Spatially Resolved Optical Responses of a High-Kinetic-Inductance Microwave Resonator

Abstract: Understanding the optical response of a high-kinetic-inductance microwave resonator is crucial for applications ranging from single-photon detection to quantum transduction between microwave and optical domains, which is gaining significant attention for scaling up quantum computers. However, interactions between the pump light and the superconducting resonator often induce unintended resonance frequency shifts and linewidth broadening. In this study, we measure the local optical response of a NbTiN nanowire resonator using a laser-scanning microwave spectroscopy system integrated with a dilution refrigerator. The optical response of the resonator shows correlation with the resonance modes and position, which is attributed to the two-level system around the resonator. These findings not only contribute to the design and understanding of quantum transducers and single-photon detectors, but also to the understandings of catastrophic high-energy particle irradiation events that generate unintended phonons in quantum devices.