Magnetically induced transparency of a quantum metamaterial composed of twin flux qubits

K V Shulga, E Il’ichev, M V Fistul, Ilia Besedin, S Butz, Oleg Astafiev, U Hübner, A. V. Ustinov

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Quantum theory is expected to govern the electromagnetic properties of a quantum metamaterial, an artificially fabricated medium composed of many quantum objects acting as artificial atoms. Propagation of electromagnetic waves through such a medium is accompanied by excitations of intrinsic quantum transitions within individual meta-atoms and modes corresponding to the interactions between them. Here we demonstrate an experiment in which an array of double-loop type superconducting flux qubits is embedded into a microwave transmission line. We observe that in a broad frequency range the transmission coefficient through the metamaterial periodically depends on externally applied magnetic field. Field-controlled switching of the ground state of the meta-atoms induces a large suppression of the transmission. Moreover, the excitation of meta-atoms in the array leads to a large resonant enhancement of the transmission. We anticipate possible applications of the observed frequency-tunable transparency in superconducting quantum networks.
Original languageEnglish
Article number150
Pages (from-to)1-6
Number of pages6
JournalNature Communications
Volume9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Jan 2018

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