Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jakobsen, Leo Uhre, Shagalov, Ksenia, Feldstein-Bofill, David, Kjaergaard, Morten, Flensberg, Karsten, Krøjer, Svend
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.26374
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866910078398889984
author Jakobsen, Leo Uhre
Shagalov, Ksenia
Feldstein-Bofill, David
Kjaergaard, Morten
Flensberg, Karsten
Krøjer, Svend
author_facet Jakobsen, Leo Uhre
Shagalov, Ksenia
Feldstein-Bofill, David
Kjaergaard, Morten
Flensberg, Karsten
Krøjer, Svend
contents The superconductor-insulator-superconductor Josephson junction is the fundamental nonlinear element of superconducting circuits. Connecting two junctions in series gives rise to higher-harmonic content in the total energy-phase relation, enabling new design opportunities in multimode circuits. However, the double-junction element hosts an internal mode whose spectrum is set by the finite capacitances of the individual junctions. Using a Born-Oppenheimer approximation that treats the additional mode as fast compared to the qubit mode, we analyze the double-junction circuit element shunted by a large capacitor. Here, we derive an effective single-mode model of the qubit containing a correction term owing to the presence of the internal mode. We explore experimentally relevant parameter regimes and find that our model accurately describes the low-energy spectrum of the qubit. We further discuss how eliminating the internal degree of freedom affects the system's periodic boundary conditions and how this leads to non-uniqueness in performing the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Finally, we analyze the harmonic content of the double-junction element and discuss its sensitivity to charge noise.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_26374
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Low-energy spectrum of double-junction superconducting circuits in the Born-Oppenheimer approximation
Jakobsen, Leo Uhre
Shagalov, Ksenia
Feldstein-Bofill, David
Kjaergaard, Morten
Flensberg, Karsten
Krøjer, Svend
Quantum Physics
The superconductor-insulator-superconductor Josephson junction is the fundamental nonlinear element of superconducting circuits. Connecting two junctions in series gives rise to higher-harmonic content in the total energy-phase relation, enabling new design opportunities in multimode circuits. However, the double-junction element hosts an internal mode whose spectrum is set by the finite capacitances of the individual junctions. Using a Born-Oppenheimer approximation that treats the additional mode as fast compared to the qubit mode, we analyze the double-junction circuit element shunted by a large capacitor. Here, we derive an effective single-mode model of the qubit containing a correction term owing to the presence of the internal mode. We explore experimentally relevant parameter regimes and find that our model accurately describes the low-energy spectrum of the qubit. We further discuss how eliminating the internal degree of freedom affects the system's periodic boundary conditions and how this leads to non-uniqueness in performing the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Finally, we analyze the harmonic content of the double-junction element and discuss its sensitivity to charge noise.
title Low-energy spectrum of double-junction superconducting circuits in the Born-Oppenheimer approximation
topic Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.26374