A superconducting on-chip microwave cavity for tunable hybrid systems with optically trapped Rydberg atoms

Abstract

Hybrid quantum systems are highly promising platforms for addressing important challenges of quantum information science and quantum sensing. Their implementation, however, is technologically non-trivial, since each component typically has unique experimental requirements. Here, we work towards a hybrid system consisting of a superconducting on-chip microwave circuit in a dilution refrigerator and optically trapped ultra-cold atoms. Specifically, we focus on the design optimization of a suitable superconducting chip and on the corresponding challenges and limitations. We unfold detailed microwave-cavity engineering strategies for maximized and tunable coupling rates to atomic Rydberg-Rydberg transitions in $\mathrm{^{87}Rb}$ atoms while respecting the boundary conditions due to the presence of a laser beam near the surface of the chip. Finally, we present an experimental implementation of the superconducting microwave chip and discuss the cavity characteristics as a function of temperature and applied dc voltage. Our results illuminate the required consideration aspects for a flexible, tunable superconductor-atom hybrid system, and lay the groundwork for realizing this exciting platform in a dilution refrigerator with vacuum Rabi frequencies approaching the strong-coupling regime.