We have performed spectroscopic measurements of a superconducting qubit dispersively coupled to a nonlinear resonator driven by a pump microwave field. Measurements of the qubit frequency shift provide a sensitive probe of the intracavity field, yielding a precise characterization of the resonator nonlinearity. The qubit linewidth has a complex dependence on the pump frequency and amplitude, which is correlated with the gain of the nonlinear resonator operated as a small-signal amplifier. The corresponding dephasing rate is found to be close to the quantum limit in the low-gain limit of the amplifier.
We introduce a systematic formalism for two-resonator circuit QED, where two on-chip microwave resonators are simultaneously coupled to one superconducting qubit. Within this framework, we demonstrate that the qubit can function as a quantum switch between the two resonators, which are assumed to be originally independent. In this three-circuit network, the qubit mediates a geometric second-order circuit interaction between the otherwise decoupled resonators. In the dispersive regime, it also gives rise to a dynamic second-order perturbative interaction. The geometric and dynamic coupling strengths can be tuned to be equal, thus permitting to switch on and off the interaction between the two resonators via a qubit population inversion or a shifting of the qubit operation point. We also show that our quantum switch represents a flexible architecture for the manipulation and generation of nonclassical microwave field states as well as the creation of controlled multipartite entanglement in circuit QED. In addition, we clarify the role played by the geometric interaction, which constitutes a fundamental property characteristic of superconducting quantum circuits without counterpart in quantum-optical systems. We develop a detailed theory of the geometric second-order coupling by means of circuit transformations for superconducting charge and flux qubits. Furthermore, we show the robustness of the quantum switch operation with respect to decoherence mechanisms. Finally, we propose a realistic design for a two-resonator circuit QED setup based on a flux qubit and estimate all the related parameters. In this manner, we show that this setup can be used to implement a superconducting quantum switch with available technology.
On-chip nanophotonic cavities will advance quantum information science and measurement because they enable efficient interaction between photons and long-lived solid-state spins, such as those associated with rare-earth ions in crystals. The enhanced photon-ion interaction creates new opportunities for all-optical control using the ac Stark shift. Toward this end, we characterize the ac Stark interaction between off-resonant optical fields and Nd$^{3+}$-ion dopants in a photonic crystal resonator fabricated from yttrium orthovanadate (YVO$_4$). Using photon echo techniques, at a detuning of 160 MHz we measure a maximum ac Stark shift of 2$pitimes$12.3 MHz per intra-cavity photon, which is large compared to both the homogeneous linewidth ($Gamma_h =$100 kHz) and characteristic width of isolated spectral features created through optical pumping ($Gamma_f approx$3 MHz). The photon-ion interaction strength in the device is sufficiently large to control the frequency and phase of the ions for quantum information processing applications. In particular, we discuss and assess the use of the cavity enhanced ac Stark shift to realize all-optical quantum memory and detection protocols. Our results establish the ac Stark shift as a powerful added control in rare-earth ion quantum technologies.
Quantum optical photodetection has occupied a central role in understanding radiation-matter interactions. It has also contributed to the development of atomic physics and quantum optics, including applications to metrology, spectroscopy, and quantum information processing. The quantum microwave regime, originally explored using cavities and atoms, is seeing a novel boost with the generation of nonclassical propagating fields in circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED). This promising field, involving potential developments in quantum information with microwave photons, suffers from the absence of photodetectors. Here, we design a metamaterial composed of discrete superconducting elements that implements a high-efficiency microwave photon detector. Our design consists of a microwave guide coupled to an array of metastable quantum circuits, whose internal states are irreversibly changed due to the absorption of photons. This proposal can be widely applied to different physical systems and can be generalized to implement a microwave photon counter.
A superconducting qubit was driven in an ultrastrong fashion by an oscillatory microwave field, which was created by coupling via the nonlinear Josephson energy. The observed Stark shifts of the `atomic levels are so pronounced that corrections even beyond the lowest-order Bloch-Siegert shift are needed to properly explain the measurements. The quasienergies of the dressed two-level system were probed by resonant absorption via a cavity, and the results are in agreement with a calculation based on the Floquet approach.
The strong coupling limit of cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) implies the capability of a matter-like quantum system to coherently transform an individual excitation into a single photon within a resonant structure. This not only enables essential processes required for quantum information processing but also allows for fundamental studies of matter-light interaction. In this work we demonstrate strong coupling between the charge degree of freedom in a gate-detuned GaAs double quantum dot (DQD) and a frequency-tunable high impedance resonator realized using an array of superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). In the resonant regime, we resolve the vacuum Rabi mode splitting of size $2g/2pi = 238$ MHz at a resonator linewidth $kappa/2pi = 12$ MHz and a DQD charge qubit dephasing rate of $gamma_2/2pi = 80$ MHz extracted independently from microwave spectroscopy in the dispersive regime. Our measurements indicate a viable path towards using circuit based cavity QED for quantum information processing in semiconductor nano-structures.