A superconducting quantum circuit single artificial atom maser

TL;DR

This paper presents a circuit QED-based artificial atom maser that uses engineered multi-level systems and microwave pumping, demonstrating rich physics and potential for probing maser phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces a superconducting circuit implementation of a micromaser with engineered level structure and dissipation, advancing quantum circuit control.

Findings

Demonstrated a circuit QED analog of an atomic micromaser.

Engineered multi-level artificial atom with population inversion.

Observed rich physics and potential applications in maser physics.

Abstract

We demonstrate a circuit QED analog of an atomic micromaser that utilizes an artificial, multi level atom, pumped into a population-inverted state by a microwave tone, as the gain medium. Our demonstration is enabled by the flexibility of the circuit QED platform, which allowed us to precisely engineer the level-structure, coupling, and dissipation of the micromaser components. Our device shows rich physics and perhaps points to ways to use the recent developments in the domain of microwave quantum circuits to probe the domain of maser physics.