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Progress in physics

RECENT PROGRESS IN MACROSCOPIC RESONANT TUNNELING AND ITS APPLICATIONS TO QUANTUM INFORMATION PROCESSING

Siyuan Han

Published Jan 1, 2009• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

The question of whether macroscopic variables obey the laws of quantum mechanics has been debated ever since the earliest days of quantum mechanics.Since early 1980s results from a series of experiments in Josephson junctions and superconducting interference devices(SQUIDs),including macroscopic quantum tunneling,energy level quantization,macroscopic resonant tunneling(MRT),and ac driven coherent dynamics of the phase and flux,strongly support the notion that under proper conditions motions of macroscopic variables are indeed governed by the laws of quantum mechanics.Among many macroscopic quantum phenomena,MRT,which combines two of the most distinctive quantum phenomena-tunneling and energy level-quantization together and does not involve excitation by high frequency fields,is perhaps the strongest evidence demonstrating quantum nature of macroscopic variables.In this article,we review recent development in theory and experiment of MRT.In particular,we show that how dissipation and flux noise affect the rate and line shape of MRT in the double-well of rf SQUID flux qubits and applications of MRT in the ongoing efforts of identifying and understanding mechanisms of decoherence in superconducting qubits for scalable quantum computing.

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The question of whether macroscopic variables obey the laws of quantum mechanics has been debated ever since the earliest days of quantum mechanics.Since early 1980s results from a series of experiments in Josephson junctions and superconducting interference devices(SQUIDs),including macroscopic quantum tunneling,energy level quantization,macroscopic resonant tunneling(MRT),and ac driven coherent dynamics of the phase and flux,strongly support the notion that under proper conditions motions of macroscopic variables are indeed governed by the laws of quantum mechanics.Among many macroscopic quantum phenomena,MRT,which combines two of the most distinctive quantum phenomena-tunneling and energy level-quantization together and does not involve excitation by high frequency fields,is perhaps the strongest evidence demonstrating quantum nature of macroscopic variables.In this article,we review recent development in theory and experiment of MRT.In particular,we show that how dissipation and flux noise affect the rate and line shape of MRT in the double-well of rf SQUID flux qubits and applications of MRT in the ongoing efforts of identifying and understanding mechanisms of decoherence in superconducting qubits for scalable quantum computing.
Recently there has been interest in macroscopic systems which can be described in terms of the quantum dynamics of the same collective variables which describe their classical behavior. In particular, there has been considerable interest in the following questions: (1) Is it possible to observe unambiguous evidence of the quantum-mechanical nature of a macroscopic collective coordinate? (2) In what way is the quantum mechanics of a macroscopic variable different from that of a microscopic variable or, in other words, what is the effect of dissipation on the dynamics of a quantum-mechanical system? Spectroscopic evidence of the quantization of energy levels can be found by measuring the system's response to an applied ac perturbation, exploiting the quantum-mechanical relation between energy and frequency. The specific system studied is a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). It is shown that a time-varying magnetic field through the superconducting loop in a rf SQUID can cause transitions between different fluxoid states. The role of dissipation is discussed in detail, and it is shown that in the case that dissipation is characterized by linear damping in the classical limit, the photon-absorption process depends critically on the ratio of the resistance of the weak link to the fundamental unit of resistance h/e2{e}^{2}e2. .AE
We experimentally demonstrate the observation of macroscopic resonant tunneling (MRT) phenomenon of the macroscopic distinct flux states in a radio frequency superconducting quantum interference device (rf-SQUID) under a single-cycle sinusoidal driving. The population of the qubit exhibits interference patterns corresponding to resonant tunneling peaks between states in the adjacent potential wells. The dynamics of the qubit depends significantly on the amplitude, frequency, and initial phase of the driving signal. We do the numerical simulations considering the intra-well and inter-well relaxation mechanism, which agree well with the experimental results. This approach provides an effective way to manipulate the qubit population by adjusting the parameters of the external driving field.
We have developed a quantitative theory of resonant tunneling of magnetic flux between discrete macroscopically distinct quantum states in superconducting quantum interference device systems. The theory is based on the standard density-matrix approach. Its elements include the discussion of the two different relaxation mechanisms that exist for the double-well potential, and description of the ``photon-assisted'' tunneling driven by external rf radiation. It is shown that in the case of coherent flux dynamics, rf radiation should lead to splitting of the peaks of resonant flux tunneling, indicating that the resonant tunneling is a convenient tool for studying macroscopic quantum coherence of flux.
We report on measurements of flux and charge noise in an rf-SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) flux qubit using macroscopic resonant tunneling (MRT). We measure rates of incoherent tunneling from the lowest energy state in the initial well to the ground and first excited states in the target well. The result of the measurement consists of two peaks. The first peak corresponds to tunneling to the ground state of the target well, and is dominated by flux noise. The second peak is due to tunneling to the excited state and is wider due to an intrawell relaxation process dominated by charge noise. We develop a theoretical model that allows us to extract information about flux and charge noise within one experimental setup. The model agrees very well with experimental data over a wide dynamic range and provides parameters that characterize charge and flux noise.
At low temperature and low damping, the magnetic flux of a rf Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) acts as a macroscopic quantum variable whose dynamic is described by a double well potential. A rf SQUID consists of a superconducting loop interrupted by a thin insulating barrier, known as a Josephson junction. The modified rf SQUID design discussed in this thesis has independent, in situ, controls that allow varying the barrier height between the potential wells and their relative tilt. This high level of control of the potential together with the capability to implement an experimental setup optimized to reduce coupling to external sources of noise, made this system ideal not only for tests of quantum transition at a macroscopic level, but also as a scalable solid state device for quantum computation. A variety of measurements of quantum phenomena are reported in this thesis, including microwave level spectroscopy, coherent oscillations, and macroscopic resonant tunneling (MRT). These measurements are compared with theoretical models to study the possible sources of decoherence in a rf SQUID qubit. The analysis confirmed that the main source of decoherence is not due to coupling to the external environment, but it can be linked to intrinsic low frequency flux noise. Work from many groups over the last several years has shown that the performance of a superconductive qubit is limited by coupling to spurious defects in the materials used for the device fabrication. In this work we analyze the possibility of using the MRT as a tool for future studies of effects of materials and fabrication process in the realization of improved qubits, and we also explore the feasibility for measurements of quantum phenomena that involve fast pulsing of the potential barrier height.