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Coherence-mediated quantum thermometry in a hybrid circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture
Phys. Rev. B 113, 094512 – Published 16 March, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/sj7j-1s6b
Abstract
Quantum thermometry plays a critical role in the development of low-temperature sensors and quantum information platforms. In this work, we propose and analyze a hybrid circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture in which a superconducting qubit is dispersively coupled to two distinct bosonic modes: one initialized in a weak coherent state as a phase reference and information buffer and the other coupled to a thermal environment. We show that the qubit serves as a sensitive readout of the probe mode, mapping the interplay between thermal and coherent photon-number fluctuations onto measurable dephasing. This coherence-mediated mechanism enables improved sensitivity to thermal energy fluctuations in the sub-millikelvin regime through Ramsey interferometry. We derive analytic expressions for the probe coherence envelope, compute the quantum Fisher information for temperature estimation, and demonstrate numerically that the presence of a coherent reference enhances the qubit's sensitivity to small changes in thermal photon occupancy. Our results establish a coherence-enabled approach to thermometry and provide a scalable platform for future calorimetric sensing in high-energy physics and quantum metrology.