Multiphoton transitions in Josephson-junction qubits (Review Article)
Sergey N Shevchenko, A. N. Omelyanchouk, E. V. Il’ichev
Abstract
Two basic physical models, a two-level system and a harmonic oscillator, are realized on the mesoscopic \nscale as coupled qubit and resonator. The realistic system includes moreover the electronics for controlling the \ndistance between the qubit energy levels and their populations and to read out the resonator's state, as well as the \nunavoidable dissipative environment. Such rich system is interesting both for the study of fundamental quantum \nphenomena on the mesoscopic scale and as a promising system for future electronic devices. We present recent \nresults for the driven superconducting qubit–resonator system, where the resonator can be realized as an LC \ncircuit or a nanomechanical resonator. Most of the results can be described by the semiclassical theory, where a \nqubit is treated as a quantum two-level system coupled to the classical driving field and the classical resonator. \nApplication of this theory allows to describe many phenomena for the single and two coupled superconducting \nqubits, among which are the following: the equilibrium-state and weak-driving spectroscopy, Sisyphus damping \nand amplification, Landau–Zener–Stückelberg interferometry, the multiphoton transitions of both direct and ladder-type \ncharacter, and creation of the inverse population for lasing.