Coherent Quantum Phase Slip in Superconducting Nanowires

已知一维超导体中的量子涨落会引起超导体行为的质的变化，这一过程称为量子相位滑移。对于利用量子相位滑移的超导纳米线器件，有许多建议，例如量子电流标准、高灵敏度电荷传感器和相位滑移通量量子比特。目前，这种潜力在很大程度上尚未实现，因为量子相位滑移的性质仍然没有完全理解。现在已知连续的相位滑移事件可以是相位相干的，从而导致磁通量可以相干地穿过纳米线的机制，并且最近首次证明了不同通量状态的叠加。在我的项目中，我的目标是研究相干量子相位滑移的性质，特别是通过观察纳米线器件与超导谐振器的相互作用，以期开发和表征新的相干量子相位滑移通量量子比特。

Quantum fluctuations in one-dimensional superconductors are known to give rise to qualitative changes in behaviour of the superconductor, in a process called quantum phase slip. There are many proposals for superconducting nanowire devices making use of quantum phase slip, such as a quantum current standard, highly sensitive electric charge sensors, and phase slip flux qubits. At the moment this potential remains largely unrealised as the nature of quantum phase slip is still not fully understood. It is now known that successive phase slip events can be phase coherent, leading to a mechanism by which magnetic flux can coherently tunnel across a nanowire, and the superposition of different flux states has recently been demonstrated for the first time. In my project I aim to investigate the nature of coherent quantum phase slips, specifically by observing the interaction of nanowire devices with superconducting resonators, with a view to developing and characterising new coherent quantum phase slip flux qubits.