Engineering Quantum-Enhanced Transport by Supertransfer

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how a superconducting circuit can be used to directly observe and control supertransfer, a collective quantum effect that enhances energy transfer rates, with implications for quantum light harvesting.

Contribution

The study provides a novel experimental platform using superconducting circuits to observe and tune supertransfer, advancing understanding of collective quantum effects in energy transport.

Findings

Supertransfer can be directly observed in a superconducting circuit.

Controllable delocalisation enables tunable supertransfer.

Guidelines for engineering supertransfer in quantum devices are proposed.

Abstract

Collective behaviour of the components of a quantum system can significantly alter the rates of dynamical processes within the system. A paradigmatic collective effect is superradiance, the enhancement in the rate that radiation is emitted by a group of emitters relative to that emitted by independent emitters. Less studied are collective effects in energy transport, notably supertransfer, the enhancement of the rate of energy transfer from donors to acceptors due to delocalised excitations. Despite its proposed significance in photosynthesis, there has been no direct experimental detection of supertransfer because, in biological or molecular systems, delocalisation cannot be turned on and off to evaluate its effect on energy transfer. Here, we show that supertransfer could be directly observed using a quantum device based on a superconducting circuit. The programmability and control offered by an engineered device would allow controllable delocalisation of quantum states, giving full tunability over supertransfer. Our guidelines for engineering supertransfer could inform the design of future quantum-enhanced light harvesters.