Optical selection rules and phase-dependent adiabatic state control in a superconducting quantum circuit

Abstract

We analyze the optical selection rules of the microwave-assisted transitions in a flux qubit superconducting quantum circuit (SQC). We show that the parities of the states relevant to the superconducting phase in the SQC are well-defined when the external magnetic flux $Φ_{e}=Φ_{0}/2$, then the selection rules are same as the ones for the electric-dipole transitions in usual atoms. When $Φ_{e}\neq Φ_{0}/2$, the symmetry of the potential of the artificial "atom'' is broken, a so-called $Δ$-type "cyclic" three-level atom is formed, where one- and two-photon processes can coexist. We study how the population of these three states can be selectively transferred by adiabatically controlling the electromagnetic field pulses. Different from $Λ$-type atoms, the adiabatic population transfer in our three-level $Δ$-atom can be controlled not only by the amplitudes but also by the phases of the pulses.