We analyze the current and zero-frequency current noise properties of a superconducting single electron resonator (SSET) coupled to a resonator, focusing on the regime where the SSET is operated in the vicinity of the Josephson quasiparticle resonance. We consider a range of coupling strengths and resonator frequencies to reflect the fact that in practice the system can be tuned to quite a high degree with the resonator formed either by a nanomechanical oscillator or a superconducting stripline fabricated in close proximity to the SSET. For very weak couplings the SSET acts on the resonator like an effective thermal bath. In this regime the current characteristics of the SSET are only weakly modified by the resonator. Using a mean field approach, we show that the current noise is nevertheless very sensitive to the correlations between the resonator and the SSET charge. For stronger couplings, the SSET can drive the resonator into limit cycle states where self-sustained oscillation occurs and we find that regions of well-defined bistability exist. Dynamical transitions into and out of the limit cycle state are marked by strong fluctuations in the resonator energy, but these fluctuations are suppressed within the limit cycle state. We find that the current noise of the SSET is strongly influenced by the fluctuations in the resonator energy and hence should provide a useful indicator of the resonator's dynamics.
We present an analysis of the dynamics of a nanomechanical resonator coupled to a superconducting single electron transistor (SSET) in the vicinity of the Josephson quasiparticle (JQP) and double Josephson quasiparticle (DJQP) resonances. For weak coupling and wide separation of dynamical timescales, we find that for either superconducting resonance the dynamics of the resonator is given by a Fokker-Planck equation, i.e., the SSET behaves effectively as an equilibrium heat bath, characterised by an effective temperature, which also damps the resonator and renormalizes its frequency. Depending …
We investigate the behavior of a quantum resonator coupled to a superconducting single-electron transistor tuned to the Josephson quasiparticle resonance and show that the dynamics is similar in many ways to that found in a micromaser. Coupling to the SSET can drive the resonator into non-classical states of self-sustained oscillation via either continuous or discontinuous transitions. Increasing the coupling further leads to a sequence of transitions and regions of multistability.
We analyse the quantum dynamics of a nanomechanical resonator coupled to a normal-state single-electron transistor (SET). Starting from a microscopic description of the system, we derive a master equation for the SET island charge and resonator which is valid in the limit of weak electro-mechanical coupling. Using this master equation we show that, apart from brief transients, the resonator always behaves like a damped harmonic oscillator with a shifted frequency and relaxes into a thermal-like steady state. Although the behaviour remains qualitatively the same, we find that the magnitude of t…
The current noise spectrum of a single-electron transistor (SET) coupled to a nano-mechanical resonator is calculated in the classical regime. Correlations between the charge on the SET island and the position of the resonator give rise to a distinctive noise spectrum which can be very different from that of the uncoupled SET. The current noise spectrum of the coupled system contains peaks at both the frequency of the resonator and double the resonator frequency, as well as a strong enhancement of the zero-frequency noise. The heights of the peaks are controlled by the strength of the coupling…
We propose a scheme involving a Cooper pair transistor (CPT) embedded in a superconducting microwave cavity, where the CPT serves as a charge tunable quantum inductor to facilitate ultra-strong coupling between photons in the cavity and a nano- to meso-scale mechanical resonator. The mechanical resonator is capacitively coupled to the CPT, such that mechanical displacements of the resonator cause a shift in the CPT inductance and hence the cavity's resonant frequency. The amplification provided by the CPT is sufficient for the zero point motion of the mechanical resonator alone to cause a sign…
We analyze the noise properties of two single electron transistors (SETs) coupled via a shared voltage gate consisting of a nanomechanical resonator. Working in the regime where the resonator can be treated as a classical system, we find that the SETs act on the resonator like two independent heat baths. The coupling to the resonator generates positive correlations in the currents flowing through each of the SETs as well as between the two currents. In the regime where the dynamics of the resonator is dominated by the back-action of the SETs, these positive correlations can lead to parametrica…
We report on the on-chip detection of microwaves in the frequency range around 100GHz. For the purpose of detection, we employ a discrete transport channel triggered in a superconducting single-electron transistor by photon-assisted tunneling of quasiparticles. The technique is successfully applied to observe the spectrum of the dressed states of a model cQED system consisting of a superconducting coplanar resonator coupled to a quantum Josephson oscillator. The dressed states appear as typical resonance anticrossing exhibiting, in our case, an expectedly wide frequency splitting corresponding…
We analyze the dynamics of a nano-mechanical resonator coupled to a single-electron transistor (SET) in the regime where the resonator behaves classically. A master equation is derived describing the dynamics of the coupled system which is then used to obtain equations of motion for the average charge state of the SET and the average position of the resonator. We show that the action of the SET on the resonator is very similar to that of a thermal bath, as it leads to a steady-state probability-distribution for the resonator which can be described by mean values of the resonator position, a re…
We analyze the spectral properties of a resonator coupled to a superconducting single electron transistor (SSET) close to the Josephson quasiparticle resonance. Focussing on the regime where the resonator is driven into a limit-cycle state by the SSET, we investigate the behavior of the resonator linewidth and the energy relaxation rate which control the widths of the main features in the resonator spectra. We find that the linewidth becomes very narrow in the limit-cycle regime, where it is dominated by a slow phase diffusion process, as in a laser. The overall phase diffusion rate is determi…
We investigate the dynamical instabilities of a resonator coupled to a superconducting single-electron transistor (SSET) tuned to the Josephson quasiparticle (JQP) resonance. Starting from the quantum master equation of the system, we use a standard semiclassical approximation to derive a closed set of mean field equations which describe the average dynamics of the resonator and SSET charge. Using amplitude and phase coordinates for the resonator and assuming that the amplitude changes much more slowly than the phase, we explore the instabilities which arise in the resonator dynamics as a func…
Transistors play a vital role in classical computers, and their quantum mechanical counterparts could potentially be as important in quantum computers. Where a classical transistor is operated as a switch that either blocks or allows an electric current, the quantum transistor should operate on quantum information. In terms of a spin model the in-going quantum information is an arbitrary qubit state (spin-1/2 state). In this paper, we derive a model of four qubits with Heisenberg interactions that works as a quantum spin transistor, i.e. a system with perfect state transfer or perfect blockade…
A niobium titanite nitride-based superconducting nanodevice in which the Josephson critical current can be modulated by a gate voltage - a Cooper-pair transistor - has proven a remarkably long parity lifetime exceeding one minute at temperatures close to absolute zero.
We have studied the microwave response of a single Cooper-pair transistor (CPT) coupled to a lumped-element microwave resonator. The resonance frequency of this circuit, $f_{r}$, was measured as a function of the charge $n_{g}$ induced on the CPT island by the gate electrode, and the phase difference across the CPT, $ϕ_{B}$, which was controlled by the magnetic flux in the superconducting loop containing the CPT. The observed $f_{r}(n_{g},ϕ_{B})$ dependences reflect the variations of the CPT Josephson inductance with $n_{g}$ and $ϕ_{B}$ as well as the CPT excitation when the microwaves induce …
The loss and noise mechanisms of superconducting resonators are useful tools for understanding decoherence in superconducting circuits. While the loss mechanisms have been heavily studied, noise in superconducting resonators has only recently been investigated. In particular, there is an absence of literature on noise in the single photon limit. Here, we measure the loss and noise of an aluminium on silicon quarter-wavelength ($λ/4$) resonator in the single photon regime.
A single-electron transistor (SET) can be used as an extremely sensitive charge detector. Mechanical displacements can be converted into charge, and hence, SETs can become sensitive detectors of mechanical oscillations. For studying small-energy oscillations, an important approach to realize the mechanical resonators is to use piezoelectric materials. Besides coupling to traditional electric circuitry, the strain-generated piezoelectric charge allows for measuring ultrasmall oscillations via SET detection. Here, we explore the usage of SETs to detect the shear-mode oscillations of a 6-mm-diame…
We present a system which allows to tune the coupling between a superconducting resonator and a transmission line. This storage resonator is addressed through a second, coupling resonator, which is frequency-tunable and controlled by a magnetic flux applied to a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). We experimentally demonstrate that the lifetime of the storage resonator can be tuned by more than three orders of magnitude. A field can be stored for 18 μs when the coupling resonator is tuned off resonance and it can be released in 14 ns when the coupling resonator is tuned on res…
We present a linear-response theory for the thermopower of a single-electron transistor consisting of a superconducting island weakly coupled to two normal-conducting leads (NSN SET). The thermopower shows oscillations with the same periodicity as the conductance and is rather sensitive to the size of the superconducting gap. In particular, the previously studied sawtooth-like shape of the thermopower for a normal-conducting single-electron device is qualitatively changed even for small gap energies.
Long-distance two-qubit coupling, mediated by a superconducting resonator, is a leading paradigm for performing entangling operations in a quantum computer based on spins in semiconducting materials. Here, we demonstrate a novel, controllable spin-photon coupling based on a longitudinal interaction between a spin qubit and a resonator. We show that coupling a singlet-triplet qubit to a high-impedance superconducting resonator can produce the desired longitudinal coupling when the qubit is driven near the resonator's frequency. We measure the energy splitting of the qubit as a function of the d…
Deep submicron Al-AlOx-Nb tunnel junctions and single electron transistors with niobium islands were fabricated by electron beam gun shadow evaporation. Using stencil masks consisting of the thermostable polymer polyethersulfone (PES) and germanium, high quality niobium patterns with good superconducting properties and a gap energy of up to 2Delta = 2.5 meV for the niobium were achieved. The I(U) characteristics of the transistors show special features due to tunneling of single Cooper pairs and significant gate modulation in both the superconducting and the normal state.
We investigate the quantum versus classical dynamics of a microwave cavity-coupled-Cooper pair transistor (CPT) system, where an applied dc bias causes the system to self-oscillate via the ac Josephson effect. Varying the dc bias allows the self-oscillation frequency to be tuned. An unusual feature of the system design is that the dc bias does not significantly affect the high quality factor of the cavity mode to which the CPT predominantly couples. The CPT-cavity mode system has a mechanical analogue involving a driven coupled pendulum-oscillator system. The corresponding, nonlinear classical…
We analyze the response of a nanomechanical resonator to an external drive when it is also coupled to a single-electron transistor (SET). The interaction between the SET electrons and the mechanical resonator depends on the amplitude of the mechanical motion leading to a strongly non-linear response to the drive which is similar to that of a Duffing oscillator. We show that the average dynamics of the resonator is well-described by a simple effective model which incorporates damping and frequency renormalization terms which are amplitude dependent. We also find that for a certain range of para…
We have fabricated and measured superconducting single-electron transistors with Al leads and Nb islands. At bias voltages below the gap of Nb we observe clear signatures of resonant tunneling of Cooper pairs, and of Coulomb blockade of the subgap currents due to linewidth broadening of the energy levels in the superconducting density of states of Nb. The experimental results are in good agreement with numerical simulations.
We measure the quantum fluctuations of a pumped nonlinear resonator, using a superconducting artificial atom as an in-situ probe. The qubit excitation spectrum gives access to the frequency and temperature of the intracavity field fluctuations. These are found to be in agreement with theoretical predictions; in particular we experimentally observe the phenomenon of quantum heating.
The nonlinearity exhibited by the kinetic inductance of a superconducting stripline couples stripline resonator modes together in a manner suitable for quantum non-demolition measurement of the number of photons in a given resonator mode. Quantum non-demolition measurement is accomplished by coherently driving another resonator mode, referred to as the detector mode, and measuring its response. We show that the sensitivity of such a detection scheme is directly related to the dephasing rate induced by such an intermode coupling. We show that high sensitivity is expected when the detector mode …
We theoretically investigate quantum fluctuation of charge between even and odd states of a normal-superconducting-normal single-electron tunneling transistor. It is shown that due to the superconducting gap, the charge fluctuation in the Coulomb blockade regime for even state is larger than that for odd state. We show that large energy correction in the former regime caused by charge fluctuation can be explained by considering the charging energy renormalization.
We report on the effect of the frequency-locked transfer of single Cooper pairs in a superconducting single-electron Al transistor embedded in a dissipative environment (on-chip Cr resistor of R = 40 kOhm). The transistor was dc voltage biased, and the harmonic signal of frequency f of several MHz was applied to the gate. Due to the substantial rate of relaxation, the unidirectional transfer of single pairs occurred in each junction once per clock cycle and the current plateaus at I = 2ef were developed in the transistor's I-V curves. The mechanisms (supercurrent, Landau-Zener tunneling, quasi…
We present an experimental demonstration as well as a theoretical model of an integrated circuit designed for the manipulation of a microwave field down to the single-photon level. The device is made of a superconducting resonator coupled to a transmission line via a second frequency-tunable resonator. The tunable resonator can be used as a tunable coupler between the fixed resonator and the transmission line. Moreover, the manipulation of the microwave field between the two resonators is possible. In particular, we demonstrate the swapping of the field from one resonator to the other by pulsi…
We propose a microwave frequency single photon transistor which can operate under continuous wave probing, and represents an efficient single microwave photon detector. It can be realized using an impedance matched system of a three level artificial ladder-type atom coupled to two microwave cavities connected to input/output waveguides. Using a classical drive on the upper transition, we find parameter space where a single photon control pulse incident on one of cavities can be fully absorbed into hybridized excited states. This subsequently leads to series of quantum jumps in the upper manifo…
We have developed a novel system consisting of a superconducting single-electron transistor (S-SET) coupled to a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), for which the dissipation can be tuned in the immediate vicinity of the S-SET. Within linear response, the S-SET conductance varies nonmonotonically with increasing 2DEG impedance. We find good agreement between our experimental results and a model incorporating electromagnetic fluctuations in both the S-SET leads and the 2DEG, as well as low-frequency switching of the S-SET offset charge.
We study a general model describing a self-detecting single electron transistor realized by a suspended carbon nanotube actuated by a nearby antenna. The main features of the device, recently observed in a number of experiments, are accurately reproduced. When the device is in a low current-carrying state, a peak in the current signals a mechanical resonance. On the contrary, a dip in the current is found in high current-carrying states. In the nonlinear vibration regime of the resonator, we are able to reproduce quantitatively the characteristic asymmetric shape of the current-frequency curve…
Coupled superconducting transmission line resonators have applications in quantum information processing and fundamental quantum mechanics. A particular example is the realization of fast beam splitters, which however is hampered by two-mode squeezer terms. Here, we experimentally study superconducting microstrip resonators which are coupled over one third of their length. By varying the position of this coupling region we can tune the strength of the two-mode squeezer coupling from 2.4% to 12.9% of the resonance frequency of 5.44GHz. Nevertheless, the beam splitter coupling rate for maximally…
We have directly measured the quantum noise of a superconducting single-electron transistor (S-SET) embedded in a microwave resonator consisting of a superconducting LC tank circuit. Using an effective bath description, we find that the S-SET provides damping of the resonator modes proportional to its differential conductance and has an effective temperature that depends strongly on the S-SET bias conditions. In the vicinity of a double Cooper pair resonance, when both resonances are red detuned the S-SET effective temperature can be well below both the ambient temperature and the energy scale…
Carbon nanotube (CNT) electromechanical resonators have demonstrated unprecedented sensitivities for detecting small masses and forces. The detection speed in a cryogenic setup is usually limited by the CNT contact resistance and parasitic capacitance. We report the use of a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) amplifying circuit near the device to measure the mechanical amplitude at microsecond timescales. A Coulomb rectification scheme, in which the probe signal is at much lower frequency than the mechanical drive signal, allows investigation of the strongly non-linear regime. The behavio…
The Josephson quasiparticle (JQP) cycle in a voltage-biased superconducting single-electron transistor (SSET) combines coherent Cooper pair tunneling with incoherent quasiparticle decay. We have measured the influence of current flow through an independently-biased SSET on the JQP cycle when the two SSET's have a strong mutual capacitive coupling. We find, among other effects, that the JQP current in one SSET is enhanced by the presence of a quasiparticle current in the other SSET. A simplified model of the coupled-SSET system is presented which reproduces the enhancement effect.
Superconducting field-effect transitor (SuFET) and Josephson field-effect transistor (JoFET) technologies take advantage of electric field induced control of charge carrier concentration in order to modulate the channel superconducting properties. Despite field-effect is believed to be unaffective for superconducting metals, recent experiments showed electric field dependent modulation of the critical current (IC) in a fully metallic transistor. Yet, the grounding mechanism of this phenomenon is not completely understood. Here, we show the experimental realization of Ti-based Dayem bridge fiel…
We investigate a superconducting single-electron transistor capacitively coupled to a nanomechanical oscillator and focus on the double Josephson quasiparticle resonance. The existence of two coherent Cooper pair tunneling events is shown to lead to pronounced backaction effects. Measuring the current and the shot noise provides a direct way of gaining information on the state of the oscillator. In addition to an analytical discussion of the linear-response regime, we discuss and compare results of higher-order approximation schemes and a fully numerical solution. We find that cooling of the m…
We have investigated the Josephson inductance $L_J$ of a Superconducting Cooper Pair Transistor (SCPT). We traced the inductance using microwave reflection measurements on a tuned resonance circuit in which a SCPT was mounted in parallel to a $ \sim 200$ pH strip line inductance. When the inverse of the Josephson inductance, determined on the charge-phase bias plane for a SCPT with a Josephson to Coulomb energy ratio of $E_J/E_C =1.75$, is integrated over the phase, we obtain a current-phase relation, which is strongly non-sinusoidal near the charge degeneracy point.
We study a superconducting single-charge transistor, where the coherence of Cooper pair tunneling is destroyed by the coupling to a tunable dissipative environment. Sequential tunneling and cotunneling processes are analyzed to construct the shape of the conductance peaks and their dependence on the dissipation and temperature. Unexpected features are found due to a cross-over between two distinct regimes, one `environment-assisted' the other `environment-dominated'. Several of the predictions have been confirmed by recent experiments. The model and results apply also to the dynamics of Joseph…
We investigate thermally-driven transport of heat and charge in a superconducting single-electron transistor by means of a real-time diagrammatic transport theory. Our theoretical approach allows us to account for strong Coulomb interactions and arbitrary nonequilibrium conditions while performing a systematic expansion in the tunnel coupling. We find that a temperature bias across the system gives rise to finite heat and charge currents close to the particle-hole symmetric point which depend both on the gate voltage as well as on the phase difference between the superconducting reservoirs. Th…
We present the realization and characterization of a novel-concept interferometer, the superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor (SQUIPT). Its operation relies on the modulation with the magnetic field of the density of states of a proximized metallic wire embedded in a superconducting ring. Flux sensitivities down to $\sim 10^{-5} Φ_0$Hz$^{-1/2}$ can be achieved even for a non-optimized design, with an intrinsic dissipation ($\sim 100$ fW) which is several orders of magnitude smaller than in conventional superconducting interferometers. Our results are in agreement with the th…
The Bloch-oscillating transistor (BOT) is an amplifier that utilizes semiclassical dynamics of states in energy bands under traveling quasimomentum. In a BOT, a single quasiparticle tunneling across a base tunnel junction switches the state of a superconducting tunnel junction to a lower Bloch band, triggering a series of resonant Cooper-pair tunnelings through an emitter Josephson junction (Bloch oscillations). Here, we investigate experimentally and theoretically an alternative realization of this device, based only on superconducting tunnel junctions. We discover new amplification schemes, …
By simultaneously coupling multiple two-level artificial atoms to two superconducting resonators, we design a quantum switch that tunes the resonator-resonator coupling strength from zero to a large value proportional to the number of qubits. This process is implemented by engineering the qubits into different subradiant states, where the microwave photons decay from different qubits destructively interfere with each other such that the resonator-resonator coupling strength keeps stable in an open environment. Based on a three-step control scheme, we switch the coupling strength among differen…
In this article we review the basic theoretical properties of a hybrid superconducting interferometer which exploits the phase dependence of the density of states of a metallic nanowire placed in good electric contact with a superconductor to achieve high sensitivity to magnetic flux. The operation of a prototype structure based on this principle, the superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor (SQUIPT), has been recently reported. Limited power dissipation joined with the opportunity to access single-spin detection make this interferometer attractive for the investigation of the…
Logical devices based on electrical currents are ubiquitous in modern society. However, digital logic does have some drawbacks such as a relatively high power consumption. It is therefore of great interest to seek alternative means to build logical circuits that can either work as stand-alone devices or in conjunction with more traditional electronic circuits. One direction that holds great promise is the use of heat currents for logical components. In the present paper, we discuss a recent abstract proposal for a quantum thermal transistor and provide a concrete design of such a device using …
Scalability in the fabrication and operation of quantum computers is key to move beyond the NISQ era. So far, superconducting transmon qubits based on aluminum Josephson tunnel junctions have demonstrated the most advanced results, though this technology is difficult to implement with large-scale facilities. An alternative "gatemon" qubit has recently appeared, which uses hybrid superconducting/semiconducting (S/Sm) devices as gate-tuned Josephson junctions. Current implementations of these use nanowires however, of which the large-scale fabrication has not yet matured either. A scalable gatem…
We present a scheme for the deterministic generation of entangled photon pairs in a superconducting resonator array. The resonators form a Jaynes-Cummings lattice via the coupling to superconducting qubits, and the Kerr-like nonlinearity arises due to the coupling.We show that entangled photons can be generated on demand by applying spectroscopic techniques and exploiting the nonlinearity and symmetry in the resonators. The scheme is robust against small parameter spreads due to fabrication errors. Our findings can be used as a key element for quantum information processing in superconducting …
The design for an inductive superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor with enhanced performance, the L-SQUIPT, is presented and analyzed. The interferometer is based on a double-loop structure, where each ring comprises a superconductor-normal metal-superconductor mesoscopic Josephson weak-link and the read-out electrode is implemented in the form of a superconducting tunnel probe. Our design allows both to improve the coupling of the transistor to the external magnetic field and to increase the characteristic magnetic flux transfer functions, thereby leading to an improved ult…
We show how population inversion (PI) occurs in a two-level system (TLS) while measuring its charge using a capacitively coupled superconducting single-electron transistor (SSET), biased in the subgap regime, where the current through the SSET is carried by different cycles involving tunneling of both Cooper pairs and quasiparticles. The PI is directly associated with the resonant nature of the Cooper-pair tunneling. We also show how the SSET may strongly relax the TLS, although there is negligible current flowing through the SSET, i.e. it is turned off. The calculation of the quantum back-act…
We propose a scheme able to entangle at the steady state a nanomechanical resonator with a microwave cavity mode of a driven superconducting coplanar waveguide. The nanomechanical resonator is capacitively coupled with the central conductor of the waveguide and stationary entanglement is achievable up to temperatures of tens of milliKelvin.
We propose the concept of a quantized single-electron source based on the interplay between Coulomb blockade and magnetic flux-controllable superconducting proximity effect. We show that flux dependence of the induced energy gap in the density of states of a nanosized metallic wire can be exploited as an efficient tunable energy barrier which enables charge pumping configurations with enhanced functionalities. This control parameter strongly affects the charging landscape of a normal metal island with non-negligible Coulombic energy. Under a suitable evolution of a time-dependent magnetic flux…
We realize a superconducting circuit analog of the generic cavity-optomechanical Hamiltonian by longitudinally coupling two superconducting resonators, which are an order of magnitude different in frequency. We achieve longitudinal coupling by embedding a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) into a high frequency resonator, making its resonance frequency depend on the zero point current fluctuations of a nearby low frequency LC-resonator. By employing sideband drive fields we enhance the intrinsic coupling strength of about 15 kHz up to 280 kHz by controlling the amplitude of th…
We have used a superconducting single-electron transistor as a DC-electrometer that is strongly coupled to the metal island of another transistor. With this set-up, it is possible to directly measure the charge distribution on this island. The strong capacitive coupling was achieved by a multilayer fabrication technique that allowed us to make the coupling capacitance bigger than the junction capacitances. Simulations of this system were done using orthodox theory of single-electron tunnelling and showed excellent agreement with the measurements.
We have fabricated the Bloch transistor shunted on-chip by a small-sized Cr resistor with Rs about 1 kOhm. The Bloch transistor normally consists of two small Josephson junctions connected in series, which in our case have been replaced by two superconducting interferometer loops, each with two junctions in parallel. A capacitively coupled gate is supplied to control the induced charge of the small intermediate electrode (island) of the transistor. The measured I-V curves show no hysteresis and correspond to the operation of a effective Josephson junction at the high-damping and strong-noise l…
We report a reduction of the frequency noise in coplanar waveguide superconducting resonators. The reduction of 7 dB is achieved by removing the exposed dielectric substrate surface from the region with high electric fields and by using NbTiN. In a model-analysis the surface of NbTiN is found to be a negligible source of noise, experimentally supported by a comparison with NbTiN on SiOx resonators. The reduction is additive to decreasing the noise by widening the resonators.
Josephson oscillations generated by a SQUID were used to measure photon assisted tunneling in a superconducting single electron tunneling (SET) transistor. The SQUID was fabricated only a few microns from the SET transistor. The close proximity of the generator to the SET transistor allowed for a continuous sweep of the excitation frequency from 10 GHz to 190 GHz. The amplitude of the Josephson oscillations were tuned by adjusting the flux through the SQUID loop while the frequency was independently adjusted by controlling the bias voltage across the SQUID. Current peaks which could be attribu…
A superconducting tunnel junction is used to directly extract quasiparticles from one of the leads of a single-Cooper-pair-transistor. The consequent reduction in quasiparticle density causes a lower rate of quasiparticle tunneling onto the device. This rate is directly measured by radio-frequency reflectometry. Local cooling may be of direct benefit in reducing the effect of quasiparticles on coherent superconducting nanostructures.
We predict theoretically and observe in experiment that the differential conductance of a superconducting SET transistor exhibits a peak which is a complete analogue in a macroscopic system of a standard resonant tunneling peak associated with tunneling through a single quantum state. In particular, in a symmetric transistor, the peak height is universal and equal to $e^2/2π\hbar$. Away from the resonance we clearly observe the co-tunneling current which in contrast to the normal-metal transistor varies linearly with the bias voltage.
We describe and characterize a microwave setup to probe the Andreev levels of a superconducting atomic contact. The contact is part of a superconducting loop inductively coupled to a superconducting coplanar resonator. By monitoring the resonator reflection coefficient close to its resonance frequency as a function of both flux through the loop and frequency of a second tone we perform spectroscopy of the transition between two Andreev levels of highly transmitting channels of the contact. The results indicate how to perform coherent manipulation of these states.
We report on the experimental observation of period multiplication in parametrically driven tunable superconducting resonators. We modulate the magnetic flux through a superconducting quantum interference device, attached to a quarter-wavelength resonator, with frequencies $nω$ close to multiples, $n=2,\,3,\,4,\,5$, of the resonator fundamental mode and observe intense output radiation at $ω$. The output field manifests $n$-fold degeneracy with respect to the phase, the $n$ states are phase shifted by $2π/n$ with respect to each other. Our demonstration verifies the theoretical prediction by G…
