Quantum analog of the ferromagnetic microwave amplifier

L. S. Kuzmin, K. K. Likharev, V. V. Migulin

Ryusuke Hisatomi, Alto Osada, Yutaka Tabuchi +5 more

Coherent conversion of microwave and optical photons in the single quantum level can significantly expand our ability to process signals in various fields. Efficient up-conversion of a feeble signal in the microwave domain to the optical domain will lead to quantum-noise-limited microwave amplifiers. Coherent exchange between optical photons and microwave photons will also be a stepping stone to realize long-distance quantum communication. Here we demonstrate bidirectional and coherent conversion between microwave and light using collective spin excitations in a ferromagnet. The converter consists of two harmonic oscillator modes, a microwave cavity mode and a magnetostatic mode called the Kittel mode, where microwave photons and magnons in the respective modes are strongly coupled and hybridized. An itinerant microwave field and a traveling optical field can be coupled through the hybrid system, where the microwave field is coupled to the hybrid system through the cavity mode, while the optical field addresses the hybrid system through the Kittel mode via Faraday and inverse Faraday effects. The conversion efficiency is theoretically analyzed and experimentally evaluated. The possible schemes for improving the efficiency are also discussed.

Nicolai G. Basov

Aharon Blank, Sherman, Alexander, Boaz Koren +1 more

The maser, a microwave (MW) analog of the laser, is a well-established method for generating and amplifying coherent MW irradiation with ultra-low noise. This is accomplished by creating a state of population inversion between two energy levels separated by MW frequency. Thermodynamically, such a state corresponds to a small but negative temperature. The reverse condition, where only the lower energy level is highly populated, corresponds to a very low positive temperature. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate how to generate such a state in condensed matter at moderate cryogenic temperatures. This state is then used to efficiently remove microwave photons from a cavity, continuously cooling it to the quantum limit, well below its ambient temperature. Such an "anti-maser" device could be extremely beneficial for applications that would normally require cooling to millikelvin temperatures to eliminate any MW photons. For instance, superconducting MW quantum circuits (such as qubits and amplifiers) could, with the use of this device, operate efficiently at liquid helium temperatures.

Rajamani Vijay, Michel Devoret, Irfan A. Siddiqi

We review the theory, fabrication, and implementation of the Josephson bifurcation amplifier (JBA). At the core of the JBA is a nonlinear oscillator based on a reactively shunted Josephson junction. A weak input signal to the amplifier couples to the junction critical current I(0) and results in a dispersive shift in the resonator plasma frequency omega(p). This shift is enhanced by biasing the junction with a sufficiently strong microwave current I(rf) to access the nonlinear regime where omega(p) varies with I(rf). For a drive frequency omega(d) such that Omega=2Q(1-omega(d)/omega(p))>3, the oscillator enters the bistable regime where two nondissipative dynamical states O(L) and O(H), which differ in amplitude and phase, can exist. The sharp I(0) dependent transition from O(L) to O(H) forms the basis for a sensitive digital threshold amplifier. In the vicinity of the bistable regime (Omega<3), analog amplification of continuous signals is also possible. We present experimental data characterizing amplifier performance and discuss two specific applications--the readout of superconducting qubits (digital mode) and dispersive microwave magnetometry (analog mode).

Vitaliy V. Shtykov, Sergey M. Smolskiy