Coherence-mediated quantum thermometry in a hybrid circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture

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Authors: Shaojiang Zhu, Xinyuan You, Alexander V. Romanenko, Anna Grassellino
Cited by: 1
References: 65

Abstract

Quantum thermometry plays a critical role in the development of low-temperature sensors and quantum information platforms. In this work, we propose and theoretically analyze a hybrid circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture in which a superconducting qubit is dispersively coupled to two distinct bosonic modes: one initialized in a weak coherent state and the other coupled to a thermal environment. We show that the qubit serves as a sensitive readout of the probe mode, mapping the interference between thermal and coherent photon-number fluctuations onto measurable dephasing. This mechanism enables enhanced sensitivity to sub-millikelvin thermal energy fluctuations through Ramsey interferometry. We derive analytic expressions for the qubit coherence envelope, compute the quantum Fisher information for temperature estimation, and demonstrate numerically that the presence of a coherent reference amplifies the qubit's sensitivity to small changes in thermal photon occupancy. Our results establish a new paradigm for quantum-enhanced thermometry and provide a scalable platform for future calorimetric sensing in high-energy physics and quantum metrology.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Quantum Information and Cryptography Mechanical and Optical Resonators Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics

Publication details

Journal / source
Physical review. B./Physical review. B
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Volume
113
Issue
9
Publication date
23 February 2026
Language
EN