Charge qubits in the USC regime for quantum state transfer

Abstract We study the feasibility of reaching the ultrastrong (USC) and deep-strong coupling (DSC) regimes of light-matter interaction, in particular at resonance condition, with a superconducting charge qubit, also known as Cooper-Pair box (CPB). We numerically show that by shunting the charge qubit with a high-impedance LC-circuit, one can maximally reach both USC and DSC regimes exceeding the classical upper bound |g| ≤ √ωqωr/2 between two harmonic systems with frequencies ωq and ωr. As an application, we propose a hybrid system consisting of two CPBs ultrastrongly coupled to an LC-oscillator as a mediator device that catalyzes a quantum state transfer protocol between a pair of transmon qubits, with all the parties subjected to local thermal noise. We demonstrate that the QST protocol maximizes its efficiency when the mediator operates in the USC regime, exhibiting comparable times with proposals relying on highly coherent and controllable mediators requiring state-preparation or post-selection. This work opens the door for studying light-matter interactions beyond the quantum Rabi model at extreme coupling strengths, providing a new building block for applications within quantum computation and quantum information processing.