Waveguide quantum electrodynamics with artificial superconducting giant atoms
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
11 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. EDT
Bharath Kannan, PhD Candidate
Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Models of light-matter interactions typically invoke the dipole approximation, within which atoms are treated as point-like objects when compared to the wavelength of the electromagnetic modes with which they interact. However, when the ratio between the size of the atom and the mode wavelength is increased, the dipole approximation no longer holds and the atom is referred to as a "giant atom".
Thus far, experimental studies with solid-state devices in the giant-atom regime have been limited to superconducting qubits that couple to short-wavelength surface acoustic waves, only probing the properties of the atom at a single frequency. Here, Kannan and others employ an alternative architecture that realizes a giant atom by coupling small atoms to a waveguide at multiple, but well separated, discrete locations.
Their realization of giant atoms enables tunable atom-waveguide couplings with large on-off ratios and a coupling spectrum that can be engineered by device design. They also demonstrate decoherence-free interactions between multiple giant atoms that are mediated by the quasi-continuous spectrum of modes in the waveguide—an effect that is not possible to achieve with small atoms. These features allow qubits in this architecture to switch between protected and emissive configurations in situ while retaining qubit-qubit interactions, opening new possibilities for high-fidelity quantum simulations and non-classical itinerant photon generation.
Attendees can join and participate in the series via Zoom. Meeting ID#: 860 986 455.