Measurement of a superconducting qubit with a microwave photon counter.

Fast, high-fidelity measurement is a key ingredient for quantum error correction. Conventional approaches to the measurement of superconducting qubits, involving linear amplification of a microwave probe tone followed by heterodyne detection at room temperature, do not scale well to large system sizes. We introduce an approach to measurement based on a microwave photon counter demonstrating raw single-shot measurement fidelity of 92%. Moreover, the intrinsic damping of the photon counter is used to extract the energy released by the measurement process, allowing repeated high-fidelity quantum nondemolition measurements. Our scheme provides access to the classical outcome of projective quantum measurement at the millikelvin stage and could form the basis for a scalable quantum-to-classical interface.

Enhancement of the London penetration depth in pnictides at the onset of spin-density-wave order under superconducting dome.

Recent measurements of the doping dependence of the London penetration depth λ(x) at low T in clean samples of isovalent BaFe2(As(1-x)P(x))2 at T≪T(c) [Hashimoto et al., Science 336, 1554 (2012)] revealed a peak in λ(x) near optimal doping x=0.3. The observation of the peak at T≪T(c), points to the existence of a quantum critical point beneath the superconducting dome. We associate such a quantum critical point with the onset of a spin-density-wave order and show that the renormalization of λ(x) by critical magnetic fluctuations gives rise to the observed feature. We argue that the case of pnictides is conceptually different from a one-component Galilean invariant Fermi liquid, for which correlation effects do not cause the renormalization of the London penetration depth at T=0.

Nonlinear magnetoresistance oscillations in intensely irradiated two-dimensional electron systems induced by multiphoton processes.

We report on magneto-oscillations in differential resistivity of a two-dimensional electron system subject to intense microwave radiation. The period of these oscillations is determined not only by microwave frequency but also by its intensity. A theoretical model based on quantum kinetics at high microwave power captures all important characteristics of this phenomenon which is strongly nonlinear in microwave intensity. Our results demonstrate a crucial role of the multiphoton processes near the cyclotron resonance and its harmonics in the presence of strong dc electric field and offer a unique way to reliably determine the intensity of microwaves acting on electrons.

Spin relaxation in quantum dots due to electron exchange with leads.

We calculate spin relaxation rates in lateral quantum dot systems due to electron exchange between dots and leads. Using rate equations, we develop a theoretical description of the experimentally observed electric current in the spin blockade regime of double quantum dots. A single expression fits the entire current profile and describes the structure of both the conduction peaks and the suppressed ("valley") region. Extrinsic rates calculated here have to be taken into account for accurate extraction of intrinsic relaxation rates due to the spin-orbit and hyperfine spin scattering mechanisms from spin blockade measurements.

Universal gap fluctuations in the superconductor proximity effect.

Random-matrix theory is used to study the mesoscopic fluctuations of the excitation gap in a metal grain or quantum dot induced by the proximity to a superconductor. We propose that the probability distribution of the gap is a universal function in rescaled units. Our analytical prediction for the gap distribution agrees well with exact diagonalization of a model Hamiltonian.