Sisyphus Thermalization of Photons in a Cavity-Coupled Double Quantum Dot

TL;DR

This paper explores how a microwave resonator coupled to a driven double quantum dot can produce non-classical light states, including thermalization at substrate temperature, lasing, and single-photon emission, with potential applications in quantum optics.

Contribution

It demonstrates the emergence of thermal states with a chemical potential in a driven DQD-resonator system, revealing new regimes of photon control and quantum light generation.

Findings

Resonator approaches a thermal state with substrate temperature.

Identification of gain and loss regions enabling lasing and single-photon emission.

Effects observable in current experimental devices.

Abstract

We investigate the non-classical states of light that emerge in a microwave resonator coupled to a periodically-driven electron in a nanowire double quantum dot (DQD). Under certain drive configurations, we find that the resonator approaches a thermal state at the temperature of the surrounding substrate with a chemical potential given by a harmonic of the drive frequency. Away from these thermal regions we find regions of gain and loss, where the system can lase, or regions where the DQD acts as a single-photon source. These effects are observable in current devices and have broad utility for quantum optics with microwave photons.