This experimental thesis explores energetic and informational aspects of the fluorescence emitted by superconducting circuits. A quantum bit interacting with a resonant drive exchanges quanta of energy during absorption and emission cycles. Using low- noise amplification and linear detection of microwave light, we have developed a measurement setup to record the energy and complex amplitude of the fluorescence field and realized three experiments based on the record of fluorescence. First, we have realized and demonstrated a transfer of energy between two resonant drives. Owing to the properties of stimulated emission, the direction and magnitude of energy transfer can be controlled by the phase of a quantum superposition of qubit states. Second, we have used the information contained in fluorescence to implement a new readout scheme for superconducting circuits without the help of any ancillary quantum system. The circuit, directly coupled to the environment, encodes quantum information in a well-protected subspace and is read using the fluorescence of a strongly coupled transition. Finally, we have explored the interplay between information and energy in the quantum regime by realizing an autonomous Maxwell's demon. The demon is a cavity measuring the system, a superconducting qubit. Work is extracted in the form of a stimulated photon emitted by the qubit and is directly measured using our fluorescence measurement setup. It is linked with the variations of the system's internal energy. Using independent measurements, the transfer of information from the system to the demon is quantified. In particular, we demonstrated the quantum signatures of the demon when the system is initialized in a quantum superposition.
This experimental thesis explores energetic and informational aspects of the fluorescence emitted by superconducting circuits. A quantum bit interacting with a resonant drive exchanges quanta of energy during absorption and emission cycles. Using low- noise amplification and linear detection of microwave light, we have developed a measurement setup to record the energy and complex amplitude of the fluorescence field and realized three experiments based on the record of fluorescence. First, we have realized and demonstrated a transfer of energy between two resonant drives. Owing to the properties of stimulated emission, the direction and magnitude of energy transfer can be controlled by the phase of a quantum superposition of qubit states. Second, we have used the information contained in fluorescence to implement a new readout scheme for superconducting circuits without the help of any ancillary quantum system. The circuit, directly coupled to the environment, encodes quantum information in a well-protected subspace and is read using the fluorescence of a strongly coupled transition. Finally, we have explored the interplay between information and energy in the quantum regime by realizing an autonomous Maxwell's demon. The demon is a cavity measuring the system, a superconducting qubit. Work is extracted in the form of a stimulated photon emitted by the qubit and is directly measured using our fluorescence measurement setup. It is linked with the variations of the system's internal energy. Using independent measurements, the transfer of information from the system to the demon is quantified. In particular, we demonstrated the quantum signatures of the demon when the system is initialized in a quantum superposition.
Énergie et information dans la fluorescence de circuits supraconducteurs Cette thèse expérimentale explore les aspects énergétiques et informationnels de la fluorescence émise par des circuits supraconducteurs. Un bit quantique échange des quanta d’énergie avec une onde résonante lors de cycles d’émission et d’absorption. Nous avons développé un système de mesure basé sur l’amplification bas bruit et la détection linéaire de la lumière micro-onde pour mesurer l’énergie et l’amplitude complexe du champ de fluorescence et réalisé trois expériences basées sur la mesure de fluorescence. Premièrement nous avons réalisé et démontré le transfert d’énergie entre deux impulsions lumineuses résonantes. Grâce aux propriétés de l’émission stimulée, la direction et l’amplitude du transfert d’énergie sont contrôlées par la phase d’une superposition d’états quantiques. Deuxièmement, nous avons utilisé l’information contenue dans la fluorescence pour réaliser un nouveau type de lecture d’un circuit supraconducteur sans l’aide d’un système quantique auxiliaire. Le circuit, directement couplé à l’environnement, encode l’information quantique dans un sous-espace bien isolé et est lu grâce à la fluorescence d’une transition fortement couplée. Enfin, nous avons exploré le lien entre information et énergie dans le régime quantique en réalisant un démon de Maxwell autonome. Le démon est une cavité mesurant le système, un qubit supraconducteur. Le travail est extrait sous la forme d’un photon stimulé émis par le qubit et est directement mesurée par notre système de mesure de fluorescence. Il est relié aux variations de l’énergie interne du qubit. Le transfert d’information du système vers le démon est quantifié par des mesures indépendantes. En particulier nous avons démontré la présence de signatures quantique du démon quand le système est initialisé dans une superposition d’états quantiques.
In apparent contradiction to the laws of thermodynamics, Maxwell's demon is able to cyclically extract work from a system in contact with a thermal bath, exploiting the information about its microstate. The resolution of this paradox required the insight that an intimate relationship exists between information and thermodynamics. Here, we realize a Maxwell demon experiment that tracks the state of each constituent in both the classical and quantum regimes. The demon is a microwave cavity that encodes quantum information about a superconducting qubit and converts information into work by powering up a propagating microwave pulse by stimulated emission. Thanks to the high level of control of superconducting circuits, we directly measure the extracted work and quantify the entropy remaining in the demon's memory. This experiment provides an enlightening illustration of the interplay of thermodynamics with quantum information.
In this thesis, experimentally relevant aspects and open questions of quantum information processing and measurement in circuit quantum electrodynamics have been investigated theoretically. Circuit quantum electrodynamics is a relatively young field combining superconducting transmission line resonators on-chip with superconducting quantum bits which serve as artificial atoms. Remarkable experiments have underlined the prospects of circuit QED as a possible architecture for quantum information processing as well as a framework within which quantum optics experiments can be performed. In contrast to their optical counterparts, these experiments reach the ultra-strong coupling limit and allow e.g. the generation of Fock states, the study of decoherence and the observation of quantum jumps. We present the physics of superconducting circuits based on the Josephson junction as a non-linear circuit element. We discuss the various types of quantum bits (qubits) before turning to an introduction on cavity QED and conclude the introduction with a brief presentation of the most relevant experiments and a short introduction to the principles and prospects of quantum information processing. Building on the pioneering theoretical and experimental work in which up to three qubits have been integrated on a chip and successfully coupled via a cavity mode, we propose a scheme to overcome the natural limits concerning scalability in these systems. Usually, scalability is severely limited by the resonance width of the qubit transitions and the attainable frequency range for both qubit transition and cavity resonance frequencies. This limits the present setups to at most ten qubits. As a possible solution, we propose and investigate a cross-bar grid layout of cavities with qubits at the intersections. It turns out that this setup, allowing for up to about 1000 qubits, offers significant advantages over e.g. nearest-neighbor coupling schemes. In addition, it can serve as a building block for a truly scalable scheme for fault-tolerant quantum information processing with superconducting circuits by combining 7x7 arrays in a staircase manner. Furthermore, we discuss and simulate different possibilities to improve upon the suggested scheme by e.g. using resonant gates and optimal control theory. Another focus of the present thesis is measurement physics. In order to investigate e.g. the possibilities of using a circuit QED system to dispersively detect single microwave photons or to generate multi-qubit entangled states, we introduce in a pedagogical manner the basics of stochastic master equations which generate quantum trajectories before turning to concrete applications. Quantum trajectories have proven to be a state-of-the-art tool to analyze measurement situations in a very realistic manner by giving access to both the measurement record as well as the internal quantum dynamics conditioned on this record. Using the method of quantum trajectories as generated by stochastic master equations, we discuss a scheme to efficiently generate multi-qubit entangled states in a very flexible way. The method is based on a collective, dispersive qubit readout. By this measurement, a suitable product state of N qubits can be reliably converted into e.g. an N-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger or W state. We propose and discuss the scheme and investigate the effects of decoherence and parameter spread as they would be encountered in experiment. Last but not least, we propose and fully analyze a scheme to dispersively detect single itinerant microwave photons. While experiments to generate single microwave photons have already been successfully performed, their single-shot quantum non-demolition detection has not been possible so far. The scheme presented in this thesis closes this gap in the circuit QED toolbox and reaches detection efficiencies of 30% only limited by fundamental quantum mechanics in this case the Quantum Zeno effect. This detection scheme could be used in quantum communication or quantum cryptography applications.
The association of a quantum bit and a harmonic mode dispersively coupled is one of the most studied systems in the field of quantum electrodynamics of superconducting circuits. It offers one of the most reliable current methods for measuring the state of a quantum bit in a non-destructive manner and has enabled numerous quantum information experiments, studying the information obtained through this measurement and the dynamics of the qubit when subjected to it. It also provides the ability to prepare and manipulate the quantum state of the harmonic mode via the qubit, allowing information to be stored and processed in this mode, which is fundamental to building a quantum processor. This thesis presents two experiments based on this architecture. The first demonstrates how to use qubit fluorescence to non-destructively read the number of photons contained in a microwave cavity in a single shot, that is, before the cavity has relaxed. This makes it possible to measure photon number trajectories and observe them leave the cavity one by one. The analysis of this experiment relies on a fluorescence analysis in terms of propagating modes and addresses a number of questions about the information that these modes may contain. The second is a demonstration of the use of a neural network for quantum state preparation in the cavity. Here, the goal is to accelerate the optimization of control electromagnetic pulses at the frequencies of the cavity and qubit to create a quantum state in the cavity with high fidelity, and this for a broad class of states. To evaluate the efficiency of this new optimization protocol over this class of states, an optimal method to assess the fidelity of the prepared states using a Wigner function measurement protocol was experimentally implemented for the first time.
The laws of quantum mechanics imply the existence of an intrinsic uncertainty, or noise, in the electromagnetic field. These noise fluctuations are central to many processes in atomic physics and quantum optics, including spontaneous emission of radiation by an atomic system, backaction on an atomic system during non-demolition measurement by probe light, and intrinsic bounds on the noise performance of an ideal amplifier. While quantum noise cannot be eliminated, the noise of one observable quantity may be reduced provided that of the conjugate observable is increased in accord with the relevant Heisenberg uncertainty relation; this process is known as squeezing.Recently, superconducting circuits have emerged as a powerful platform for studying the interaction of squeezed light and matter, leveraging the low-dimensionality of the circuit environment to efficiently couple atomic systems to squeezed radiation. Beyond enabling the verification of canonical predictions of quantum optics, these experiments explore the potential utility of squeezing for the state readout of quantum bits, or qubits, used for quantum information processing.In this thesis, we present three experiments probing the interaction of a superconducting qubit with squeezed radiation. First, we observe how the fluorescence spectra emitted by a two-level atomic system are modified by squeezing of a resonant drive. The subnatural linewidths of the resulting spectra provide the first successful verification in any system of predictions from nearly three decades prior, and provide a tool for characterization of microwave squeezed states. Second, we combine injected squeezed noise with a stroboscopic measurement scheme to demonstrate the first improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio of qubit state readout due to input squeezing. This study includes a characterization of the effect of squeezing on measurement backaction, exhibiting the first use of squeezing to slow measurement-induced dephasing. Finally, we develop a circuit incorporating the qubit inside of a squeezed-microwave source and extensively study the measurement physics of this hybrid system. This device enables the transfer of quantum information from the qubit at $\\sim$30 milliKelvin to a room temperature detector with a marked increase in steady-state efficiency.
This thesis presents a series of experiments highlighting measurement back action and decoherence in a basic open quantum system, the superconducting qubit. These observations are enabled by recent advances in amplification close to the quantum limit using Josephson circuits. The information extracted from the system can then be used as input in quantum feedback. A stroboscopic projective readout is performed and a feedback loop is used to correct for detected errors, thus stabilizing an arbitrary predetermined state of the qubit. When monitoring continuously the environment of the qubit by heterodyne detection of its fluorescence, we reconstruct individual quantum trajectories during relaxation. Conditioning this detection to the outcome of a following projective measurement, we access the weak values of the fluorescence signal. Included in a continuous feedback loop, this detection is also used to stabilize an arbitrary state of the qubit. Finally, a last experiment witnesses quantum Zeno dynamics of a resonant microwave mode, entailed by its coupling to the qubit.