Quantum sensing of antiferromagnetic magnon two-mode squeezed vacuum

Abstract

N\'eel ordered antiferromagnets exhibit two-mode squeezing such that their ground state is a nonclassical superposition of magnon Fock states. Here we theoretically demonstrate that antiferromagnets can couple to spin qubits via direct dispersive interaction stemming from, e.g., interfacial exchange. We demonstrate that this kind of coupling induces a magnon number dependent level splitting of the excited state resulting in multiple system excitation energies. This series of level splittings manifests itself as nontrivial excitation peaks in qubit spectroscopy thereby revealing the underlying nonclassical magnon composition of the antiferromagnetic quantum state. By appropriately choosing the drive or excitation energy, the magnonic state can be controlled via the qubit, suggesting that Fock states of magnon pairs can be generated deterministically. This enables achieving states useful for quantum computing and quantum information science protocols.