Superconducting on-chip spectrometer for mesoscopic quantum systems

Spectroscopy is a powerful tool to probe physical, chemical, and biological systems. Recent advances in microfabrication have introduced novel, intriguing mesoscopic quantum systems including superconductor-semiconductor hybrid devices and topologically nontrivial electric circuits. A sensitive, general-purpose spectrometer to probe the energy levels of these systems is lacking. We propose an on-chip absorption spectrometer functioning well into the millimeter wave band which is based on a voltage-biased superconducting quantum interference device. We demonstrate the capabilities of the spectrometer by coupling it to a variety of superconducting systems, probing phenomena such as quasiparticle and plasma excitations. We perform spectroscopy of a microscopic tunable nonlinear resonator in the 40–50-GHz range and measure transitions to highly excited states. The Josephson junction spectrometer, with outstanding frequency range, sensitivity, and coupling strength will enable new experiments in linear and nonlinear spectroscopy of novel mesoscopic systems.