Cavity quantum electrodynamics with an out-of-equilibrium quantum dot

TL;DR

This paper investigates how microwave cavity measurements can reveal transport properties of a quantum dot, emphasizing the role of capacitive coupling asymmetry and resonance conditions in interpreting optical signals.

Contribution

It demonstrates the conditions under which optical measurements can accurately probe quantum conductance and reveals new insights beyond the low-energy regime.

Findings

Asymmetric coupling allows optical probing of quantum conductance.

Near resonance, charge susceptibility relates to admittance only at low frequency.

Symmetric coupling enables revealing the Korringa-Shiba relation through optical methods.

Abstract

We consider a superconducting microwave cavity capacitively coupled to both a quantum conductor and its electronic reservoirs. We analyze in details how the measurements of the cavity microwave field, which are related to the electronic charge susceptibility, can be used to extract information on the transport properties of the quantum conductor. We show that the asymmetry of the capacitive couplings between the electronic reservoirs and the cavity plays a crucial role in relating optical measurements to transport properties. For asymmetric capacitive couplings, photonic measurements can be used to probe the finite low frequency admittance of the quantum conductor, the real part of which being related to the differential conductance. In particular, when the quantum dot is far from resonance, the charge susceptibility is directly proportional to the admittance for a large range of frequencies and voltages. However, when the quantum conductor is near a resonance, such a relation generally holds only at low frequency and for equal tunnel coupling or low voltage. Beyond this low-energy near equilibrium regime, the charge susceptibility and thus the optical transmission offers new insights on the quantum conductors since the optical observables are not directly connected to transport quantities. For symmetric lead capacitive couplings, we show that the optical measurements can be used to reveal the Korringa-Shiba relation, connecting the reactive to the dissipative part of the susceptibility, at low frequency and low bias.