Probing tunable Kerr nonlinearity in graphene Josephson junctions

TL;DR

This paper investigates the tunable Kerr nonlinearity in graphene-based Josephson junctions, demonstrating how external parameters like gate voltage, temperature, and DC bias can significantly modulate the nonlinearity for advanced quantum devices.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of how Kerr nonlinearity in graphene JJs depends on various external controls, revealing a wide tunability range not previously explored.

Findings

Kerr coefficient can be tuned from 300 kHz to 1.2 MHz.

Kerr nonlinearity depends on gate voltage, temperature, and DC bias.

Graphene JJs offer tunable nonlinearity for quantum device applications.

Abstract

Josephson junction (JJ) is a key nonlinear element in superconducting devices such as qubits, amplifiers, and bolometers. Recently, gate-tunable JJs based on graphene and semiconductors have gained interest due to their rich Andreev physics and wide applications in circuit quantum electrodynamics devices. In addition to gate tunability, it offers many advantages over conventional JJs, such as exceptional thermal properties for bolometric sensors, magnetic-field compatibility, and operability at elevated temperatures above 1 K. Like conventional Al-AlOx-Al JJs, graphene JJs also act as nonlinear inductors, and at their heart lies the Kerr nonlinearity. Additionally, in graphene JJs, the nonlinearity is tunable via external knobs in a single device. However, a detailed exploration of the tunable Kerr nonlinearity in graphene JJs has never been performed. In this work, we study the dependence of the Kerr nonlinearity on gate voltage, temperature, and DC bias - an interesting knob that has been less explored. Using these parameters, we show that the magnitude of the Kerr coefficient can be tuned over a wide range, from 300 kHz to 1.2 MHz. Our work will be a valuable resource for further understanding of the nonlinearity in graphene JJs and for the design of next-generation amplifiers and sensors, with enhanced performance.