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Probing optomechanical decoherence from an acoustic environment with a superconducting qubit

Guang-Zheng Ye, Ze-Quan Zhang, Wan-Jun Su*, and Huaizhi Wu†

  • Fujian Key Laboratory of Quantum Information and Quantum Optics and Department of Physics, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China

  • *Contact author: wanjunsu@fzu.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: huaizhi.wu@fzu.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013317 – Published 25 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/y8bv-m3rv

Abstract

Decoherence in macroscopic quantum systems arises mainly from interactions with the environmental bath, offering key insights into the quantum-classical boundary. In this paper, we study the acoustic-environment-induced effects in a circuit quantum electrodynamics system, where an LC oscillator is optomechanically coupled to a long mechanical strip and capacitively coupled to a superconducting qubit. The mechanical strip functions as an acoustic environment, comprising a continuum of bath modes. The qubit population, serving as a probe of acoustic-environment-induced dephasing (AEID), exhibits collapse and revival dynamics in its Rabi oscillations. The AEID effect is extracted using a Ramsey-like interference scheme, manifesting as a dynamical decay in amplitude and a modification in the oscillation frequency. Our scheme opens avenues for studying the mechanisms of decoherence introduced by acoustic environments and to explore the optomechanically induced nonlinearity by collective acoustic bath modes.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013317– Published 25 March, 2026
  • Received 29 October 2025
  • Accepted 23 February 2026
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