Quantum nonlinear magnonics: Magnon squeezing in the quantum regime

Quantum nonlinear magnonics: Magnon squeezing in the quantum regime | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Quantum nonlinear magnonics: Magnon squeezing in the quantum regime J. Q. You, Yuan-Chao Weng, Da Xu, Zhen Chen, Li-Zhou Tan, Xu-Ke Gu, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6757664/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Squeezed states – quantum states with reduced fluctuations in one quadrature and amplified noise in its conjugate counterpart – serve as foundational resources for quantum-enhanced metrology and nonclassical state engineering [1]. These states can offer enhanced measurement sensitivities beyond the standard quantum limit in, e.g., gravitational-wave detectors [2] and axion dark matter searches [3], while also enabling advances in continuous-variable quantum computing [4, 5] and quantum gravity tests [6]. Here we report the first experimental observation of quantum-level magnon squeezing in a millimeter-scale yttrium iron garnet (YIG) sphere. By engineering a strong dispersive magnon-superconducting qubit coupling via a microwave cavity, we implement a significant self-Kerr nonlinearity to generate squeezed magnon states with their mean magnon number less than one. Harnessing a magnon-assisted Raman process, we perform Wigner tomography, revealing quadrature variances of ∼ 0.8 (∼ 1.0 dB squeezing) relative to the vacuum. The squeezed state exhibits a 400 ns lifetime, surpassing the intrinsic 145 ns magnon coherence time. These novel results lay the groundwork for quantum nonlinear magnonics and promise potential applications in quantum metrology. Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Ferromagnetism Physical sciences/Physics/Quantum physics/Qubits Physical sciences/Physics/Quantum physics/Single photons and quantum effects Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files smSqueezing.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6757664","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":467116597,"identity":"33421465-b492-4192-a4ae-89db1ebbaaab","order_by":0,"name":"J. Q. 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