Tunable single-photon heat conduction in electrical circuits

TL;DR

This paper investigates how single-photon heat conduction in electronic circuits is affected by circuit elements and introduces tunability via SQUIDs, with implications for quantum computing and circuit design.

Contribution

It demonstrates the impact of circuit components on photon-mediated heat transfer and introduces in situ tuning of photonic power transfer using SQUIDs.

Findings

Back-action of thermometers affects heat conduction.

Circuit elements distort current profiles in microwave cavities.

SQUIDs enable in situ tuning of photonic power transfer.

Abstract

We build on the study of single-photon heat conduction in electronic circuits taking into account the back-action of the superconductor--insulator--normal-metal thermometers. In addition, we show that placing capacitors, resistors, and superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) into a microwave cavity can severely distort the spatial current profile which, in general, should be accounted for in circuit design. The introduction of SQUIDs also allows for in situ tuning of the photonic power transfer which could be utilized in experiments on superconducting quantum bits.