# Publications

## Witnessing the formation and relaxation of dressed quasi-particles in a strongly correlated electron system.

Nature communications 5 (2014) 5112-

F Novelli, G De Filippis, V Cataudella, M Esposito, I Vergara, F Cilento, E Sindici, A Amaricci, C Giannetti, D Prabhakaran, S Wall, A Perucchi, S Dal Conte, G Cerullo, M Capone, A Mishchenko, M Grüninger, N Nagaosa, F Parmigiani, D Fausti

The non-equilibrium approach to correlated electron systems is often based on the paradigm that different degrees of freedom interact on different timescales. In this context, photo-excitation is treated as an impulsive injection of electronic energy that is transferred to other degrees of freedom only at later times. Here, by studying the ultrafast dynamics of quasi-particles in an archetypal strongly correlated charge-transfer insulator (La2CuO(4+δ)), we show that the interaction between electrons and bosons manifests itself directly in the photo-excitation processes of a correlated material. With the aid of a general theoretical framework (Hubbard-Holstein Hamiltonian), we reveal that sub-gap excitation pilots the formation of itinerant quasi-particles, which are suddenly dressed by an ultrafast reaction of the bosonic field.

## Speed limit of the insulator-metal transition in magnetite.

Nature materials 12 (2013) 882-886

S de Jong, R Kukreja, C Trabant, N Pontius, CF Chang, T Kachel, M Beye, F Sorgenfrei, CH Back, B Bräuer, WF Schlotter, JJ Turner, O Krupin, M Doehler, D Zhu, MA Hossain, AO Scherz, D Fausti, F Novelli, M Esposito, WS Lee, YD Chuang, DH Lu, RG Moore, M Yi, M Trigo, P Kirchmann, L Pathey, MS Golden, M Buchholz, P Metcalf, F Parmigiani, W Wurth, A Föhlisch, C Schüßler-Langeheine, HA Dürr

As the oldest known magnetic material, magnetite (Fe3O4) has fascinated mankind for millennia. As the first oxide in which a relationship between electrical conductivity and fluctuating/localized electronic order was shown, magnetite represents a model system for understanding correlated oxides in general. Nevertheless, the exact mechanism of the insulator-metal, or Verwey, transition has long remained inaccessible. Recently, three-Fe-site lattice distortions called trimerons were identified as the characteristic building blocks of the low-temperature insulating electronically ordered phase. Here we investigate the Verwey transition with pump-probe X-ray diffraction and optical reflectivity techniques, and show how trimerons become mobile across the insulator-metal transition. We find this to be a two-step process. After an initial 300 fs destruction of individual trimerons, phase separation occurs on a 1.5±0.2 ps timescale to yield residual insulating and metallic regions. This work establishes the speed limit for switching in future oxide electronics.

## Applied physics. Storing quantum information in Schrödinger's cats.

Science 342 (2013) 568-569

PJ Leek

## Quantum dot admittance probed at microwave frequencies with an on-chip resonator

Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics 86 (2012)

T Frey, PJ Leek, M Beck, J Faist, A Wallraff, K Ensslin, T Ihn, M Büttiker

We present microwave frequency measurements of the dynamic admittance of a quantum dot tunnel-coupled to a two-dimensional electron gas. The measurements are made via a high-quality 6.75 GHz on-chip resonator capacitively coupled to the dot. The resonator frequency is found to shift both down and up close to conductance resonance of the dot corresponding to a change of sign of the reactance of the system from capacitive to inductive. The observations are consistent with a scattering matrix model. The sign of the reactance depends on the detuning of the dot from conductance resonance and on the magnitude of the tunnel rate to the lead with respect to the resonator frequency. Inductive response is observed on a conductance resonance when tunnel coupling and temperature are sufficiently small compared to the resonator frequency. © 2012 American Physical Society.

## Dipole Coupling of a Double Quantum Dot to a Microwave Resonator

PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 108 (2012) ARTN 046807

T Frey, PJ Leek, M Beck, A Blais, T Ihn, K Ensslin, A Wallraff

## Characterization of a microwave frequency resonator via a nearby quantum dot

APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS 98 (2011) ARTN 262105

T Frey, PJ Leek, M Beck, K Ensslin, A Wallraff, T Ihn

## Correlation measurements of individual microwave photons emitted from a symmetric cavity

Journal of Physics: Conference Series 264 (2011)

D Bozyigit, C Lang, L Steffen, JM Fink, C Eichler, M Baur, R Bianchetti, PJ Leek, S Filipp, A Wallraff, MP Da Silva, A Blais

Superconducting circuits have been successfully established as systems to prepare and investigate microwave light fields at the quantum level. In contrast to optical experiments where light is detected using photon counters, microwaves are usually measured with well developed linear amplifiers. This makes measurements of correlation functions - one of the important tools in optics - harder to achieve because they traditionally rely on photon counters and beam splitters. Here, we demonstrate a system where we can prepare on demand single microwave photons in a cavity and detect them at the two outputs of the cavity using linear amplifiers. Together with efficient data processing, this allows us to measure different observables of the cavity photons, including the first-order correlation function. Using these techniques we demonstrate cooling of a thermal background field in the cavity. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

## Fabrication and heating rate study of microscopic surface electrode ion traps

NEW JOURNAL OF PHYSICS 13 (2011) ARTN 013032

N Daniilidis, S Narayanan, SA Moeller, R Clark, TE Lee, PJ Leek, A Wallraff, S Schulz, F Schmidt-Kaler, H Haeffner

## Dynamics of dispersive single qubit read-out in circuit quantum electrodynamics

ArXiv (0)

R Bianchetti, S Filipp, M Baur, JM Fink, M Göppl, PJ Leek, L Steffen, A Blais, A Wallraff

The quantum state of a superconducting qubit nonresonantly coupled to a transmission line resonator can be determined by measuring the quadrature amplitudes of an electromagnetic field transmitted through the resonator. We present experiments in which we analyze in detail the dynamics of the transmitted field as a function of the measurement frequency for both weak continuous and pulsed measurements. We find excellent agreement between our data and calculations based on a set of Bloch-type differential equations for the cavity field derived from the dispersive Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian including dissipation. We show that the measured system response can be used to construct a measurement operator from which the qubit population can be inferred accurately. Such a measurement operator can be used in tomographic methods to reconstruct single and multiqubit states in ensemble-averaged measurements.

## Coplanar Waveguide Resonators for Circuit Quantum Electrodynamics

ArXiv (0)

M Göppl, A Fragner, M Baur, R Bianchetti, S Filipp, JM Fink, PJ Leek, G Puebla, L Steffen, A Wallraff

We have designed and fabricated superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators with fundamental frequencies from 2 to $9 \rm{GHz}$ and loaded quality factors ranging from a few hundreds to a several hundred thousands reached at temperatures of $20 \rm{mK}$. The loaded quality factors are controlled by appropriately designed input and output coupling capacitors. The measured transmission spectra are analyzed using both a lumped element model and a distributed element transmission matrix method. The experimentally determined resonance frequencies, quality factors and insertion losses are fully and consistently characterized by the two models for all measured devices. Such resonators find prominent applications in quantum optics and quantum information processing with superconducting electronic circuits and in single photon detectors and parametric amplifiers.

## Resolving Vacuum Fluctuations in an Electrical Circuit by Measuring the Lamb Shift

SCIENCE 322 (2008) 1357-1360

A Fragner, M Goeppl, JM Fink, M Baur, R Bianchetti, PJ Leek, A Blais, A Wallraff

## Adiabatic charge pumping in carbon nanotube quantum dots

PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 101 (2008) ARTN 126803

MR Buitelaar, V Kashcheyevs, PJ Leek, VI Talyanskii, CG Smith, D Anderson, GAC Jones, J Wei, DH Cobden

## Climbing the Jaynes-Cummings ladder and observing its root n nonlinearity in a cavity QED system

NATURE 454 (2008) 315-318

JM Fink, M Goeppl, M Baur, R Bianchetti, PJ Leek, A Blais, A Wallraff

## Observation of Berry's phase in a solid-state qubit

SCIENCE 318 (2007) 1889-1892

PJ Leek, JM Fink, A Blais, R Bianchetti, M Goeppl, JM Gambetta, DI Schuster, L Frunzio, RJ Schoelkopf, A Wallraff

## Charge pumping in carbon nanotubes

PHYSICA E-LOW-DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS & NANOSTRUCTURES 34 (2006) 662-665

VI Talyanskii, P Leek, M Buitelaar, CG Smith, D Anderson, G Jones, J Wei, D Cobden

## Charge pumping and current quantization in surface acoustic-wave-driven carbon nanotube devices

SEMICONDUCTOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 21 (2006) S69-S77

MR Buitelaar, PJ Leek, VI Talyanskii, CG Smith, D Anderson, GAC Jones, J Wei, DH Cobden

## Charge pumping in carbon nanotubes

PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 95 (2005) ARTN 256802

PJ Leek, MR Buitelaar, VI Talyanskii, CG Smith, D Anderson, GAC Jones, J Wei, DH Cobden

## Realization of a Carbon-Nanotube-Based Superconducting Qubit

ArXiv (0)

M Mergenthaler, A Nersisyan, A Patterson, M Esposito, A Baumgartner, C Schönenberger, GAD Briggs, EA Laird, PJ Leek

Hybrid circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED) involves the study of coherent quantum physics in solid state systems via their interactions with superconducting microwave circuits. Here we present an implementation of a hybrid superconducting qubit that employs a carbon nanotube as a Josephson junction. We realize the junction by contacting a carbon nanotube with a superconducting Pd/Al bi-layer, and implement voltage tunability of the qubit frequency using a local electrostatic gate. We demonstrate strong dispersive coupling to a coplanar waveguide resonator via observation of a resonator frequency shift dependent on applied gate voltage. We extract qubit parameters from spectroscopy using dispersive readout and find qubit relaxation and coherence times in the range of $10-200~\rm{ns}$.

## Efficient Hamiltonian programming in qubit arrays with nearest-neighbour couplings

ArXiv (0)

T Tsunoda, G Bhole, SA Jones, JA Jones, PJ Leek

We consider the problem of selectively controlling couplings in a practical quantum processor with always-on interactions that are diagonal in the computational basis, using sequences of local NOT gates. This methodology is well-known in NMR implementations, but previous approaches do not scale efficiently for the general fully-connected Hamiltonian, where the complexity of finding time-optimal solutions makes them only practical up to a few tens of qubits. Given the rapid growth in the number of qubits in cutting-edge quantum processors, it is of interest to investigate the applicability of this control scheme to much larger scale systems with realistic restrictions on connectivity. Here we present an efficient scheme to find near time-optimal solutions that can be applied to engineered qubit arrays with local connectivity for any number of qubits, indicating the potential for practical quantum computing in such systems.

## Critical slowing down in the bistable regime of circuit quantum electrodynamics

ArXiv (0)

P Brookes, G Tancredi, AD Patterson, J Rahamim, M Esposito, PJ Leek, E Ginossar, MH Szymanska

We investigate the dynamics of the bistable regime of the generalized Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian (GJC), realised by a circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED) system consisting of a transmon qubit coupled to a microwave cavity. In this regime we observe critical slowing down in the approach to the steady state. By measuring the response of the cavity to a step function drive pulse we characterize this slowing down as a function of driving frequency and power. We find that the critical slowing down saturates as the driving power is increased. We compare these results with the predictions of analytical and numerical calculations both with and without the Duffing approximation. We find that the Duffing approximation incorrectly predicts that the critical slowing down timescale increases exponentially with the drive, whereas the GJC model accurately predicts the saturation seen in our data, suggesting a different process of quantum activation.