Magnon squeezing in the quantum regime

TL;DR

This paper reports the first experimental demonstration of quantum magnon squeezing in a macroscopic YIG sphere, achieved through engineered magnon-qubit coupling and nonlinear interactions, with potential applications in quantum metrology.

Contribution

It presents the first observation of quantum-level magnon squeezing in a macroscopic system using engineered nonlinear interactions and Wigner tomography.

Findings

Achieved quadrature squeezing of ~0.8 (1.0 dB) in magnon states.

Generated squeezed magnon states with mean magnon number less than one.

Demonstrated quantum magnon squeezing in a millimeter-scale YIG sphere.

Abstract

Squeezed states, crucial for quantum metrology and emerging quantum technologies, have been demonstrated in various platforms, but quantum squeezing of magnons in macroscopic spin systems remains elusive. Here we report the experimental observation of quantum-level magnon squeezing in a millimeter-scale yttrium iron garnet (YIG) sphere. By engineering a strong dispersive magnon-superconducting qubit coupling via a microwave cavity, we implement a significant self-Kerr nonlinearity to generate squeezed magnon states with their mean magnon number less than one. Harnessing a magnon-assisted Raman process, we perform Wigner tomography, revealing quadrature variances of $\sim\!0.8$ ($\sim\!1.0$~dB squeezing) relative to the vacuum. These results lay the groundwork for quantum nonlinear magnonics and promise potential applications in quantum metrology.