Magnon squeezing in the quantum regime

Squeezed states, crucial for quantum metrology and emerging quantum technologies, have been demonstrated in various platforms, but quantum squeezing of magnons in macroscopic spin systems remains elusive. Here we report the 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. These results lay the groundwork for quantum nonlinear magnonics and promise potential applications in quantum metrology.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-02-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69312-4
Primary Topic
Mechanical and Optical Resonators
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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Magnon squeezing in the quantum regime

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Magnon squeezing in the quantum regime

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article en

Abstract

Squeezed states, crucial for quantum metrology and emerging quantum technologies, have been demonstrated in various platforms, but quantum squeezing of magnons in macroscopic spin systems remains elusive. Here we report the 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. These results lay the groundwork for quantum nonlinear magnonics and promise potential applications in quantum metrology.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 17(1)
University of Michigan (US), Zhejiang Lab (CN), Computing Center (RU), Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences (CN), University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Japan Science and Technology Agency, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Moonshot Research and Development Program
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Openalex Percentile: Top 55%
Mechanical and Optical Resonators
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