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arXiv:1607.08730 · Physical Review A

Multiple-output microwave single-photon source using superconducting circuits with longitudinal and transverse couplings

Xin Wang, Adam Miranowicz, Hongrong Li, Franco Nori

Published Nov 30, 2016• 40 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Single-photon devices at microwave frequencies are important for applications in quantum information processing and communication in the microwave regime. In this work we describe a proposal of a multioutput single-photon device. We consider two superconducting resonators coupled to a gap-tunable qubit via both its longitudinal and transverse degrees of freedom. Thus, this qubit-resonator coupling differs from the coupling in standard circuit quantum-electrodynamic systems described by the Jaynes-Cummings model. We demonstrate that an effective quadratic coupling between one of the normal modes and the qubit can be induced and this induced second-order nonlinearity is much larger than that for conventional Kerr-type systems exhibiting photon blockade. Assuming that a coupled normal mode is resonantly driven, we observe that the output fields from the resonators exhibit strong sub-Poissonian photon-number statistics and photon antibunching. Contrary to previous studies on resonant photon blockade, the first-excited state of our device is a pure single-photon Fock state rather than a polariton state, i.e., a highly hybridized qubit-photon state. In addition, it is found that the optical state truncation caused by the strong qubit-induced nonlinearity can lead to an entanglement between the two resonators, even in their steady state under the Markov approximation.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.94.053858

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Single-photon devices at microwave frequencies are important for applications in quantum information processing and communication in the microwave regime. In this work we describe a proposal of a multioutput single-photon device. We consider two superconducting resonators coupled to a gap-tunable qubit via both its longitudinal and transverse degrees of freedom. Thus, this qubit-resonator coupling differs from the coupling in standard circuit quantum-electrodynamic systems described by the Jaynes-Cummings model. We demonstrate that an effective quadratic coupling between one of the normal modes and the qubit can be induced and this induced second-order nonlinearity is much larger than that for conventional Kerr-type systems exhibiting photon blockade. Assuming that a coupled normal mode is resonantly driven, we observe that the output fields from the resonators exhibit strong sub-Poissonian photon-number statistics and photon antibunching. Contrary to previous studies on resonant photon blockade, the first-excited state of our device is a pure single-photon Fock state rather than a polariton state, i.e., a highly hybridized qubit-photon state. In addition, it is found that the optical state truncation caused by the strong qubit-induced nonlinearity can lead to an entanglement between the two resonators, even in their steady state under the Markov approximation.
In the circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture, both the resonance frequency and the coupling of superconducting qubits to microwave field modes can be controlled via external electric and magnetic fields to explore qubit-photon dynamics in a wide parameter range. Here, we experimentally demonstrate and analyze a scheme for tuning the coupling between a transmon qubit and a microwave resonator using a single coherent drive tone. We treat the transmon as a three-level system, with the qubit subspace defined by the ground and the second excited states. If the drive frequency matches the difference between the resonator and the qubit frequencies, a Jaynes-Cummings-type interaction is induced, which is tunable in both amplitude and phase. We show that coupling strengths of about 10 MHz can be achieved in our setup, limited only by the anharmonicity of the transmon qubit. This scheme has been successfully used to generate microwave photons with a controlled temporal shape [M. Pechal et al., Phys. Rev. X 4, 041010 (2014)] and can be directly implemented with superconducting quantum devices featuring larger anharmonicity for higher coupling strengths.
Abstract We theoretically investigate the photon statistical properties of a weakly-driven circuit quantum electrodynamic system with a cross-Kerr nonlinearity, which is built from two coupled transmon qubits through a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). We show that when two resonators are resonant with each other, photon blockade and sub-Poissonian photon statistics in the first superconducting transmission line resonator (TLR), TLR1, can be achieved by modulating the resonator-driving detunings and the cross-Kerr nonlinearity. Moreover, the optimal conditions for obtaining sub-Poissonian statistics are put forward through analytical derivations, which are in good agreement with those obtained by numerical simulations. We also examine the role of the resonator–resonator hopping interaction for photon statistics in TLR1 by numerically analyzing the case where the frequencies of two resonators are far detuned from each other. Due to the cutoff of the indirect transition paths in this case, the output field always acquires super-Poissonian statistics. In addition, a physical model with a SQUID embedded in TLR1 is proposed to tune the detuning between two TLRs, making it possible to demonstrate the importance of the resonator–resonator hopping interaction in obtaining a single-photon blockade. Thereby, our model of two coupled resonators with cross-Kerr nonlinearity has the potential to engineer the photon statistics through operating on the system parameters.
The realization of strong nonlinear coupling between single photons has been a long-standing goal in quantum optics and quantum information science, promising wide impact applications, such as all-optical deterministic quantum logic and single-photon frequency conversion. Here, we report an experimental observation of the strong coupling between a single-photon and a two-photon Fock state in an ultrastrongly-coupled circuit-QED system. This strong nonlinear interaction is realized by introducing a detuned flux qubit working as an effective coupler between two modes of a superconducting coplanar waveguide resonator. The ultrastrong light–matter interaction breaks the excitation number conservation, and an external flux bias breaks the parity conservation. The combined effect of the two enables the strong one–two-photon coupling. Quantum Rabi-like avoided crossing is resolved when tuning the two-photon resonance frequency of the first mode across the single-photon resonance frequency of the second mode. Within this new photonic regime, we observe the thresholdless second harmonic generation for a mean photon number below one. Our results represent a key step towards a new regime of quantum nonlinear optics, where individual photons can deterministically and coherently interact with each other in the absence of any stimulating fields. Systems with strong photon-photon interactions enable advanced quantum optical applications as well as the study of highly correlated light-matter states. Here the authors report strong coupling between single- and two-photon states in a superconducting circuit, enabling a new regime of nonlinear quantum optics.
A photonic transistor that can switch or amplify an optical signal with a single gate photon requires strong non-linear interaction at the single-photon level. Circuit quantum electrodynamics provides great flexibility to generate such an interaction, and thus could serve as an effective platform to realize a high-performance single-photon transistor. Here we demonstrate such a photonic transistor in the microwave regime. Our device consists of two microwave cavities dispersively coupled to a superconducting qubit. A single gate photon imprints a phase shift on the qubit state through one cavity, and further shifts the resonance frequency of the other cavity. In this way, we realize a gain of the transistor up to 53.4 dB, with an extinction ratio better than 20 dB. Our device outperforms previous devices in the optical regime by several orders in terms of optical gain, which indicates a great potential for application in the field of microwave quantum photonics and quantum information processing.
Microwave-frequency superconducting resonators are ideally suited to perform dispersive qubit readout, to mediate two-qubit gates, and to shuttle states between distant quantum systems. A prerequisite for these applications is a strong qubit-resonator coupling. Strong coupling between an electron-spin qubit and a microwave resonator can be achieved by correlating spin- and orbital degrees of freedom. This correlation can be achieved through the Zeeman coupling of a single electron in a double quantum dot to a spatially inhomogeneous magnetic field generated by a nearby nanomagnet. In this paper, we consider such a device and estimate spin-resonator couplings of order ∼1 MHz with realistic parameters. Further, through realistic simulations, we show that precise placement of the double-dot relative to the nanomagnet allows to select between a purely longitudinal coupling (commuting with the bare spin Hamiltonian) and a purely transverse (spin non-conserving) coupling. Additionally, we suggest methods to mitigate dephasing and relaxation channels that are introduced in this coupling scheme. This analysis gives a clear route toward the realization of coherent state transfer between a microwave resonator and a single electron spin in a GaAs double quantum dot with a fidelity above 90%. Improved dynamical decoupling sequences, low-noise environments, and longer-lived microwave cavity modes may lead to substantially higher fidelities in the near future.
We propose a superconducting circuit to implement a two-photon quantum Rabi model in a solid-state device, where a qubit and a resonator are coupled by a two-photon interaction. We analyze the input-output relations for this circuit in the strong-coupling regime and find that fundamental quantum-optical phenomena are qualitatively modified. For instance, two-photon interactions are shown to yield a single- or two-photon blockade when a pumping field is either applied to the cavity mode or to the qubit, respectively. In addition, we derive an effective Hamiltonian for perturbative ultrastrong two-photon couplings in the dispersive regime, where two-photon interactions introduce a qubit-state-dependent Kerr term. Finally, we analyze the spectral collapse of the multiqubit two-photon quantum Rabi model and find a scaling of the critical coupling with the number of qubits. Using realistic parameters with the circuit proposed, three qubits are sufficient to reach the collapse point.