Coupling carbon nanotube mechanics to a superconducting circuit

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates coupling a carbon nanotube mechanical resonator to a superconducting circuit, enabling potential quantum control and detection of nanotube quantum states at the single-phonon level.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to couple carbon nanotube resonators with superconducting circuits, facilitating quantum state manipulation of nanotubes.

Findings

Strong flux modulation from nanotube displacements

Integration of nanotubes into superconducting resonators

Potential for single-phonon quantum state detection

Abstract

The quantum behaviour of mechanical resonators is a new and emerging field driven by recent experiments reaching the quantum ground state. The high frequency, small mass, and large quality-factor of carbon nanotube resonators make them attractive for quantum nanomechanical applications. A common element in experiments achieving the resonator ground state is a second quantum system, such as coherent photons or superconducting device, coupled to the resonators motion. For nanotubes, however, this is a challenge due to their small size. Here, we couple a carbon nanoelectromechanical (NEMS) device to a superconducting circuit. Suspended carbon nanotubes act as both superconducting junctions and moving elements in a Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID). We observe a strong modulation of the flux through the SQUID from displacements of the nanotube. Incorporating this SQUID into superconducting resonators and qubits should enable the detection and manipulation of nanotube mechanical quantum states at the single-phonon level.