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The superconducting clock-circuit: Improving the coherence of Josephson radiation beyond the thermodynamic uncertainty relation

by David Scheer, Jonas Völler, Fabian Hassler

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Submission summary

Authors (as registered SciPost users): Fabian Hassler · David Scheer
Submission information
Preprint Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.14435v2  (pdf)
Date accepted: 2024-10-29
Date submitted: 2024-09-24 11:19
Submitted by: Scheer, David
Submitted to: SciPost Physics
Ontological classification
Academic field: Physics
Specialties:
  • Condensed Matter Physics - Theory
Approach: Theoretical

Abstract

In the field of superconducting electronics, the on-chip generation of AC radiation is essential for further advancements. Although a Josephson junction can emit AC radiation from a purely DC voltage bias, the coherence of this radiation is significantly limited by Johnson-Nyquist noise. We relate this limitation to the thermodynamic uncertainty relation (TUR) in the field of stochastic thermodynamics. Recent findings indicate that the thermodynamic uncertainty relation can be broken by a classical pendulum clock. We demonstrate how the violation of the TUR can be used as a design principle for radiation sources by showing that a superconducting clock circuit emits coherent AC radiation from a DC bias.

Author indications on fulfilling journal expectations

  • Provide a novel and synergetic link between different research areas.
  • Open a new pathway in an existing or a new research direction, with clear potential for multi-pronged follow-up work
  • Detail a groundbreaking theoretical/experimental/computational discovery
  • Present a breakthrough on a previously-identified and long-standing research stumbling block

Author comments upon resubmission

We again thank the referees for their comments. We implemented the requests for changes of the manuscript as well as a few additional small improvements. A comprehensive list of changes is given below.

List of changes

-Added clarification of different expectation values where $\langle.\rangle$ denotes averages with respect to thermal fluctuations and $\langle.\rangle_\rho$ denotes the expectation value with regards to the density matrix of the oscillator that is still conditioned on the thermal fluctuations.
-Added further comments to clarify the entropy production rate as well as the form of the escapement potential with regards to Ref. [25].
-Included a paragraph on the ansatz for the classical model to build an intuition for the clock dynamics
-Included Ref. [36,37] as a study of a similar circuit.
-Restructured the Appendices into smaller subsections to allow for a more clear presentation in sections 4 and 5 with references to individual sections. Appendix A now shows the complete derivation of the effective quantum mechanical model of the circuit and Appendix B covers the Adler-type equations in the classical model as well as the influence of thermal noise on the synchronization.
-Extended the introductory paragraph of section 4 to briefly outline the use of a Keldysh path integral description
-Specified the simulated model as the coupled Lindblad and Langevin equations using the full rotating wave Hamiltonian from Appendix A.
-Added interpretation for the increasing size of the synchronization plateau with increasing light-matter coupling $r$.
-Added second x-axis to the Figures 2. and 3. to explicitly show the dependence on the bias current.
-Included discussion of asymmetric critical currents in section 7.
-Added references to path integral literature in Appendix A.
-Added Appendix C to further discuss the case of asymmetric critical currents.
- Added missing definitions of constants
-Corrected typos

Published as SciPost Phys. 17, 140 (2024)


Reports on this Submission

Report #1 by Anonymous (Referee 1) on 2024-10-7 (Invited Report)

Report

In the revised manuscript, the authors have addressed all my comments. I recommend this manuscript for publication in SciPost Physics.

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