No Arabic abstract
The measurement of a quantum system is often performed by encoding its state in a single observable of a light field. The measurement efficiency of this observable can be reduced by loss or excess noise on the way to the detector. Even a textit{quantum-limited} detector that simultaneously measures a second non-commuting observable would double the output noise, therefore limiting the efficiency to $50%$. At microwave frequencies, an ideal measurement efficiency can be achieved by noiselessly amplifying the information-carrying quadrature of the light field, but this has remained an experimental challenge. Indeed, while state-of-the-art Josephson-junction based parametric amplifiers can perform an ideal single-quadrature measurement, they require lossy ferrite circulators in the signal path, drastically decreasing the overall efficiency. In this paper, we present a nonreciprocal parametric amplifier that combines single-quadrature measurement and directionality without the use of strong external magnetic fields. We extract a measurement efficiency of $62_{-9}^{+17} %$ that exceeds the quantum limit and that is not limited by fundamental factors. The amplifier can be readily integrated with superconducting devices, creating a path for ideal measurements of quantum bits and mechanical oscillators.
The act of observing a quantum object fundamentally perturbs its state, resulting in a random walk toward an eigenstate of the measurement operator. Ideally, the measurement is responsible for all dephasing of the quantum state. In practice, imperfections in the measurement apparatus limit or corrupt the flow of information required for quantum feedback protocols, an effect quantified by the measurement efficiency. Here we demonstrate the efficient measurement of a superconducting qubit using a nonreciprocal parametric amplifier to directly monitor the microwave field of a readout cavity. By mitigating the losses between the cavity and the amplifier we achieve a measurement efficiency of $72%$. The directionality of the amplifier protects the readout cavity and qubit from excess backaction caused by amplified vacuum fluctuations. In addition to providing tools for further improving the fidelity of strong projective measurement, this work creates a testbed for the experimental study of ideal weak measurements, and it opens the way towards quantum feedback protocols based on weak measurement such as state stabilization or error correction.
We report on the design and implementation of a Field Programmable Josephson Amplifier (FPJA) - a compact and lossless superconducting circuit that can be programmed textit{in situ} by a set of microwave drives to perform reciprocal and nonreciprocal frequency conversion and amplification. In this work we demonstrate four modes of operation: frequency conversion ($-0.5~mathrm{dB}$ transmission, $-30~mathrm{dB}$ reflection), circulation ($-0.5~mathrm{dB}$ transmission, $-30~mathrm{dB}$ reflection, $30~mathrm{dB}$ isolation), phase-preserving amplification (gain $>20~mathrm{dB}$, $1~mathrm{photon}$ of added noise) and directional phase-preserving amplification ($-10~mathrm{dB}$ reflection, $18~mathrm{dB}$ forward gain, $8~mathrm{dB}$ reverse isolation, $1~mathrm{photon}$ of added noise). The system exhibits quantitative agreement with theoretical prediction. Based on a gradiometric Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) with Nb/Al-AlO$_x$/Nb Josephson junctions, the FPJA is first-order insensitive to flux noise and can be operated without magnetic shielding at low temperature. Due to its flexible design and compatibility with existing superconducting fabrication techniques, the FPJA offers a straightforward route toward on-chip integration with superconducting quantum circuits such as qubits or microwave optomechanical systems.
Quantum noise places a fundamental limit on the per photon sensitivity attainable in optical measurements. This limit is of particular importance in biological measurements, where the optical power must be constrained to avoid damage to the specimen. By using non-classically correlated light, we demonstrated that the quantum limit can be surpassed in biological measurements. Quantum enhanced microrheology was performed within yeast cells by tracking naturally occurring lipid granules with sensitivity 2.4 dB beyond the quantum noise limit. The viscoelastic properties of the cytoplasm could thereby be determined with a 64% improved measurement rate. This demonstration paves the way to apply quantum resources broadly in a biological context.
We propose a design to realize integrated broadband nonreciprocal microwave isolators and circulators using superconducting circuit elements without any magnetic materials. To obtain a broadband response, we develop a waveguide-based design by temporal modulations. The corresponding compact traveling-wave structure is implemented with integrated superconducting composite right-/left-handed transmission lines. The calculations show that the bandwidth of 580 MHz can be realized over a nonreciprocal isolation of 20 dB in reflections. Such on-chip isolators and circulators are useful for cryogenic integrated microwave connections and measurements, such as protecting qubits from the amplified reflected signal in multiplexed readout.
Through simultaneous but unequal electromechanical amplification and cooling processes, we create a method for nearly noiseless pulsed measurement of mechanical motion. We use transient electromechanical amplification (TEA) to monitor a single motional quadrature with a total added noise $-8.5pm2.0$ dB relative to the zero-point motion of the oscillator, or equivalently the quantum limit for simultaneous measurement of both mechanical quadratures. We demonstrate that TEA can be used to resolve fine structure in the phase-space of a mechanical oscillator by tomographically reconstructing the density matrix of a squeezed state of motion. Without any inference or subtraction of noise, we directly observe a squeezed variance $2.8pm 0.3$ dB below the oscillators zero-point motion.