As a waveguide circuit QED architecture, we investigate theoretically the single-photon pair emission of a Cooper pair splitter composed of two double quantum dots, each coupled to a microwave transmission line. We find that this system can generate frequency-entangled photon pairs in the left and right transmission lines, specifically a superposition of two photon wave packets at different frequencies. The frequency entanglement of the two photons arises from the particle-hole coherent superposition (i.e., Andreev bound states) involving the delocalized entangled spin singlet. We also estimate a lower bound for the efficiency of entangled photon-pair generation, accounting for the presence of nonradiative processes such as phonon emissions. Our proposal is realistic and achievable with state-of-the-art techniques in quantum microwave engineering with electostatically defined semiconducting quantum dots.
As a waveguide circuit QED architecture, we investigate theoretically the single-photon pair emission of a Cooper pair splitter composed of two double quantum dots, each coupled to a microwave transmission line. We find that this system can generate frequency-entangled photon pairs in the left and right transmission lines, specifically a superposition of two photon wave packets at different frequencies. The frequency entanglement of the two photons arises from the particle-hole coherent superposition (i.e., Andreev bound states) involving the delocalized entangled spin singlet. We also estimate a lower bound for the efficiency of entangled photon-pair generation, accounting for the presence of nonradiative processes such as phonon emissions. Our proposal is realistic and achievable with state-of-the-art techniques in quantum microwave engineering with electostatically defined semiconducting quantum dots.
Time-frequency entangled photons constitute an important resource for a plethora of applications across the diverse quantum technology landscape. Thus, efficient and tunable setups for the generation of entangled photons are requisite for modern quantum technologies. In this work, we propose a generic cavity QED setup designed for on-demand generation of time-frequency entangled photon pairs, with each photon propagating in a separate waveguide. We outline a potential incarnation of this setup in the microwave superconducting circuit QED architecture. We derive and numerically solve the set of equations of motion governing the evolution of the quantum state of the system, allowing us to examine the photon emission dynamics. Using the Schmidt decomposition of the joint spectral amplitude of the emitted photon pair, we compute the entanglement entropy analyzing its dependence on the system parameters. We outline the potential extension of the proposed scheme for the generation of multiphoton time-frequency entangled states.
Coupling on-chip microwave cavities to superconducting microcircuits has provided a new platform to study the light/matter interaction at the most elementary level [1]. Coupling such cavities to more complex quantum circuits, like quantum dot circuits, is of high interest since it would allow the use of different degrees of freedom, like for instance the electronic spin, in a cavity quantum electrodynamics context. In this talk, I will present various theoretical proposals which would exploit this possibility. First, I will present a scheme allowing a strong coupling between cavity photons and a single spin trapped in a double quantum dot with ferromagnetic contacts [2]. Such a scheme would enable a scalable spin quantum bit architecture. Second, I will discuss theoretically the coupling of a double-quantum dot based Cooper pair splitter to a cavity [3]. Such a scheme can be used to test the entanglement of split Cooper pairs, due to a subradiance property of the Cooper pairs singlet state. Third, I will present recent experiments on carbon nanotube based quantum dots coupled to microwave cavities. In particular, I will discuss the observation of a charge coupling between two distant quantum dots mediated by cavity photons. [1] A. Wallraff, D. I. Schuster, A. Blais, L. Frunzio, R.- S. Huang, J. Majer, S. Kumar, S.M. Girvin, and R. J. Schoelkopf, Nature (London) 431, 162 (2004). [2] A. Cottet and T. Kontos, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 160502 (2010) [3] A. Cottet, T. Kontos, and A. Levy Yeyati, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 166803 (2012). [5] M.R. Delbecq, V. Schmitt, F.D. Parmentier, N. Roch, J.J. Viennot, G. Fève, B. Huard, C. Mora, A. Cottet, and T. Kontos, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107,256804 (2011) [6] M.R. Delbecq et al., unpublished
Coupling on-chip microwave cavities to superconducting microcircuits has provided a new platform to study the light/matter interaction at the most elementary level. Generalizing such a coupling to more complex quantum circuits, like quantum dot circuits, is of high interest since it would allow the use of different degrees of freedom, like for instance the electronic spin, in a cavity quantum electrodynamics context. In this talk, I will present various aspects of the effect of a double quantum dot on cavity photons. I will discuss the case of normal, ferromagnetic and superconducting reservoirs. In particular, the coupling of a Cooper pair splitter with cavity photons will be discussed
We investigate the generation of an entangled electron pair emerging from a system composed of two quantum dots attached to a superconductor Cooper-pair beam splitter. We take into account three processes: crossed Andreev reflection, cotunneling, and Coulomb interaction. Together, these processes play crucial roles in the formation of entangled electronic states, with electrons being in spatially separated quantum dots. By using perturbation theory, we derive an analytical effective model that allows a simple picture of the intricate process behind the formation of the entangled state. Several entanglement quantifiers, including quantum mutual information, negativity, and concurrence, are employed to validate our findings. Finally, we define and calculate the covariance associated with the detection of two electrons, each originating from one of the quantum dots with a specific spin value. The time evolution of this observable follows the dynamics of all entanglement quantifiers, thus suggesting that it can be a useful tool for mapping the creation of entangled electrons in future applications within quantum information protocols.
Abstract Entanglement of electrons is studied by means of current–current correlations in two Cooper pair splitter devices: with one and two proximized quantum dots (1QD and 2QD), in presence of intra- and inter-dot Coulomb interactions, and weakly coupled with metallic electrodes. The 1QD system, where Cooper pairs can be transmitted to the same or split to different normal electrodes, is contrasted with the 2QD device, where double occupancy of a single quantum dot is forbidden and transport is only through an inter-dot singlet due to non-local crossed Andreev reflection processes deep in the superconducting energy gap. Separating the current correlation function into components for partial currents of electrons and holes through various Andreev bound states, one can see bunching and antibunching of split particles: inter-level components between electron and hole currents flowing to different electrodes are positive, while intra-level electron–electron or hole–hole components are negative, respectively. Spectral decomposition of the frequency-dependent current cross-correlation is performed to get better insight into mechanisms of entanglement and dynamics of split Cooper pairs, and to extract various charge fluctuation processes with different relaxation times, related to electron and hole currents flowing through the Andreev bound states. Only low frequency polarization fluctuations are seen in the current cross-correlations, while various negative and positive high frequency (charge fluctuations) components compensate each other in the symmetric system.
We show that the recombination of Cooper pairs in semiconductors can be used as a natural source of polarization-entangled photons, making use of the inherent angular momentum entanglement in the superconducting state. Our proposal is not based on opposite spin population of discrete energy levels and thus does not require isolated emitters such as single atoms or quantum dots. We observe that in bulk materials, the photon entanglement would be degraded due to the variety of decay channels available in the presence of light-hole (LH)--heavy-hole (HH) degeneracy. However, we show that the lifting of this degeneracy by use of a semiconductor quantum well should lead to faithful conversion of the Cooper-pair entanglement into photon entanglement. The second-order decay of two-electron states in Cooper-pair luminescence leaves no which-path information, resulting in perfect coherence between two pathways and hence, in principle, perfect entanglement. We calculate the purity of the entangled-photon state and find that it increases for larger LH--HH energy splitting and for lower temperatures. Moreover, the superconducting macroscopic coherence offers an enhancement to the emission rate, making this a promising scheme for efficient generation of entangled photons in simple electrically driven structures.