Qubit-Photon Bound States in Superconducting Metamaterials

TL;DR

This paper investigates the quantum behavior of electromagnetic waves in a one-dimensional superconducting metamaterial with charge qubits, revealing bound states that could enable photon transport control.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum-mechanical model for superconducting metamaterials with charge qubits, demonstrating the formation of photon-qubit bound states within such systems.

Findings

Two bands of single-photon-qubit bound states identified

Bound states can trap radiation, affecting photon transport

Model applicable at low temperatures with weak fields

Abstract

We study quantum features of electromagnetic radiation propagating in the one-dimensional superconducting quantum metamaterial comprised of an infinite chain of charge qubits placed within two-stripe massive superconductive resonators. The Quantum-mechanical model is derived assuming weak fields and that, at low temperatures, each qubit is either unoccupied ($N=0$) or occupied by a single Cooper pair ($N=1$). Based on this assumption we demonstrate the emergence of two bands of single-photon-qubit bound states with the energy lying within (lower branch) or outside (higher) the photon continuum. The emergence of bound states may cause radiation trapping which could be of interest for the control of photon transport in these systems.