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arXiv:1702.01149 · Physical Review Applied

Gyrator Operation Using Josephson Mixers

Baleegh Abdo, Markus Brink, Jerry M. Chow

Published Sep 14, 2017• 34 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Nonreciprocal devices such as circulators function as one-way gates for microwave light, and thus are necessary components in superconducting quantum circuitry. However, today's circulators are bulky, lossy, and employ strong magnetic fields, and thus incompatible with scaling up. A proof-of-principle experiment demonstrates gyration in a Josephson circuit, in which microwave signals traveling in opposite directions acquire a 180\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} phase difference. Inserting this gyrator into one arm of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer would enable a lossless, on-chip circulator with no magnetic materials, which could be used in a variety of applications for quantum information processing.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.8.034009

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Nonreciprocal devices such as circulators function as one-way gates for microwave light, and thus are necessary components in superconducting quantum circuitry. However, today's circulators are bulky, lossy, and employ strong magnetic fields, and thus incompatible with scaling up. A proof-of-principle experiment demonstrates gyration in a Josephson circuit, in which microwave signals traveling in opposite directions acquire a 180\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} phase difference. Inserting this gyrator into one arm of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer would enable a lossless, on-chip circulator with no magnetic materials, which could be used in a variety of applications for quantum information processing.
The authors program a superconducting circuit $i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}n$ $s\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}i\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}t\phantom{\rule{0}{0ex}}u$ to operate as a microwave circulator, or a directional amplifier. The compact lumped element can be directly integrated with other superconducting circuitry for nearly lossless routing and measurement of quantum microwave signals. This work combines advanced understanding of parametric-coupling physics with innovative design and engineering, for fundamental impact on quantum measurements plus direct technological impact on current efforts to build scalable, on-chip infrastructure for quantum computing.
Nonreciprocal circuit elements form an integral part of modern measurement and communication systems. Mathematically they require breaking of time-reversal symmetry, typically achieved using magnetic materials and more recently using the quantum Hall effect, parametric permittivity modulation or Josephson nonlinearities. Here we demonstrate an on-chip magnetic-free circulator based on reservoir-engineered electromechanic interactions. Directional circulation is achieved with controlled phase-sensitive interference of six distinct electro-mechanical signal conversion paths. The presented circulator is compact, its silicon-on-insulator platform is compatible with both superconducting qubits and silicon photonics, and its noise performance is close to the quantum limit. With a high dynamic range, a tunable bandwidth of up to 30 MHz and an in situ reconfigurability as beam splitter or wavelength converter, it could pave the way for superconducting qubit processors with multiplexed on-chip signal processing and readout.Nonreciprocal optical elements often require magnetic materials in order to break time-reversal symmetry. Here, Barzanjeh et al. demonstrate a magnetic-free on-chip microwave circulator that utilizes the interference from six electro-mechanical signal paths.
Nonreciprocal microwave devices, such as circulators and isolators, are critical in high-fidelity qubit readout schemes. They unidirectionally route the readout signals and protect the qubits against noise coming from the output chain. However, cryogenic circulators and isolators are prohibitive in scalable superconducting architectures because they rely on magneto-optical effects. Here, we realize an on-chip, single-microwave-pump Josephson ISolator (JIS), formed by coupling two nondegenerate Josephson mixers in an interferometric scheme. We unravel the interplay between the orientation parity of the magnetic fluxes, biasing the mixers, and the JIS directionality. Furthermore, we build a motherboard, which integrates the JIS and other superconducting components, including a Josephson directional amplifier, into a printed circuit and use it to read out a qubit with 92% fidelity, while maintaining 75% of its T2E. Improved versions of this motherboard could replace magnetic circulators and isolators in large superconducting quantum processors.
This thesis develops theory for and experimentally demonstrates a new way to break Lorentz reciprocity—the symmetry, in an electrical network, under exchange of source and detector. The approach is based on the sequential application of frequency conversion and delay; as frequency and time are Fourier duals, these operations do not generally commute. We apply this method in the construction of an on-chip superconducting microwave circulator, a critical component for the unidirectional routing of quantum information in superconducting networks. The device requires neither permanent magnets nor microwave control tones, allowing on-chip integration with other superconducting circuits without expensive control hardware. Isolation in the device exceeds 20 dB over a bandwidth of tens of MHz, and its insertion loss is small, reaching as low as 0.9 dB at select operation frequencies. Furthermore, the device is linear with respect to input power for signal powers up to many hundreds of fW (~103 circulating photons), and the direction of circulation can be dynamically reconfigured. We demonstrate its tunability with operation at a selection of frequencies between 4 and 6 GHz. Given the current status of quantum error-correction and architectures for quantum information processing with superconducting circuits, such scalable non-reciprocal devices will almost certainly be necessary for construction of a superconducting quantum computer intended to be more than a proof-of-principle.
Electrical circulators enforce the unidirectional flow of microwave signals through junctions in transmission lines, but off-the-shelf components create large magnetic fields that would interfere with nearby superconducting circuits in quantum-computing hardware. The authors design a circulator based on active modulation of its components, a design that uses no large magnets and may be integrated on the same chip as superconducting circuitry. An analogous problem exists in integrated optical networks, for both quantum and classical information applications, and this approach could be adapted to that context as well.
An on-chip microwave circulator that is compatible with superconducting devices is a key element for scale up of superconducting circuits. Previous approaches to integrating circulators on chip involve either external driving that requires extra microwave lines or a strong magnetic field that would compromise superconductivity. Here we report the first proof-of-principle realization of a passive on-chip circulator that is made from a superconducting loop interrupted by three notionally identical Josephson junctions and is tuned with only dc control fields. Our experimental results show evidence for nonreciprocal scattering, and excellent agreement with theoretical simulations. We also present a detailed analysis of quasiparticle tunneling in our device using a hidden Markov model. By reducing the junction asymmetry and utilizing the known methods of protection from quasiparticles, we anticipate that Josephson-loop circulator will become ubiquitous in superconducting circuits.