quantum systems, the environment is a resource to control and readout superconducting circuit states. I present an experimental result demonstrating qubit state stabilization from engineered dissipation with a microwave photonic crystal. In addition, I discuss the statistical arrow of time in the dynamics of continuous quantum measurement. These results demonstrate an interplay between open quantum system dynamics and statistics, which highlights the role of both dissipation and measurement for quantum control.
Abstract We experimentally investigate a superconducting qubit coupled to the end of an open transmission line, in a regime where the qubit decay rates to the transmission line and to its own environment are comparable. We perform measurements of coherent and incoherent scattering, on- and off-resonant fluorescence, and time-resolved dynamics to determine the decay and decoherence rates of the qubit. In particular, these measurements let us discriminate between non-radiative decay and pure dephasing. We combine and contrast results across all methods and find consistent values for the extracted rates. The results show that the pure dephasing rate is one order of magnitude smaller than the non-radiative decay rate for our qubit. Our results indicate a pathway to benchmark decoherence rates of superconducting qubits in a resonator-free setting.
Two-level systems, or qubits, afford complete quantum control using only classical electrical signals. Achieving the same degree of control over harmonic resonators and photons has remained elusive, due to their infinite number of equally spaced energy levels. We exploit our complete qubit control by using a superconducting phase qubit to pump microwave photons into a high-Q coplanar wave guide resonator and, subsequently, use the qubit to read out the resonator state. This scheme has previously allowed us to prepare and detect photon number states (Fock states [1]) in the resonator and to measure their decay. Using a generalization of a scheme developed by Law and Eberly [2], we can now create arbitrary quantum states of the photon field with up to approximately 10 photons [3]. We analyze the prepared states by directly mapping out the corresponding Wigner function, which is the phase-space equivalent of the density matrix, and provides a complete description of the quantum state. Movies of the decay of a variety of non-classical states show a loss of quantum coherence over the energy decay time of the resonator.
PhD Thesis: Superconducting circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED) has developed into a powerful platform for studying the interaction between matter and different states of light. In this context, superconducting quantum bits (qubits) act as artificial atoms interacting with quantized modes of the electromagnetic field. The field can be trapped in superconducting microwave resonators or propagating in transmission lines. In this thesis, we particularly study circuit QED systems where microwave fields are coupled with superconducting flux and transmon qubits. We optimize the coherence properties of the resonators, by analyzing loss mechanisms at excitation powers of approximately one photon on average. We find that two-level fluctuators associated with oxide layers at substrate and metal surfaces and metal-metal interfaces represent the predominant loss channel. Furthermore, we show how broadband thermal photon fields influence the relaxation and dephasing properties of a superconducting transmon qubit. To this end, we study several second-order loss channels of the transmon qubit and find that the broadband fields introduce a larger decay rate than expected from the Purcell filter defined by the resonator. Additionally, we show that qubit dephasing at the flux-insensitive point as well as low-frequency parameter fluctuations can be enhanced by thermal fields. Finally, we study how artificial atoms react to changes in inherent properties of the light fields. We perform a detailed analysis of the photon statistics of thermal fields using their relation to the qubits coherence properties. We quantitatively recover the expected n2 + nn^{2}\,{+}\,nn2+n-law for the photon number variance and confirm this result by direct correlation measurements. We then show a novel technique for the in-situ conversion of the interaction parity in light-matter interaction. To this end, we couple spatially controlled microwave fields to a flux qubit with two degrees of freedom.
Random fluctuations caused by environmental noise can lead to decoherence in quantum systems. Exploring and controlling such dissipative processes is both fundamentally intriguing and essential for harnessing quantum systems to gain practical advantages and deeper insights. In this work, we first demonstrate the diffusive dynamics assisted by controlled dephasing noise in superconducting quantum circuits, contrasting with coherent evolution. We show that dephasing can give distinct dynamical behavior in a superconducting qubit array with quasiperiodic order. Furthermore, by preparing different excitation distributions in the qubit array, we observe that a more localized initial state relaxes to a uniformly distributed mixed state faster with dephasing noise, illustrating another counterintuitive phenomenon called Mpemba-effect-like quantum dynamics, i.e., a far-from-equilibrium state can relax toward the equilibrium faster. These results deepen our understanding of diffusive dynamics at the microscopic level and demonstrate controlled dissipative processes as a valuable tool for investigating Markovian open quantum systems.