Abstract A Kerr parametric oscillator (KPO) is a Kerr-nonlinear resonator driven parametrically, which can serve as a qubit in quantum information processing. Spectroscopy using a weak probe field provides a practical method for extracting system parameters. In this work, we theoretically investigate reflection and transmission measurements of two-photon and four-photon KPOs, introducing interference effects between inter-level transitions. Because KPOs typically exhibit energy-level degeneracy, a probe field can simultaneously resonate with multiple inter-level transitions. We extend the previous theory of reflection measurements by incorporating the interaction between inter-level transitions and off-diagonal elements of the density matrix which had previously been neglected. We demonstrate that interference among these transitions substantially modifies the spectrum. We identify the conditions for the interference, as well as those under which the off-diagonal elements of the density matrix affect the spectrum. The theory is also generalized to transmission measurements, and is applicable to a broad class of systems beyond KPOs.
Abstract A Kerr parametric oscillator (KPO) is a Kerr-nonlinear resonator driven parametrically, which can serve as a qubit in quantum information processing. Spectroscopy using a weak probe field provides a practical method for extracting system parameters. In this work, we theoretically investigate reflection and transmission measurements of two-photon and four-photon KPOs, introducing interference effects between inter-level transitions. Because KPOs typically exhibit energy-level degeneracy, a probe field can simultaneously resonate with multiple inter-level transitions. We extend the previous theory of reflection measurements by incorporating the interaction between inter-level transitions and off-diagonal elements of the density matrix which had previously been neglected. We demonstrate that interference among these transitions substantially modifies the spectrum. We identify the conditions for the interference, as well as those under which the off-diagonal elements of the density matrix affect the spectrum. The theory is also generalized to transmission measurements, and is applicable to a broad class of systems beyond KPOs.
Abstract We report the spectroscopic characterization of a Kerr parametric oscillator (KPO) based on the measurement of its reflection coefficient under a two-photon drive induced by flux modulation. The measured reflection spectra show good agreement with numerical simulations in terms of their dependence on the two-photon drive amplitude. The spectra can be interpreted as changes in system’s eigenenergies, transition matrix elements, and the population of the eigenstates, although the linewidth of the resonance structure is not fully explained. We also show that the drive-amplitude dependence of the spectra can be explained analytically by using the concepts of Rabi splitting and the Stark shift. By comparing the experimentally obtained spectra with theory, we show that the two-photon drive amplitude at the device can be precisely determined, which is important for the application of KPOs in quantum information processing.
The Kerr parametric oscillator (KPO) has recently attracted considerable attention from the perspective of its applications to quantum information processing, and understanding its properties is an important challenge. Spectroscopic measurements serve as an effective means of elucidating detailed information about the system, such as the energy-level structure and the transition matrix elements of the KPO. Conventional spectroscopy requires the drive frequency to match an energy spacing with a nonzero transition matrix element. In recent years, a phenomenon called photonic resonance (PR) has been theoretically predicted in KPO spectroscopy. Specifically, resonance occurs under the condition that the detuning is set to n/2 times the Kerr nonlinearity, where n is a natural number. However, under this condition the transition matrix element vanishes, and thus the mechanism by which photonic resonance (PR) arises has remained unclear. In this work, we aim to elucidate the physical origin of PR observed in KPO spectroscopy. We first performed theoretical calculations and experiments of spectroscopic measurements, confirming that PR can indeed be observed and that the theoretical and experimental results are in qualitative agreement. We then carried out an analytical study under the assumption of an ideal noiseless environment. Our analysis revealed that, although the transition matrix element of the external field expressed in the system's energy eigenbasis is zero, higher-order perturbative effects induce Rabi oscillations between the ground and excited states. Furthermore, numerical simulations in a time domain including the effect of decoherence demonstrated that coherent oscillations decay, leading to the appearance of PR.
Kerr parametric oscillators (KPOs) implemented in the circuit quantum electrodynamic architecture can operate as qubits. Their applications to quantum annealing and universal quantum computation have been studied intensively. For these applications, the readout of the state of KPOs is of practical importance. We develop a scheme of state tomography for KPOs with reflection measurement. Although it is known that the reflection coefficient depends on the state of the KPO, it is unclear whether tomography of a qubit encoded into a KPO can be performed in a practical way mitigating decoherence during the measurement, and how accurate it is. We show that the reflection coefficient has a one-to-one correspondence with a diagonal element of the density matrix of the qubit when a probe frequency is properly chosen and an additional single-photon drive is introduced. Thus, our scheme offers a novel way to read out the qubit along an axis of the Bloch sphere, and therefore the reflection measurement and single-qubit gates can constitute state tomography.
One-dimensional quantum systems that undergo spontaneous symmetry-breaking, having a symmetric (non-degenerate) and a broken-symmetry (doubly-degenerate) phase, have been intensely studied in different branches of physics. In most cases, the spontaneously-broken symmetry is parity. However, it is possible to obtain similar phases in systems without parity symmetry, through an antiunitary symmetry that implies a two-fold symmetry either on momentum or coordinate in the system's classical limit. To illustrate this phenomenon, we use a Kerr parametric oscillator (KPO) with one- and two-photon drives that, despite the breaking of parity symmetry, may have doubly-degenerate levels. Different realizations of squeezed KPOs convey a great deal of attention, as effective Hamiltonians for driven superconducting circuits and the occurrence of degeneracy in such systems could be of practical interest in their application to obtain protected qubits in parity-breaking setups. In addition to this, the reported spectral features strongly indicate the existence of additional symmetries in the system.
We experimentally investigate how interactions between Kerr parametric oscillators (KPOs) degrade their bit-flip times, where a bit flip is defined as a transition between the two degenerate ground states of a KPO. Interactions between KPOs cause quantum states of KPOs to leak outside the computational subspace, leading to bit flips. Bit flips degrade fidelity and pose a significant problem for KPO-based quantum information processing. We performed an experiment in which a weak microwave signal is injected into one KPO to emulate photon injection from another KPO, and find that the bit-flip time decreases by an order of magnitude due to induced excitations, depending on the frequency and power of the injected signal. Methods to mitigate the decrease in bit-flip times caused by interactions between KPOs are discussed, including adjusting the pump frequencies, coherent-state amplitudes, and couplings between KPOs. These findings provide valuable insights for scaling up KPO-based quantum computers.
Quantum Kerr parametric oscillators (KPOs) are systems out of equilibrium with a wide range of applications in quantum computing, quantum sensing, and fundamental research. They have been realized in superconducting circuits and photonic platforms. In this work, we explore the onset of ground-state and excited-state quantum phase transitions in KPOs, focusing on the role of the phase-space rotational symmetry when the driving frequency is $\ensuremath{\mu}$ times the oscillator's natural frequency, specifically for $\ensuremath{\mu}=1,2,3,4$. These cases are experimentally accessible in superconducting circuits, where the Floquet quasienergy spectrum can also be studied as a function of tunable control parameters. Using the classical Hamiltonian of the system, we identify the stationary points associated with quantum phase transitions and analyze the emergence of both real and avoided level crossings, examining their influence on the energy spectrum and tunneling dynamics. Our findings provide insights into the engineering of robust quantum states, quantum dynamics control, and onset of quantum phase transitions with implications for critical quantum sensing.