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arXiv:2404.05547 · Physical Review Letters

Dynamical Excitation Control and Multimode Emission of an Atom-Photon Bound State

Claudia Castillo-Moreno, Kazi Rafsanjani Amin, Ingrid Strandberg, Mikael Kervinen, Amr Osman, Simone Gasparinetti

Published Mar 31, 2025• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Atom-photon bound states arise from the coupling of quantum emitters to the band edge of dispersion-engineered waveguides. Thanks to their tunable-range interactions, they are promising building blocks for quantum simulators. Here, we study the dynamics of an atom-photon bound state emerging from coupling a frequency-tunable quantum emitter-a transmon-type superconducting circuit-to the band edge of a microwave metamaterial. Employing precise temporal control over the frequency detuning of the emitter from the band edge, we examine the transition from adiabatic to nonadiabatic behavior in the formation of the bound state and its melting into the propagating modes of the metamaterial. Moreover, we experimentally observe multimode emission from the bound state, triggered by a fast change of the emitter's frequency. Our Letter offers insight into the dynamic preparation of APBS and provides a method to characterize their photonic content, with implications in quantum optics and quantum simulation.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.134.133601

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Atom-photon bound states arise from the coupling of quantum emitters to the band edge of dispersion-engineered waveguides. Thanks to their tunable-range interactions, they are promising building blocks for quantum simulators. Here, we study the dynamics of an atom-photon bound state emerging from coupling a frequency-tunable quantum emitter-a transmon-type superconducting circuit-to the band edge of a microwave metamaterial. Employing precise temporal control over the frequency detuning of the emitter from the band edge, we examine the transition from adiabatic to nonadiabatic behavior in the formation of the bound state and its melting into the propagating modes of the metamaterial. Moreover, we experimentally observe multimode emission from the bound state, triggered by a fast change of the emitter's frequency. Our Letter offers insight into the dynamic preparation of APBS and provides a method to characterize their photonic content, with implications in quantum optics and quantum simulation.
Abstract Embedding tunable quantum emitters in a photonic bandgap structure enables control of dissipative and dispersive interactions between emitters and their photonic bath. Operation in the transmission band, outside the gap, allows for studying waveguide quantum electrodynamics in the slow-light regime. Alternatively, tuning the emitter into the bandgap results in finite-range emitter–emitter interactions via bound photonic states. Here, we couple a transmon qubit to a superconducting metamaterial with a deep sub-wavelength lattice constant (λ/60). The metamaterial is formed by periodically loading a transmission line with compact, low-loss, low-disorder lumped-element microwave resonators. Tuning the qubit frequency in the vicinity of a band-edge with a group index of ng = 450, we observe an anomalous Lamb shift of −28 MHz accompanied by a 24-fold enhancement in the qubit lifetime. In addition, we demonstrate selective enhancement and inhibition of spontaneous emission of different transmon transitions, which provide simultaneous access to short-lived radiatively damped and long-lived metastable qubit states.
Quantum emitters trapped near photonic crystal waveguides have recently emerged as an exciting platform for realizing novel quantum matter-light interfaces. Here, we study tunable photon scattering in a photonic crystal waveguide coupled to an atom dimer with an arbitrary spatial separation. In the weak-excitation regime, we give the energy levels and their decay rates into the waveguide modes in the dressed basis, which both depend on the distance between the two atoms. We focus on the Bragg case and anti-Bragg case, where subradiant and superradiant states are produced and perfect transmission with a $\ensuremath{\pi}$ phase shift may occur on resonance. We observe quantum beats in the photon-photon correlation function of the reflected field in the anti-Bragg case. Moreover, the frequencies of quantum beats can be controlled due to the tunability of the bound states via the dispersion engineering of the structure. We also observe directional photon emission in the anti-Bragg case and give the dynamic mechanism of the perfect transmission. We quantify the effects of the system imperfections, including the deviation in the distance between the two atoms and the asymmetry in the atomic decay rates into the waveguide modes. With recent experimental advances in the superconducting microwave transmission lines, our results should soon be realizable.
Qubits strongly coupled to a photonic crystal give rise to qubit-photon dressed bound states.These bound states, comprising the qubits and spatially localized photonic modes induced around the qubits, are the basis for many exotic physical scenarios.The localization of these states changes with qubit detuning from the photonic crystal band edge, offering an avenue of in situ control of bound-state interaction.Here, we present experimental results from a device with two transmon qubits coupled to a superconducting microwave photonic crystal and realize tunable on-site and interbound state interactions.We observe a fourth-order two-photon virtual process between bound states indicating strong coupling between the photonic crystal and transmon qubits.Because of their localization-dependent interaction, these states offer the ability to realize one-dimensional chains of bound states with tunable and potentially long-range interactions that preserve the qubits' spatial organization.The widely tunable, strong, and robust interactions demonstrated with this system are promising benchmarks towards realizing larger, more complex systems that use bound states to build and study quantum spin models.
Metamaterial resonant structures made from arrays of superconducting lumped-circuit elements can exhibit microwave-mode spectra with left-handed dispersion for the standing-wave resonances, resulting in a high density of modes in the same frequency range where superconducting qubits are typically operated, as well as a bandgap at lower frequencies that extends down to dc. Using this regime for multimode circuit quantum electrodynamics, we perform a series of measurements of such a superconducting metamaterial resonator coupled to a flux-tunable transmon qubit. Through microwave measurements of the metamaterial, we observe the coupling of the qubit to each of the modes that it passes through. Using a separate readout resonator, we probe the qubit dispersively and characterize the qubit energy relaxation as a function of frequency, which is strongly affected by the Purcell effect in the presence of the dense mode spectrum. Additionally, we investigate the ac Stark shift of the qubit as the photon number in the various metamaterial modes is varied. Through numerical simulations, we explore designs based on this scheme with enhanced coupling so that the coupling energy between the qubit and the metamaterial modes can exceed the intermode spacing in future devices with achievable circuit parameters. The ability to tailor the dense mode spectrum through the choice of circuit parameters and manipulate the photonic state of the metamaterial through interactions with qubits makes this a promising platform for analog quantum simulation with microwave photons and quantum memories.
Abstract We investigate the quantum dynamics of two two-level atoms coupled to a one-dimensional resonator waveguide. Using the resolvent method, we obtain exact analytical solutions for the atomic evolution and photon scattering processes within the single-excitation subspace. The photonic band structure of the waveguide dictates distinctly different dynamical regimes. For atomic frequencies at the band center and small interatomic separation, the system exhibits Markovian decay and relaxes into a steady-state subradiant Bell entangled state. In contrast, near the band edge, non-Markovian dynamics dominates, leading to the formation of atom-photon bound states that mediate persistent, coherent interactions between the atoms. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the atomic detuning and separation provide effective control over singlephoton scattering, enabling a tunable quantum interface.
We demonstrate how the dissipative interaction between a superconducting qubit and a microwave photonic crystal can be used for quantum bath engineering. The photonic crystal is created with a step-impedance transmission line which suppresses and enhances the quantum spectral density of states, influencing decay transitions of a transmon circuit. The qubit interacts with the transmission line indirectly via dispersive coupling to a cavity. We characterize the photonic crystal density of states from both the unitary and dissipative dynamics of the qubit. When the qubit is driven, it dissipates into the frequency dependent density of states of the photonic crystal. Our result is the deterministic preparation of qubit superposition states as the steady state of coherent driving and dissipation near the photonic crystal band edge, which we characterize with quantum state tomography. Our results highlight how the multimode environment from the photonic crystal forms a resource for quantum control.