Vitaly Shumeiko

Andreev bound states in high-Tc superconducting junctions

The formation of bound states at surfaces of materials with an energy gap in the bulk electron spectrum is a well known physical phenomenon. At superconductor surfaces, quasiparticles with energies inside the superconducting gap Δ may be trapped in bound states in quantum wells, formed by total reflection against the vacuum and total Andreev reflection against the superconductor. Since an electron reflects as a hole and sends a Cooper pair into the superconductor, the surface states give rise to resonant transport of quasiparticle and Cooper pair currents, and may be observed in tunnelling spectra. In superconducting junctions these surface states may hybridize and form bound Andreev states, trapped between the superconducting electrodes. In d-wave superconductors, the order parameter changes sign under 90° rotation and, as a consequence, Andreev reflection may lead to the formation of zero energy quasiparticle bound states, midgap states (MGS). The formation of MGS is a robust feature of d-wave superconductivity and provides a unified framework for many important effects which will be reviewed: large Josephson current, low-temperature anomaly of the critical Josephson current, π-junction behaviour, 0→π junction crossover with temperature, zero-bias conductance peaks, paramagnetic currents, time reversal symmetry breaking, spontaneous interface currents, and resonance features in subgap currents. Taken together these effects, when observed in experiments, provide proof for d-wave superconductivity in the cuprates.

Quantum bits with Josephson junctions

Recent demonstrations of macroscopic quantum coherence in Josephson junction based electronic circuits have opened an entirely new dimension for research and applications in the established field of Josephson electronics. In this article we discuss basic Josephson circuits for qubit applications, methods of quantum description of these circuits, and circuit solutions for qubit couplings. Principles of manipulation and readout of superconducting qubits are reviewed and illustrated with recent experiments using various qubit types.

Tuning the field in a microwave resonator faster than the photon lifetime

We have fabricated and characterized tunable superconducting transmission line resonators. To change the resonance frequency, we modify the boundary condition at one end of the resonator through the tunable Josephson inductance of a superconducting quantum interference device. We demonstrate a large tuning range (several hundred megahertz), high quality factors (104), and that we can change the frequency of a few-photon field on a time scale orders of magnitude faster than the photon lifetime of the resonator. This demonstration has implications in a variety of applications.

Selective coupling of superconducting charge qubits mediated by a tunable stripline cavity

We theoretically investigate selective coupling of superconducting charge qubits mediated by a superconducting stripline cavity with a tunable resonance frequency. The frequency control is provided by a flux-biased dc superconducting quantum interference device attached to the cavity. Selective entanglement of the qubit states is achieved by sweeping the cavity frequency through the qubit-cavity resonances. The circuit is able to accommodate several qubits and allows one to keep the qubits at their optimal points with respect to decoherence during the whole operation. We derive an effective quantum Hamiltonian for the basic, two-qubit-cavity system, and analyze appropriate circuit parameters. We present a protocol for performing Bell inequality measurements, and discuss a composite pulse sequence generating a universal control-phase gate.

Photon generation in an electromagnetic cavity with a time-dependent boundary.

We report the observation of photon generation in a microwave cavity with a time-dependent boundary condition. Our system is a microfabricated quarter-wave coplanar waveguide cavity. The electrical length of the cavity is varied by using the tunable inductance of a superconducting quantum interference device. It is measured at a temperature significantly less than the resonance frequency. When the length is modulated at approximately twice the static resonance frequency, spontaneous parametric oscillations of the cavity field are observed. Time-resolved measurements of the dynamical state of the cavity show multiple stable states. The behavior is well described by theory. Our results may be considered a preliminary step towards demonstrating the dynamical Casimir effect.

Multiple Andreev reflection in single-atom niobium junctions

Single atom junctions between superconducting niobium leads are produced using the Mechanically Controllable Break Junction technique. The current-voltage characteristics of these junctions are analysed using an exact formulation for a superconducting quantum point contact. For tunnelling between two single atoms with a sufficiently large vacuum barrier, it is found that a single channel dominates the current, and that the current-voltage characteristic is described by the theory, without adjustable parameters. For a contact of a single Nb atom it is shown that five conductance channels contribute to the conductance, in agreement with the number expected based on the number of valence orbitals for this d-metal. For each of the channels the transmission probability is obtained from the fits and the limits of accuracy for these numbers are discussed.

Andreev level qubit.

We investigate the dynamics of a two-level Andreev bound state system in a transmissive quantum point contact embedded in an rf SQUID. Coherent coupling of the Andreev levels to the circulating supercurrent allows manipulation and readout of the level states. The two-level Hamiltonian for the Andreev levels is derived, and the effect of interaction with the quantum fluctuations of the induced flux is studied. We also consider an inductive coupling of qubits and discuss the relevant SQUID parameters for qubit operation and readout.

Josephson junction qubit network with current-controlled interaction

We design and evaluate a scalable charge qubit chain network with controllable current-current coupling of neighboring qubit loops via local de-current gates. The network allows construction of general N-qubit gates. The proposed design is in line with current main stream experiments.

Arbitrary accuracy iterative quantum phase estimation algorithm using a single ancillary qubit: A two-qubit benchmark

We discuss the implementation of an iterative quantum phase estimation algorithm, with a single ancillary qubit. We suggest using this algorithm as a benchmark for multi-qubit implementations. Furthermore we describe in detail the smallest possible realization, using only two qubits, and exemplify with a superconducting circuit. We discuss the robustness of the algorithm in the presence of gate errors, and show that 7 bits of precision is obtainable, even with very limited gate accuracies.

Circuit theory of multiple Andreev reflections in diffusive SNS junctions: The incoherent case

The incoherent regime of multiple Andreev reflections ~MAR! is studied in long diffusive SNS junctions at applied voltages larger than the Thouless energy. Incoherent MAR are treated as a transport problem in energy space by means of a circuit theory for an equivalent electrical network. The current through NS interfaces is explained in terms of diffusion flows of electrons and holes through ‘‘tunnel’’ and ‘‘Andreev’’ resistors. These resistors in diffusive junctions play roles analogous to the normal and Andreev reflection coefficients in Octavio-Tinkham-Blonder-Klapwijk theory for ballistic junctions. The theory is applied to the subharmonic gap structure ~SGS!; simple analytical results are obtained for the distribution function and current spectral density for the limiting cases of resistive and transparent NS interfaces. In the general case, the exact solution is found in terms of chain fractions, and the current is calculated numerically. SGS shows qualitatively different behavior for even and odd subharmonic numbers n52D/eV, and the maximum slopes of the differential resistance correspond to the gap subharmonics, eV52D/n. The influence of inelastic scattering on the subgap anomalies of the differential resistance is analyzed.