Efficient on-chip source of microwave photon pairs in superconducting circuit QED

TL;DR

This paper proposes a superconducting circuit-based scheme for efficiently generating entangled microwave photon pairs through parametric downconversion, potentially enabling on-chip quantum communication and computation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel on-chip microwave photon pair source using superconducting circuits with optimized level tuning for higher efficiency than optical counterparts.

Findings

Higher down-conversion probability than optical schemes

Numerical simulation confirms efficiency under realistic conditions

Potential for on-chip entangled microwave photon source

Abstract

We describe a scheme for the efficient generation of microwave photon pairs by parametric downconversion in a superconducting transmission line resonator coupled to a Cooper pair box serving as an artificial atom. By properly tuning the first three levels with respect to the cavity modes, the down-conversion probability may become higher than in the most efficient schemes for optical photons. We show this by numerically simulating the dissipative quantum dynamics of the coupled cavity-box system and discuss the effects of dephasing and relaxation. The setup analyzed here might form the basis for a future on-chip source of entangled microwave photons.