We demonstrate non-adiabatic charge pumping utilizing a sequence of coherent oscillations between a superconducting island and two reservoirs. Our method, based on pulsed quantum state manipulations, allows to speedup charge pumping to a rate which is limited by the coupling between the island and the reservoirs given by the Josephson energy. Our experimental and theoretical studies also demonstrate that relaxation can be employed to reset the pump and avoid accumulation of errors due to non-ideal control pulses.
Ten years ago, coherent oscillations between two quantum states of a superconducting circuit differing by the presence or absence of a single Cooper pair on a metallic island were observed for the first time. This result immediately stimulated the development of several other types of superconducting quantum circuits behaving as artificial atoms, thus bridging mesoscopic and atomic physics. Interestingly, none of these circuits fully implements the now almost 30 year old proposal of A. J. Leggett to observe coherent oscillations between two states differing by the presence or absence of a single fluxon trapped in the superconducting loop interrupted by a Josephson tunnel junction. This phenomenon of reversible quantum tunneling between two classically separable states, known as Macroscopic Quantum Coherence (MQC), is regarded crucial for precision tests of whether macroscopic systems such as circuits fully obey quantum mechanics. In this article, we report the observation of such oscillations with sub-GHz frequency and quality factor larger than 500. We achieved this result with two innovations. First, our ring has an inductance four orders of magnitude larger than that considered by Leggett, combined with a junction in the charging regime, a parameter choice never addressed in previous experiments. Second, readout is performed with a novel dispersive scheme which eliminates the electromagnetic relaxation process induced by the measurement circuit (Purcell effect). Moreover, the reset of the system to its ground state is naturally built into this scheme, working even if the transition energy is smaller than that of temperature fluctuations. As we argue, the MQC transition could therefore be, contrary to expectations, the basis of a superconducting qubit of improved coherence and readout fidelity.
We study adiabatic charge transfer in a superconducting Cooper pair pump, focusing on the influence of current measurement on coherence. We investigate the limit where the Josephson coupling energy $E_J$ between the various parts of the system is small compared to the Coulomb charging energy $E_C$. In this case the charge transferred in a pumping cycle $Q_P sim 2e$, the charge of one Cooper pair: the main contribution is due to incoherent Cooper pair tunneling. We are particularly interested in the quantum correction to $Q_P$, which is due to coherent tunneling of pairs across the pump and which depends on the superconducting phase difference $phi_0$ between the electrodes: $1-Q_P/(2e) sim (E_J/E_C) cos phi_0$. A measurement of $Q_P$ tends to destroy the phase coherence. We first study an arbitrary measuring circuit and then specific examples and show that coherent Cooper pair transfer can in principle be detected using an inductively shunted ammeter.
The emerging field of phase-coherent caloritronics (from the Latin word calor, i.e., heat) is based on the possibility to control heat currents using the phase difference of the superconducting order parameter. The goal is to design and implement thermal devices able to master energy transfer with a degree of accuracy approaching the one reached for charge transport by contemporary electronic components. This can be obtained by exploiting the macroscopic quantum coherence intrinsic to superconducting condensates, which manifests itself through the Josephson and the proximity effect. Here, we review recent experimental results obtained in the realization of heat interferometers and thermal rectifiers, and discuss a few proposals for exotic non-linear phase-coherent caloritronic devices, such as thermal transistors, solid-state memories, phase-coherent heat splitters, microwave refrigerators, thermal engines and heat valves. Besides being very attractive from the fundamental physics point of view, these systems are expected to have a vast impact on many cryogenic microcircuits requiring energy management, and possibly lay the first stone for the foundation of electronic thermal logic.
Coherent control of quantum states has been demonstrated in a variety of superconducting devices. In all these devices, the variables that are manipulated are collective electromagnetic degrees of freedom: charge, superconducting phase, or flux. Here, we demonstrate the coherent manipulation of a quantum system based on Andreev bound states, which are microscopic quasiparticle states inherent to superconducting weak links. Using a circuit quantum electrodynamics setup we perform single-shot readout of this Andreev qubit. We determine its excited state lifetime and coherence time to be in the microsecond range. Quantum jumps and parity switchings are observed in continuous measurements. In addition to possible quantum information applications, such Andreev qubits are a testbed for the physics of single elementary excitations in superconductors.
We demonstrate coherent dynamics of quantized magnetic fluxes in a superconducting loop with a weak link - a nanobridge patterned from the same thin NbN film as the loop. The bridge is a short rounded shape constriction, close to 10 nm long and 20 - 30 nm wide, having minimal width at its center. Quantum state control and coherent oscillations in the driven time evolution of the tunnel-junctionless system are achieved. Decoherence and energy relaxation in the system are studied using a combination of microwave spectroscopy and direct time-domain techniques. The effective flux noise behavior suggests inductance fluctuations as a possible cause of the decoherence.