Engineering the quantum states of light in a Kerr-nonlinear resonator by two-photon driving

Abstract

Quantum Computing: An engineered quantum box for Schrodinger’s cat Efficient preparation of the so called photonic Schrodinger’s cat states, is possible by engineering the energy levels in a quantum box. We propose an approach for fast, high-fidelity preparation and manipulation of cat states in a nonlinear cavity by the use of a parametric drive. This preparation is robust against single-photon loss from the cavity and as we show, can be easily realized using superconducting circuits. The robustness of the engineered subspace to higher-order circuit nonlinearities makes this implementation favorable and of immediate practical importance for realization of a scalable, hardware efficient platform for universal quantum computation. Our scheme offers significant improvements over existing techniques for preparation of cat states which become increasingly burdensome because of noise and for large sized cats.