Ying-Dan Wang

Using interference for high fidelity quantum state transfer in optomechanics.

We revisit the problem of using a mechanical resonator to perform the transfer of a quantum state between two electromagnetic cavities (e.g., optical and microwave). We show that this system possesses an effective mechanically dark mode which is immune to mechanical dissipation; utilizing this feature allows highly efficient transfer of intracavity states, as well as of itinerant photon states. We provide simple analytic expressions for the fidelity for transferring both gaussian and non-gaussian states.

Reservoir-engineered entanglement in optomechanical systems.

We show how strong steady-state entanglement can be achieved in a three-mode optomechanical system (or other parametrically coupled bosonic system) by effectively laser cooling a delocalized Bogoliubov mode. This approach allows one to surpass the bound on the maximum stationary intracavity entanglement possible with a coherent two-mode squeezing interaction. In particular, we find that optimizing the relative ratio of optomechanical couplings, rather than simply increasing their magnitudes, is essential for achieving strong entanglement. Unlike typical dissipative entanglement schemes, our results cannot be described by treating the effects of the entangling reservoir via a Linblad master equation.

Maxwell's demon assisted thermodynamic cycle in superconducting quantum circuits

We propose a quantum analog of the internal combustion engine used in most cars. Specifically, we study how to implement the Otto-type quantum heat engine (QHE) with the assistance of a Maxwells demon. Three steps are required: thermalization, quantum measurement, and quantum feedback controlled by the Maxwell demon. We derive the positive-work condition of this composite QHE. Our QHE can be constructed using superconducting quantum circuits. We explicitly demonstrate the essential role of the demon in this macroscopic QHE.

Using dark modes for high-fidelity optomechanical quantum state transfer

In a recent publication (Wang and Clerk 2012 Phys. Rev. Lett. 108 153603), we demonstrated that one can use interference to significantly increase the fidelity of state transfer between two electromagnetic cavities coupled to a common mechanical resonator over a naive sequential-transfer scheme based on two swap operations. This involved making use of a delocalized electromagnetic mode which is decoupled from the mechanical resonator, a so-called ‘mechanically dark’ mode. Here, we demonstrate the existence of a new ‘hybrid’ state transfer scheme that incorporates the best elements of the dark-mode scheme (protection against mechanical dissipation) and the double-swap scheme (fast operation time). Importantly, this new scheme also does not require the mechanical resonator to be prepared initially in its ground state. We also provide additional details of the previously described interference-enhanced transfer schemes, and provide an enhanced discussion of how the interference physics here is intimately related to the optomechanical analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency. We also compare the various transfer schemes over a wide range of relevant experimental parameters, producing a ‘phase diagram’ showing the optimal transfer scheme for different points in parameter space.

Cooling mechanism for a nonmechanical resonator by periodic coupling to a Cooper pair box

We propose and study an active cooling mechanism for the nanomechanical resonator (NAMR) based on periodical coupling to a Cooper pair box (CPB), which is implemented by a designed series of magnetic flux pluses threading through the CPB. When the initial phonon number of the NAMR is not too large, this cooling protocol is efficient in decreasing the phonon number by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude. Our proposal is theoretically universal in cooling various boson systems of a single mode. It can be specifically generalized to prepare the nonclassical state of the NAMR.

Bipartite and tripartite output entanglement in three-mode optomechanical systems

We provide analytic insight into the generation of stationary itinerant photon entanglement in a 3-mode optomechanical system. We identify the parameter regime of maximal entanglement, and show that strong entanglement is possible even for weak many-photon optomechanical couplings. We also show that strong tripartite entanglement is generated between the photonic and phononic output fields; unlike the bipartite photon-photon entanglement, this tripartite entanglement diverges as one approaches the boundary of system stability.

Cooling a micromechanical beam by coupling it to a transmission line

We study a method to cool down the vibration mode of a micro-mechanical beam using a capacitively-coupled superconducting transmission line. The Coulomb force between the transmission line and the beam is determined by the driving microwave on the transmission line and the displacement of the beam. When the frequency of the driving microwave is smaller than that of the transmission line resonator, the Coulomb force can oppose the velocity of the beam. Thus, the beam can be cooled. This mechanism, which may enable to prepare the beam in its quantum ground state of vibration, is feasible under current experimental conditions.

Controllable coupling between flux qubit and nanomechanical resonator by magnetic field

We propose an active mechanism for coupling the quantized mode of a nanomechanical resonator to the persistent current in the loop of a superconducting Josephson junction (or phase slip) flux qubit. This coupling is independently controlled by an external coupling magnetic field. The whole system forms a novel solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) architecture in the strong coupling limit. This architecture can be used to demonstrate quantum optics phenomena and coherently manipulate the qubit for quantum information processing. The coupling mechanism is applicable for more generalized situations where the superconducting Josephson junction system is a multi-level system. We also address the practical issues concerning experimental realization.

One-step multiqubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state generation in a circuit QED system

We propose a one-step scheme to generate Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states for superconducting flux qubits or charge qubits in a circuit QED setup. The GHZ state can be produced within the coherence time of the multiqubit system. Our scheme is independent of the initial state of the transmission line resonator and works in the presence of higher harmonic modes. Our analysis also shows that the scheme is robust to various operation errors and environmental noise.

Coupling superconducting flux qubits at optimal point via dynamic decoupling with the quantum bus

We propose a scheme with dc control of finite bandwidth to implement a two-qubit gate for superconducting flux qubits at the optimal point. We provide a detailed nonperturbative analysis on the dynamic evolution of the qubits interacting with a common quantum bus. An effective qubit-qubit coupling is induced while decoupling the quantum bus with proposed pulse sequences. The two-qubit gate is insensitive to the initial state of the quantum bus and applicable to nonperturbative coupling regime which enables rapid two-qubit operation. This scheme can be scaled up to multiqubit coupling.