Artificial Atoms Research Articles

An Ultrathin, Fast-Response, Large-Scale Liquid-Crystal-Facilitated Multi-Functional Reconfigurable Metasurface for Comprehensive Wavefront Modulation.

The rapid advancement of prevailing communication and sensing technologies necessitates cost-effective millimeter-wave arrays equipped with a massive number of phase-shifting cells to perform complicated beamforming tasks. Conventional approaches employing semiconductor switch/varactor components or tunable materials encounter obstacles such as quantization loss, high cost, high complexity, and limited adaptability for realizing large-scale arrays and operating at millimeter-wave frequencies. Here, we report a low-cost, ultrathin, fast-response, and large-scale solution relying on advanced metasurface (i.e., the 2D version of a bulk 3D metamaterial) concepts combined together with ultrathin liquid crystal (LC) materials requiring a layer thickness of only 5 μm. Rather than immersing resonant structures in LCs, a joint material-circuit-based strategy is devised, via integrating deep-subwavelength-thick nematic LCs into slow-wave structures, to achieve constitutive metacells (i.e., artificial atoms or meta-atoms) with continuous phase shifting and stable reflectivity. A LC-facilitated reconfigurable metasurface system containing more than 2300 metacells is realized with its unprecedented comprehensive wavefront manipulation capacity validated through three diverse beamforming functions, including beam focusing/steering, reconfigurable OAM-carrying beams, and tunable holograms, demonstrating a milli-second-level function-switching speed. The proposed methodology offers a paradigm shift for modulating electromagnetic waves in a non-resonating broadband fashion with fast-response and low-cost properties by exploiting functionalized LC-enabled metasurfaces. Moreover, it is expected that this extremely agile metasurface-enabled antenna technology will facilitate a transformative impact on communication/sensing systems and empower new possibilities for wavefront engineering and diffractive wave calculation/inference. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Controllable spontaneous emission spectrum in an artificial giant atom: Dark lines and bound states

Controllable spontaneous emission spectrum in an artificial giant atom: Dark lines and bound states

Robust parallel laser driving of quantum dots for multiplexing of quantum light sources

Deterministic sources of quantum light (i.e. single photons or pairs of entangled photons) are required for a whole host of applications in quantum technology, including quantum imaging, quantum cryptography and the long-distance transfer of quantum information in future quantum networks. Semiconductor quantum dots are ideal candidates for solid-state quantum emitters as these artificial atoms have large dipole moments and a quantum confined energy level structure, enabling the realization of single photon sources with high repetition rates and high single photon purity. Quantum dots may also be triggered using a laser pulse for on-demand operation. The naturally-occurring size variations in ensembles of quantum dots offers the potential to increase the bandwidth of quantum communication systems through wavelength-division multiplexing, but conventional laser triggering schemes based on Rabi rotations are ineffective when applied to inequivalent emitters. Here we report the demonstration of the simultaneous triggering of >10 quantum dots using adiabatic rapid passage. We show that high-fidelity quantum state inversion is possible in a system of quantum dots with a 15 meV range of optical transition energies using a single broadband, chirped laser pulse, laying the foundation for high-bandwidth, multiplexed quantum networks.

Control and readout of a transmon using a compact superconducting resonator

We demonstrate control and readout of a superconducting artificial atom based on a transmon qubit using a compact lumped-element resonator. The resonator consists of a parallel-plate capacitor with a wire geometric inductor. The footprint of the resonators is about 200 × 200 μm2, which is similar to the standard transmon size and one or two orders of magnitude more compact in the occupied area compared to coplanar waveguide resonators. We observe coherent Rabi oscillations and obtain time-domain properties of the transmon. The work opens a door to miniaturize essential components of superconducting circuits and to further scale up quantum systems with superconducting transmons.

Kinemon: An inductively shunted transmon artificial atom

Kinemon: An inductively shunted transmon artificial atom

Machine learning enhanced evaluation of semiconductor quantum dots

A key challenge in quantum photonics today is the efficient and on-demand generation of high-quality single photons and entangled photon pairs. In this regard, one of the most promising types of emitters are semiconductor quantum dots, fluorescent nanostructures also described as artificial atoms. The main technological challenge in upscaling to an industrial level is the typically random spatial and spectral distribution in their growth. Furthermore, depending on the intended application, different requirements are imposed on a quantum dot, which are reflected in its spectral properties. Given that an in-depth suitability analysis is lengthy and costly, it is common practice to pre-select promising candidate quantum dots using their emission spectrum. Currently, this is done by hand. Therefore, to automate and expedite this process, in this paper, we propose a data-driven machine-learning-based method of evaluating the applicability of a semiconductor quantum dot as single photon source. For this, first, a minimally redundant, but maximally relevant feature representation for quantum dot emission spectra is derived by combining conventional spectral analysis with an autoencoding convolutional neural network. The obtained feature vector is subsequently used as input to a neural network regression model, which is specifically designed to not only return a rating score, gauging the technical suitability of a quantum dot, but also a measure of confidence for its evaluation. For training and testing, a large dataset of self-assembled InAs/GaAs semiconductor quantum dot emission spectra is used, partially labelled by a team of experts in the field. Overall, highly convincing results are achieved, as quantum dots are reliably evaluated correctly. Note, that the presented methodology can account for different spectral requirements and is applicable regardless of the underlying photonic structure, fabrication method and material composition. We therefore consider it the first step towards a fully integrated evaluation framework for quantum dots, proving the use of machine learning beneficial in the advancement of future quantum technologies.

Spatial entanglement in two-dimensional artificial atoms

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are one of the leading candidates for realizable qubits, as well as for many other advances in quantum computing and quantum communication. The spatial overlapping of wavefunctions describing each single electron in these nanoscale devices results in tunable spatial entanglement. In this article, we explore the case of two electrons in two-dimensional double quantum dot systems. We compute the two-particle wavefunction through a variational method combined with Hermite finite elements and study the spatial entanglement of electrons. We show that symmetry in the geometry of the double quantum dots plays a role in obtaining optimal entanglement, while a broken symmetry can lead to additional resonances in entanglement that are associated with the crossings of states. We also show that one can finely tune the level of spatial entanglement by altering the geometry of the quantum dots or by applying external fields, which corresponds to an “entanglement spectroscopy.” Finally, we study how impurities in the potential profile of the QDs affect the level of entanglement.

Strong coupling of metamaterials with cavity photons: toward non-Hermitian optics

Abstract The investigation of strong coupling between light and matter is an important field of research. Its significance arises not only from the emergence of a plethora of intriguing chemical and physical phenomena, often novel and unexpected, but also from its provision of important tool sets for the design of core components for novel chemical, electronic, and photonic devices such as quantum computers, lasers, amplifiers, modulators, sensors and more. Strong coupling has been demonstrated for various material systems and spectral regimes, each exhibiting unique features and applications. In this perspective, we will focus on a sub-field of this domain of research and discuss the strong coupling between metamaterials and photonic cavities at THz frequencies. The metamaterials, themselves electromagnetic resonators, serve as “artificial atoms”. We provide a concise overview of recent advances and outline possible research directions in this vital and impactful field of interdisciplinary science.

Experimental study of modified Tavis-Cummings model with directly-coupled superconducting artificial atoms.

The Tavis-Cummings model is intensively investigated in quantum optics and has important applications in generation of multi-atom entanglement. Here, we employ a superconducting circuit quantum electrodynamic system to study a modified Tavis-Cummings model with directly-coupled atoms. In our device, three superconducting artificial atoms are arranged in a chain with direct coupling through fixed capacitors and strongly coupled to a transmission line resonator. By performing transmission spectrum measurements, we observe different anticrossing structures when one or two qubits are resonantly coupled to the resonator. In the case of the two-qubit Tavis-Cummings model without qubit-qubit interaction, we observe two dips at the resonance point of the anticrossing. The splitting of these dips is determined by Δ λ=2g12+g32, where g1 and g3 are the coupling strengths between Qubit 1 and the resonator, and Qubit 3 and the resonator, respectively. The direct coupling J12 between the two qubits results in three dressed states in the two-qubit Tavis-Cummings model at the frequency resonance point, leading to three dips in the transmission spectrum. In this case, the distance between the two farthest and asymmetrical dips, arising from the energy level splitting, is larger than in the previous case. The frequency interval between these two dips is determined by the difference in eigenvalues (Δ λ=ε 1+-ε 1-), obtained through numerical calculations. What we believe as novel and intriguing experimental results may potentially advance quantum optics experiments, providing valuable insights for future research.

Artificial Atoms, Wigner Molecules, and an Emergent Kagome Lattice in Semiconductor Moiré Superlattices.

Semiconductor moiré superlattices comprise an array of artificial atoms and provide a highly tunable platform for exploring novel electronic phases. We introduce a theoretical framework for studying moiré quantum matter that treats intra-moiré-atom interactions exactly and is controlled in the limit of large moiré period. We reveal an abundance of new physics arising from strong electron interactions when there are multiple electrons within a moiré unit cell. In particular, at filling factor n=3, the Coulomb interaction within each three-electron moiré atom leads to a three-lobed "Wigner molecule." When their size is comparable to the moiré period, the Wigner molecules form an emergent Kagome lattice. Our Letter identifies two universal length scales characterizing the kinetic and interaction energies in moiré materials and demonstrates a rich phase diagram due to their interplay.

Energy Spectrum of the Strongly Coupled Superconducting Artificial Atoms

We experimentally investigated the energy spectrum of two strongly coupled tunable transmon atoms with a coupling energy of 300[Formula: see text]MHz. The energy levels are dispersively probed through a readout resonator coupled to the atoms. The higher excited level energies could be probed by 2-photon or 3-photon processes. The power dependence of the readout transmission showed that the n-photon process satisfies the power law with a power of [Formula: see text]1. We also observed the Autler-Townes splitting, by probing the Rabi frequencies resonant to one of the higher levels driven by an external microwave field. Coherent operations on the atoms reveal that the relaxation time (T1) and dephasing time (T2) are approximately 62[Formula: see text]ns and 51[Formula: see text]ns, respectively.

Dynamics Reflects Quantum Phase Transition of Rabi Model

As the simplest and most fundamental model describing the interaction between light and matter, a breakdown in the rotating wave approximation of the Rabi model leads to phase transition versus coupling strength when the frequency of the qubit greatly surpasses that of the oscillator. In addition to the phase transition revealed in the ground state, we show that the dynamics of physical quantities can reflect such a phase transition for this model. In addition to the excitation of the bosonic field in the ground state, we show that the witness of inseparability (entanglement), mutual information, quantum Fisher information, and the variance of cavity quadrature can be employed to detect the phase transition in quench. We also reveal the negative impact of temperature on checking the phase transition by quench. This model can be implemented using trapped ions, superconducting artificial atoms coupled bosonic modes, and quantum simulations. By reflecting the phase transition in a fundamental quantum optics model without imposing the thermodynamic limit, this work offers an idea to explore phase transitions by nonequilibrium process for open quantums.

Spontaneous emission spectrum from a V-type artificial atom in a strong-coupling regime: Dark lines and line narrowing

Spontaneous emission spectrum from a V-type artificial atom in a strong-coupling regime: Dark lines and line narrowing

Integrated conversion and photodetection of virtual photons in an ultrastrongly coupled superconducting quantum circuit

The ground state of an artificial atom ultrastrongly coupled to quantized modes is entangled and contains an arbitrary number of virtual photons. The problem of their detection has been raised since the very birth of the field, but despite the theoretical efforts still awaits experimental demonstration. Recently, experimental problems have been addressed in detail showing that they can be overcome by combining an unconventional design of the artificial atom with advanced coherent control. In this work, we study a simple scheme of control-integrated continuous measurement, which makes remarkably favorable the tradeoff between measurement efficiency and backaction showing that the unambiguous detection of virtual photons can be achieved within state-of-the-art quantum technologies.

Microwave-mediated magnon–atom interactions: Two-mode higher-order squeezing of two YIG spheres

We propose an efficient scheme to realize almost perfect higher-order squeezing of two YIG spheres via microwave-mediated magnon–atom interactions. It is assumed that two microwave cavity modes are coupled to two YIG spheres by the magnetic dipole interaction and a superconducting artificial atom by the electric dipole interaction, respectively. When the microwave cavity fields are tuned to be far detuned from the dressed atomic Rabi sidebands and the magnon frequencies, the coherent coupling between two magnons and the artificial atom can be established via virtual photon exchange. We find that a pair of Bogoliubov modes composed of two magnon modes are cooled to the vacuum state through the atomic engineered dissipation, resulting in an ideal two-mode higher-order squeezing state of the YIG spheres. The solid-state device may find realistic applications in high-precision measurement and quantum sensing technology.

Probing the symmetry breaking of a light–matter system by an ancillary qubit

Hybrid quantum systems in the ultrastrong, and even more in the deep-strong, coupling regimes can exhibit exotic physical phenomena and promise new applications in quantum technologies. In these nonperturbative regimes, a qubit–resonator system has an entangled quantum vacuum with a nonzero average photon number in the resonator, where the photons are virtual and cannot be directly detected. The vacuum field, however, is able to induce the symmetry breaking of a dispersively coupled probe qubit. We experimentally observe the parity symmetry breaking of an ancillary Xmon artificial atom induced by the field of a lumped-element superconducting resonator deep-strongly coupled with a flux qubit. This result opens a way to experimentally explore the novel quantum-vacuum effects emerging in the deep-strong coupling regime.

Thermal entanglement in two-atom Tavis–Cummings model with taking into account the dipole-dipole interaction

Background. Interest in the study of entangled states of systems of natural and artificial atoms (qubits) interacting with selected modes of microwave resonators is associated with their use as logic elements of quantum computers. At the same time, the most important task of the physics of quantum computing is the choice of the most effective mechanisms for manipulating and controlling the entangled states of qubits in such devices. Aim. The dynamics of the entanglement of two dipole-coupled superconducting Josephson qubits induced by a thermal noise of a coplanar resonator is studied for various initial states of the qubits. Methods. Based on the exact solution of the quantum Liouville equation for the whole density matrix of the system under consideration, the time behavior of the qubit entanglement parameter (negativity) is found for chaotic thermal, pure separable, and entangled initial states of qubits. Results. It is shown that the entanglement of qubits induced by the thermal noise of the resonator is possible for both the chaotic thermal states and separable states of qubits, except the case when both qubits are excited. It has also been found that, for small values of the dipole–dipole interaction parameter, taking this interaction into account leads to an increase in the degree of entanglement. For values of the dipole-dipole interaction parameter greater than some limit value, the opposite effect takes place. It is found that for entangled initial states of qubits, the inclusion of direct interaction has a small effect on the entanglement dynamics. It is shown that the initial coherence of qubit states can lead to a significant increase in the degree of their entanglement in the presence of a dipole–dipole interaction. Conclusion. The dipole-dipole interaction can be used as an effective mechanism for qubits entanglement manipulation and controlling.

Controlling photons by phonons via giant atom in a waveguide QED setup.

We investigate the single photon scattering in a phonon-photon hybrid system in the waveguide quantum electrodynamics (QED) scheme. In our consideration, an artificial giant atom, which is dressed by the phonons in a surface acoustic wave resonator, interacts with a coupled resonator waveguide (CRW) nonlocally via two connecting sites. Together with the interference effect by the nonlocal coupling, the phonon serves as a controller to the transport of the photon in the waveguide. On the one hand, the coupling strength between the giant atom and the surface acoustic wave resonator modulates the width of the transmission valley or window in the near resonant regime. On the other hand, the two reflective peaks induced by the Rabi splitting degrade into a single one when the giant atom is large detuned from the surface acoustic resonator, which implies an effective dispersive coupling. Our study paves the way for the potential application of giant atoms in the hybrid system.

Flexible Metasurface for Microwave-Infrared Compatible Camouflage via Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm.

Metamaterials have the powerful ability to freely control multiband electromagnetic (EM) waves through elaborately designed "artificial atoms" and are hence in the limelight in various fields. Typically, camouflage materials manipulate wave-matter interactions to achieve the desired optical properties,in particular, various techniques are used for multiband camouflage materials in both infrared (IR) and microwave (MW) ranges to overcome the scale difference between these bands. However, in the context of components required for microwave communications, simultaneous control of IR emission and MW transmission is required, which is challenging owing to differences in the wave-matter interactions in these two bands. Herein, the state-of-the-art concept of flexible compatible camouflage metasurface (FCCM) is demonstrated, which can manipulate IR signatures while maintaining MW selective transmission simultaneously. For achieving maximum IR tunability and MW selective transmission, it is performed optimization using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. Consequently, the FCCM exhibits compatible camouflage performance with both IR signature reduction and MW selective transmission is demonstrated, with 77.7% IR tunability and 93.8% transmission achieved for a flat FCCM. Furthermore, the FCCM reached the 89.8% IR signature reduction effect even in curved situations.

Resonance Fluorescence of a Chiral Artificial Atom

Resonance Fluorescence of a Chiral Artificial Atom