Decoherence spectroscopy with individual two-level tunneling defects.

Recent progress with microfabricated quantum devices has revealed that an ubiquitous source of noise originates in tunneling material defects that give rise to a sparse bath of parasitic two-level systems (TLSs). For superconducting qubits, TLSs residing on electrode surfaces and in tunnel junctions account for a major part of decoherence and thus pose a serious roadblock to the realization of solid-state quantum processors. Here, we utilize a superconducting qubit to explore the quantum state evolution of coherently operated TLSs in order to shed new light on their individual properties and environmental interactions. We identify a frequency-dependence of TLS energy relaxation rates that can be explained by a coupling to phononic modes rather than by anticipated mutual TLS interactions. Most investigated TLSs are found to be free of pure dephasing at their energy degeneracy points, around which their Ramsey and spin-echo dephasing rates scale linearly and quadratically with asymmetry energy, respectively. We provide an explanation based on the standard tunneling model, and identify interaction with incoherent low-frequency (thermal) TLSs as the major mechanism of the pure dephasing in coherent high-frequency TLS.

Circular-polarization-sensitive metamaterial based on triple-quantum-dot molecules.

We propose a new type of chiral metamaterial based on an ensemble of artificial molecules formed by three identical quantum dots in a triangular arrangement. A static magnetic field oriented perpendicular to the plane breaks mirror symmetry, rendering the molecules sensitive to the circular polarization of light. By varying the orientation and magnitude of the magnetic field one can control the polarization and frequency of the emission spectrum. We identify a threshold frequency Ω, above which we find strong birefringence. In addition, Kerr rotation and circular-polarized lasing action can be implemented. We investigate the single-molecule lasing properties for different energy-level arrangements and demonstrate the possibility of circular-polarization conversion. Finally, we analyze the effect of weak stray electric fields or deviations from the equilateral triangular geometry.

Implementation of a quantum metamaterial using superconducting qubits.

The key issue for the implementation of a metamaterial is to demonstrate the existence of collective modes corresponding to coherent oscillations of the meta-atoms. Atoms of natural materials interact with electromagnetic fields as quantum two-level systems. Artificial quantum two-level systems can be made, for example, using superconducting nonlinear resonators cooled down to their ground state. Here we perform an experiment in which 20 of these quantum meta-atoms, so-called flux qubits, are embedded into a microwave resonator. We observe the dispersive shift of the resonator frequency imposed by the qubit metamaterial and the collective resonant coupling of eight qubits. The realized prototype represents a mesoscopic limit of naturally occurring spin ensembles and as such we demonstrate the AC-Zeeman shift of a resonant qubit ensemble. The studied system constitutes the implementation of a basic quantum metamaterial in the sense that many artificial atoms are coupled collectively to the quantized mode of a photon field.

Phase space crystals: a new way to create a quasienergy band structure.

A novel way to create a band structure of the quasienergy spectrum for driven systems is proposed based on the discrete symmetry in phase space. The system, e.g., an ion or ultracold atom trapped in a potential, shows no spatial periodicity, but it is driven by a time-dependent field coupling highly nonlinearly to one of its degrees of freedom (e.g., ∼q(n)). The band structure in quasienergy arises as a consequence of the n-fold discrete periodicity in phase space induced by this driving field. We propose an explicit model to realize such a phase space crystal and analyze its band structure in the frame of a tight-binding approximation. The phase space crystal opens new ways to engineer energy band structures, with the added advantage that its properties can be changed in situ by tuning the driving field's parameters.

Stabilizing the magnetic moment of single holmium atoms by symmetry.

Single magnetic atoms, and assemblies of such atoms, on non-magnetic surfaces have recently attracted attention owing to their potential use in high-density magnetic data storage and as a platform for quantum computing. A fundamental problem resulting from their quantum mechanical nature is that the localized magnetic moments of these atoms are easily destabilized by interactions with electrons, nuclear spins and lattice vibrations of the substrate. Even when large magnetic fields are applied to stabilize the magnetic moment, the observed lifetimes remain rather short (less than a microsecond). Several routes for stabilizing the magnetic moment against fluctuations have been suggested, such as using thin insulating layers between the magnetic atom and the substrate to suppress the interactions with the substrate's conduction electrons, or coupling several magnetic moments together to reduce their quantum mechanical fluctuations. Here we show that the magnetic moments of single holmium atoms on a highly conductive metallic substrate can reach lifetimes of the order of minutes. The necessary decoupling from the thermal bath of electrons, nuclear spins and lattice vibrations is achieved by a remarkable combination of several symmetries intrinsic to the system: time reversal symmetry, the internal symmetries of the total angular momentum and the point symmetry of the local environment of the magnetic atom.

Strong coupling of spin qubits to a transmission line resonator.

We propose a mechanism for coupling spin qubits formed in double quantum dots to a superconducting transmission line resonator. Coupling the resonator to the gate controlling the interdot tunneling creates a spin qubit-resonator interaction with a strength of tens of MHz. This mechanism allows operating the system at a symmetry point where decoherence due to charge noise is minimized. The transmission line can serve as the shuttle, allowing for fast two-qubit operations including the generation of qubit-qubit entanglement and the implementation of a controlled-phase gate.

Lasing without inversion in circuit quantum electrodynamics.

We study the photon generation in a transmission line oscillator coupled to a driven qubit in the presence of a dissipative electromagnetic environment. It has been demonstrated previously that a population inversion in the qubit can lead to a lasing state of the oscillator. Here we show that the circuit can also exhibit the effect of "lasing without inversion." It arises since the coupling to the dissipative environment enhances photon emission as compared to absorption, similar to the recoil effect predicted for atomic systems. While the recoil effect is very weak, and so far elusive, the effect described here should be observable with realistic circuits. We analyze the requirements for system parameters and environment.

Spin-dependent cooper pair phase and pure spin supercurrents in strongly polarized ferromagnets.

We study heterostructures of singlet superconductors and strongly spin-polarized ferromagnets and show that a relative phase arises between the superconducting proximity amplitudes in the two ferromagnetic spin bands. We find a tunable pure spin supercurrent in a spin-polarized ferromagnet contacted with only one superconductor electrode. We show that Josephson junctions are most effective for a spin polarization P approximately 0.3, and that critical currents for positive and negative bias differ for a high transmission Josephson junction, due to a relative phase between single and double pair transmission.

Photon-number squeezing in circuit quantum electrodynamics.

A superconducting single-electron transistor (SSET) coupled to an anharmonic oscillator, e.g., a Josephson junction-L-C circuit, can drive the latter to a nonequilibrium photon-number distribution. By biasing the SSET at the Josephson quasiparticle cycle, cooling of the oscillator as well as a laserlike enhancement of the photon number can be achieved. Here, we show that the cutoff in the quasiparticle tunneling rate due to the superconducting gap, in combination with the anharmonicity of the oscillator, may create strongly squeezed photon-number distributions. For low dissipation in the oscillator, nearly pure Fock states can be produced.

Single-qubit lasing and cooling at the Rabi frequency.

For a superconducting qubit driven to perform Rabi oscillations and coupled to a slow electromagnetic or nanomechanical oscillator we describe previously unexplored quantum optics effects. When the Rabi frequency is tuned to resonance with the oscillator, the latter can be driven far from equilibrium. Blue detuned driving leads to a population inversion in the qubit and a bistability with lasing behavior of the oscillator; for red detuning the qubit cools the oscillator. This behavior persists at the symmetry point where the qubit-oscillator coupling is quadratic and decoherence effects are minimized. There the system realizes a "single-atom-two-photon laser."

Geometrical spin dephasing in quantum dots.

We study spin-orbit mediated relaxation and dephasing of electron spins in quantum dots. We show that higher order contributions provide a relaxation mechanism that dominates for low magnetic fields and is of geometrical origin. In the low-field limit relaxation is dominated by coupling to electron-hole excitations and possibly 1/f noise rather than phonons.

Full counting statistics for a single-electron transistor: nonequilibrium effects at intermediate conductance.

We evaluate the current distribution for a single-electron transistor with intermediate strength tunnel conductance. Using the Schwinger-Keldysh approach and the drone (Majorana) fermion representation, we account for the renormalization of system parameters. Nonequilibrium effects induce a lifetime broadening of the charge-state levels, which suppress large current fluctuations.

Cotunneling current and shot noise in quantum dots.

We derive general expressions for the current and the shot noise, taking into account non-Markovian memory effects. In generalization of previous approaches, our theory is valid for an arbitrary Coulomb interaction and coupling strength and is applicable to quantum dots and more complex systems such as molecules. A fully consistent diagrammatic expansion up to second order in the coupling strength, taking into account cotunneling processes, allows for a study of transport in an intermediate coupling strength regime relevant to many current experiments. We discuss a single-level quantum dot as a first example, focusing on the Coulomb-blockade regime where the cotunneling processes dominate. We find super-Poissonian shot noise due to inelastic spin-flip cotunneling processes at an energy scale different from the one expected from first-order calculations.

Low- and high-frequency noise from coherent two-level systems.

Recent experiments indicate a connection between the low- and high-frequency noises affecting superconducting quantum systems. We explore the possibilities that both noises can be produced by one ensemble of microscopic modes, made up, e.g., by sufficiently coherent two-level systems (TLS's). This implies a relation between the noise power in different frequency domains, which depends on the distribution of the parameters of the TLS's. We show that a distribution, natural for tunneling TLS's, with a log-uniform distribution in the tunnel splitting and linear distribution in the bias, accounts for experimental observations.

Theory of half-metal/superconductor heterostructures.

We investigate the Josephson coupling between two singlet superconductors separated by a half-metallic magnet. The mechanism behind the coupling is provided by the rotation of the quasiparticle spin in the superconductor during reflection events at the interface with the half metal. Spin rotation induces triplet correlations in the superconductor which, in the presence of surface spin-flip scattering, results in an indirect Josephson effect between the superconductors. We present a theory appropriate for studying this phenomenon and calculate physical properties for a superconductor/half-metal/superconductor heterostructure.