A tunable quantum dissipator for active resonator reset in circuit QED

We propose a method for fast, deterministic resonator reset based on tunable dissipative modes. The dissipator is based on a Josephson junction with relatively low quality factor. When the dissipator is tuned into resonance with a high quality microwave resonator, resonator photons are absorbed by the dissipator at a rate orders of magnitude faster than the resonator relaxation rate. We determine the optimal parameters for realization of the tunable dissipator, and examine application of the dissipator to removing spurious photon population in the qubit readout resonator in circuit quantum electrodynamics. We show that even in the nonlinear large photon occupation regime, this enhanced resonator decay rate can be attained by appropriate modulation of the dissipator frequency.