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arXiv:1308.2208 · Physical Review Letters

Quantum Nondemolition Detection of a Propagating Microwave Photon

Sankar Raman Sathyamoorthy, Lars Tornberg, Anton Frisk Kockum, Ben Q. Baragiola, Joshua Combes, Christopher M. Wilson, Thomas M. Stace, Göran Johansson

Published Mar 3, 2014• 100 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The ability to nondestructively detect the presence of a single, traveling photon has been a long-standing goal in optics, with applications in quantum information and measurement. Realizing such a detector is complicated by the fact that photon-photon interactions are typically very weak. At microwave frequencies, very strong effective photon-photon interactions in a waveguide have recently been demonstrated. Here we show how this type of interaction can be used to realize a quantum nondemolition measurement of a single propagating microwave photon. The scheme we propose uses a chain of solid-state three-level systems (transmons) cascaded through circulators which suppress photon backscattering. Our theoretical analysis shows that microwave-photon detection with fidelity around 90% can be realized with existing technologies.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.112.093601

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•Jan 30, 2015•1 citation
The ability to nondestructively detect the presence of a single, traveling photon has been a long-standing goal in optics, with applications in quantum information and measurement. Realizing such a detector is complicated by the fact that photon-photon interactions are typically very weak. At microwave frequencies, very strong effective photon-photon interactions in a waveguide have recently been demonstrated. Here we show how this type of interaction can be used to realize a quantum nondemolition measurement of a single propagating microwave photon. The scheme we propose uses a chain of solid-state three-level systems (transmons) cascaded through circulators which suppress photon backscattering. Our theoretical analysis shows that microwave-photon detection with fidelity around 90% can be realized with existing technologies.
Single-photon detection is an essential component in many experiments in quantum optics, but it remains challenging in the microwave domain.We realize a quantum nondemolition detector for propagating microwave photons and characterize its performance using a single-photon source.To this aim, we implement a cavity-assisted conditional phase gate between the incoming photon and a superconducting artificial atom.By reading out the state of this atom in a single shot, we reach an external (internal) photon-detection fidelity of 50% (71%), limited by transmission efficiency between the source and the detector (75%) and the coherence properties of the qubit.By characterizing the coherence and average number of photons in the field reflected off the detector, we demonstrate its quantum nondemolition nature.We envisage applications in generating heralded remote entanglement between qubits and for realizing logic gates between propagating microwave photons.
The realization of a high-efficiency microwave single photon detector is a long-standing problem in the field of microwave quantum optics. Here, we propose a quantum nondemolition, high-efficiency photon detector that can readily be implemented in present state-of-the-art circuit quantum electrodynamics. This scheme works in a continuous fashion, gaining information about the photon arrival time as well as about its presence. The key insight that allows us to circumvent the usual limitations imposed by measurement backaction is the use of long-lived dark states in a small ensemble of inhomogeneous artificial atoms to increase the interaction time between the photon and the measurement device. Using realistic system parameters, we show that large detection fidelities are possible.
Single-photon detection is an essential component in many experiments in quantum optics, but it remains challenging in the microwave domain. We realize a quantum nondemolition detector for propagating microwave photons and characterize its performance using a single-photon source. To this aim, we implement a cavity-assisted conditional phase gate between the incoming photon and a superconducting artificial atom. By reading out the state of this atom in a single shot, we reach an external (internal) photon-detection fidelity of 50% (71%), limited by transmission efficiency between the source and the detector (75%) and the coherence properties of the qubit. By characterizing the coherence and average number of photons in the field reflected off the detector, we demonstrate its quantum nondemolition nature. We envisage applications in generating heralded remote entanglement between qubits and for realizing logic gates between propagating microwave photons.
Typical photon counters involve absorption of photons to generate electric signals, thus basically destroying the information carried by the photon. This is all the more disastrous if the photon is used as a quantum information carrier, such as a part of an entangled pair. Quantum non-demolition (QND) measurements are de- signed to overcome this limitation. Such a non-destructive photon detection would play a key role in quantum networks where photons can be used as “flying” qubits.\nIn this thesis, using circuit QED we investigate if QND detection of a prop- agating microwave photon is possible. The system considered consists of a three level artificial atom (transmon) interacting with signal and probe fields. The fields are in the microwave regime with their frequencies on par with the energy levels of the transmon. The interaction of these two fields with the artificial atom, imparts a phase change on the probe field via the cross-Kerr effect. By measuring this phase change, we indirectly infer the presence of the signal.\nIn this thesis, we investigate if it is possible to achieve a single photon detection, at first using a single transmon and then using multiple transmons. We find that, while single photon detection is not possible with a single transmon, it is indeed possible with multiple transmons under certain conditions. We also find that with multiple transmons, we can have a large phase change in the probe, which might be desirable in other applications.
Single-photon detectors are fundamental tools of investigation in quantum optics and play a central role in measurement theory and quantum informatics. Photodetectors based on different technologies exist at optical frequencies and much effort is currently being spent on pushing their efficiencies to meet the demands coming from the quantum computing and quantum communication proposals. In the microwave regime, however, a single-photon detector has remained elusive, although several theoretical proposals have been put forth. In this article, we review these recent proposals, especially focusing on non-destructive detectors of propagating microwave photons. These detection schemes using superconducting artificial atoms can reach detection efficiencies of 90% with the existing technologies and are ripe for experimental investigations.
Detecting an itinerant microwave photon with high efficiency is an outstanding problem in quantum optics at microwave frequencies and in the fundamental quantum mechanics experimental toolbox. This subject has attracted a lot of attention and there are growing number of excellent experimental demonstrations and theoretical proposals towards this aim. However, due to the extremely low energy of microwave quanta, efficiently detecting a propagating microwave photon in a non-absorbing manner is still an unresolved challenge and it is the focus of the major part of this thesis. Motivated by a recent experiment that shows a superconducting artificial atom (a transmon) in a one-dimensional microwave transmission line exhibits gigantic cross-Kerr nonlinearities, 1000 times larger than in comparable optical systems, I investigate the possibility of detection single microwave photons using a transmon induced cross-Kerr-like interaction between two microwave fields. The photon number in one field is inferred through the measurement of the displacement of the other field. The first project on this subject is to investigate the feasibility of detecting a single microwave photon with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) greater than unity using a three-level approximation for the transmon in an open transmission line, due to the saturation of transmon response to the probe intensity. After that, an improved scheme was proposed to overcome the limitations in the preceding work. By using a cavity probe field the signal photon induced probe displacement is strongly enhanced. Further additional transmon-cavity units can be cascaded to further improve the detection efficiency. It is shown that with only two transmons the distinguishability to resolve a single-photon state from the vacuum is up to 90%90\%90%. One advantage of this photon detection scheme is that it does not rely on the absorption of single microwave photons, which enables repeated measurements and further applications. Moreover, I also show how the measurement diminishes coherence in the photon number basis thereby illustrating a fundamental principle of quantum measurement: the higher the measurement efficiency, the greater is the decoherence. Apart from the investigation on the single microwave photon detection, this thesis also studies nonlinear dynamics of a hybrid coupled-resonator and opto-mechanical system. It is shown that the saddle-node bifurcation and the Hopf bifurcation appear in the system, which leads to bistability and limit cycle dynamics of the mechanical position and the output light intensity. More importantly, the opto-mechanical nonlinearity dramatically changes the transparency window of the coupled resonator induced transparency (CRIT) and based on the narrow and bistable CRIT transparency window, the proposed system is shown to be a good platform for the weak impulsive force detection with a good sensitivity.