Hybrid devices based on the superconducting qubits have emerged as a promising platform for controlling the quantum states of macroscopic resonators. The nonlinearity added by a qubitcan be a valuable resource for such control. Here we study a hybrid system consisting of a mechanical resonator longitudinally coupled to a transmon qubit. The qubit readout can be done by coupling to a readout mode like in c-QED setup. The coupling between the mechanical resonator and transmon qubit can be implemented by modulation of the SQUID inductance. In such a tri-partite system, we analyze the steady-state occupation of the mechanical mode when all three modes are dispersively coupled. We use the quantum-noise and the Lindblad formalism to show that the sideband cooling of the mechanical mode to its ground state is achievable. We further experimentally demonstrate that measurements of the thermomechanical motion is possible in the dispersive limit, while maintaining a large coupling between qubit and mechanical mode. Our theoretical calculations suggest that single-photon strong coupling is within the experimental reach in such hybrid devices.
Superconducting qubits utilize the strong non-linearity of the Josephson junctions. Control over the Josephson nonlinearity, either by a current bias or by the magnetic flux, can bea valuable resource that brings tunability in the hybrid system consisting of superconducting qubits. To enable such a control, here we incorporate a fast-flux line for a frequency tunable transmon qubit in 3D cavity architecture. We investigate the flux-dependent dynamic range, relaxation from unconfined states, and the bandwidth of the flux-line. Using time-domain measurements, we probe transmon’s relaxation from higher energy levels after populating the cavity with ≈2.1×104 photons. For the device used in the experiment, we find a resurgence time corresponding to the recovery of coherence to be 4.8~μs. We use a fast-flux line to tune the qubit frequency and demonstrate the swap of a single excitation between cavity and qubit mode. By measuring the deviation in the transferred population from the theoretical prediction, we estimate the bandwidth of the flux line to be ≈~100~MHz, limited by the parasitic effect in the design. These results suggest that the approach taken here to implement a fast-flux line in a 3D cavity could be helpful for the hybrid devices based on the superconducting qubit.
There is growing interest in developing integrated room temperature control electronics for the control and measurement of superconducting devices for quantum computing applications.With the availability of faster DACs, it has become possible to generate microwave signals with amplitude and phase controls directly without requiring any analog mixer. In this report, we use the evaluation kit ZCU111 to generate vector microwave pulses using the second-Nyquist zone technique. We characterize the performance of the signal generation and measure amplitude variation across second Nyquist zone, single-sideband phase noise, and spurious-free dynamic range. We further perform various time-domain measurements to characterize a superconducting transmon qubit and benchmark our results against traditionally used analog mixer setups.
Control over the quantum states of a massive oscillator is important for several technological applications and to test the fundamental limits of quantum mechanics. Addition of an internaldegree of freedom to the oscillator could be a valuable resource for such control. Recently, hybrid electromechanical systems using superconducting qubits, based on electric-charge mediated coupling, have been quite successful. Here, we realize a hybrid device, consisting of a superconducting transmon qubit and a mechanical resonator coupled using the magnetic-flux. The coupling stems from the quantum interference of the superconducting phase across the tunnel junctions. We demonstrate a vacuum electromechanical coupling rate up to 4 kHz by making the transmon qubit resonant with the readout cavity. Consequently, thermal-motion of the mechanical resonator is detectable by driving the dressed-mode with mean-occupancy well below one photon. By tuning the qubit away from the cavity, electromechanical coupling between qubit and mechanical mode can be further enhanced to 40 kHz. In this limit, a small coherent drive of the mechanical resonator results into the splitting of qubit spectrum and we observe interference signature arising from the Landau-Zener-Stuckelberg effect. With further improvements in the qubit coherence, this system offers a novel platform to realize rich interactions and could potentially provide full control over the quantum motional states.
With the introduction of superconducting circuits into the field of quantum optics, many novel experimental demonstrations of the quantum physics of an artificial atom coupled to asingle-mode light field have been realized. Engineering such quantum systems offers the opportunity to explore extreme regimes of light-matter interaction that are inaccessible with natural systems. For instance the coupling strength g can be increased until it is comparable with the atomic or mode frequency ωa,m and the atom can be coupled to multiple modes which has always challenged our understanding of light-matter interaction. Here, we experimentally realize the first Transmon qubit in the ultra-strong coupling regime, reaching coupling ratios of g/ωm=0.19 and we measure multi-mode interactions through a hybridization of the qubit up to the fifth mode of the resonator. This is enabled by a qubit with 88% of its capacitance formed by a vacuum-gap capacitance with the center conductor of a coplanar waveguide resonator. In addition to potential applications in quantum information technologies due to its small size and localization of electric fields in vacuum, this new architecture offers the potential to further explore the novel regime of multi-mode ultra-strong coupling.
In this experiment, we couple a superconducting Transmon qubit to a high-impedance 645 Ω microwave resonator. Doing so leads to a large qubit-resonator coupling rate g, measured througha large vacuum Rabi splitting of 2g≃910 MHz. The coupling is a significant fraction of the qubit and resonator oscillation frequencies ω, placing our system close to the ultra-strong coupling regime (g¯=g/ω=0.071 on resonance). Combining this setup with a vacuum-gap Transmon architecture shows the potential of reaching deep into the ultra-strong coupling g¯∼0.45 with Transmon qubits.