Heat rectification via a superconducting artificial atom

Jorden Senior,Joonas T Peltonen,Bayan Karimi,Jukka P Pekola,Azat Gubaydullin,Joachim Ankerhold

doi:10.1038/s42005-020-0307-5

Abstract

In developing technologies based on superconducting quantum circuits, the need to control and route heating is a significant challenge in the experimental realisation and operation of these devices. One of the more ubiquitous devices in the current quantum computing toolbox is the transmon-type superconducting quantum bit, embedded in a resonator-based architecture. In the study of heat transport in superconducting circuits, a versatile and sensitive thermometer is based on studying the tunnelling characteristics of superconducting probes weakly coupled to a normal-metal island. Here we show that by integrating superconducting quantum bit coupled to two superconducting resonators at different frequencies, each resonator terminated (and thermally populated) by such a mesoscopic thin film metal island, one can experimentally observe magnetic flux-tunable photonic heat rectification between 0 and 10%.

Highlights

In developing technologies based on superconducting quantum circuits, the need to control and route heating is a significant challenge in the experimental realisation and operation of these devices
The two-level system of a transmon-type qubit coupled to two unequal resonators is a well-placed tool for studying asymmetric photonic heat transport, each element having engineered resonances and couplings to each other that can be designed for various modes of operation[21,22]
We here demonstrate the realisation of a quantum heat rectifier, a thermal equivalent to the electronic diode, utilising a superconducting transmon qubit coupled to two strongly unequal resonators terminated by mesoscopic heat baths, and is the experimental realisation of the spin-boson rectifier proposed by Segal and Nitzan[24]

Summary

Introduction

In developing technologies based on superconducting quantum circuits, the need to control and route heating is a significant challenge in the experimental realisation and operation of these devices. The two-level system of a transmon-type qubit coupled to two unequal resonators is a well-placed tool for studying asymmetric photonic heat transport, each element having engineered resonances and couplings to each other that can be designed for various modes of operation[21,22]. It represents a minimal set-up to explore, under well-controlled conditions, the subtle phenomenon of heat rectification, which requires both non-linearities and symmetry breaking[23]. Spectral overlap between the corresponding resonator and the transmon and can be controlled by the applied flux[25]

Methods

Results

Conclusion