This lecture is organised as part of the CERN QTI online lecture series.

In the last few years, the progressive miniaturisation of devices has approached the size of atoms and molecules. The study of these quantum systems out of equilibrium contributed to the advancement of quantum thermodynamics. In particular, the study of quantum batteries, small quantum mechanical systems able to temporarily store energy and further release it on-demand, recently emerged as a fast-growing subject in this context.

In this framework, the lecture conveners characterised for the first time the performances of IBM quantum chips as quantum batteries. By exploiting the Pulse access enabled to some of the IBM quantum processors via the Qiskit package, they have investigated the advantages and limitations of different profiles for classical drives used to charge these miniaturised batteries, establishing the optimal compromise between charging time and stored energy.

Motivated by some recent experimental observations, the speakers have investigated the possibility to realise charging protocols addressing two excited states of a superconducting qubit in the trasmon regime, namely realising a qutrit quantum battery. This extension allows to store a greater amount of energy in the system and opens the door to a richer variety of charging protocols.

For more details, visit: https://indico.cern.ch/event/1254462/

The recording of this talk is now available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4isZfigAfNo