Strong Coupling of Microwave Photons to Antiferromagnetic Fluctuations in an Organic Magnet.

Coupling between a crystal of di(phenyl)-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)iminoazanium radicals and a superconducting microwave resonator is investigated in a circuit quantum electrodynamics (circuit QED) architecture. The crystal exhibits paramagnetic behavior above 4 K, with antiferromagnetic correlations appearing below this temperature, and we demonstrate strong coupling at base temperature. The magnetic resonance acquires a field angle dependence as the crystal is cooled down, indicating anisotropy of the exchange interactions. These results show that multispin modes in organic crystals are suitable for circuit QED, offering a platform for their coherent manipulation. They also utilize the circuit QED architecture as a way to probe spin correlations at low temperature.

Coherence and decay of higher energy levels of a superconducting transmon qubit.

We present measurements of coherence and successive decay dynamics of higher energy levels of a superconducting transmon qubit. By applying consecutive π pulses for each sequential transition frequency, we excite the qubit from the ground state up to its fourth excited level and characterize the decay and coherence of each state. We find the decay to proceed mainly sequentially, with relaxation times in excess of 20 µs for all transitions. We also provide a direct measurement of the charge dispersion of these levels by analyzing beating patterns in Ramsey fringes. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using higher levels in transmon qubits for encoding quantum information.

High coherence and low cross-talk in a tileable 3D integrated superconducting circuit architecture.

We report high qubit coherence as well as low cross-talk and single-qubit gate errors in a superconducting circuit architecture that promises to be tileable to two-dimensional (2D) lattices of qubits. The architecture integrates an inductively shunted cavity enclosure into a design featuring nongalvanic out-of-plane control wiring and qubits and resonators fabricated on opposing sides of a substrate. The proof-of-principle device features four uncoupled transmon qubits and exhibits average energy relaxation times T1 = 149(38) µs, pure echoed dephasing times Tϕ,e = 189(34) µs, and single-qubit gate fidelities F = 99.982(4)% as measured by simultaneous randomized benchmarking. The 3D integrated nature of the control wiring means that qubits will remain addressable as the architecture is tiled to form larger qubit lattices. Band structure simulations are used to predict that the tiled enclosure will still provide a clean electromagnetic environment to enclosed qubits at arbitrary scale.

Critical slowing down in circuit quantum electrodynamics.

Critical slowing down of the time it takes a system to reach equilibrium is a key signature of bistability in dissipative first-order phase transitions. Understanding and characterizing this process can shed light on the underlying many-body dynamics that occur close to such a transition. Here, we explore the rich quantum activation dynamics and the appearance of critical slowing down in an engineered superconducting quantum circuit. Specifically, we investigate the intermediate bistable regime of the generalized Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian (GJC), realized by a circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED) system consisting of a transmon qubit coupled to a microwave cavity. We find a previously unidentified regime of quantum activation in which the critical slowing down reaches saturation and, by comparing our experimental results with a range of models, we shed light on the fundamental role played by the qubit in this regime.

Circuit quantum acoustodynamics with surface acoustic waves.

The experimental investigation of quantum devices incorporating mechanical resonators has opened up new frontiers in the study of quantum mechanics at a macroscopic level. It has recently been shown that surface acoustic waves (SAWs) can be piezoelectrically coupled to superconducting qubits, and confined in high-quality Fabry-Perot cavities in the quantum regime. Here we present measurements of a device in which a superconducting qubit is coupled to a SAW cavity, realising a surface acoustic version of cavity quantum electrodynamics. We use measurements of the AC Stark shift between the two systems to determine the coupling strength, which is in agreement with a theoretical model. This quantum acoustodynamics architecture may be used to develop new quantum acoustic devices in which quantum information is stored in trapped on-chip acoustic wavepackets, and manipulated in ways that are impossible with purely electromagnetic signals, due to the 105 times slower mechanical waves.In this work, Manenti et al. present measurements of a device in which a tuneable transmon qubit is piezoelectrically coupled to a surface acoustic wave cavity, realising circuit quantum acoustodynamic architecture. This may be used to develop new quantum acoustic devices.