Preparation of subradiant states using local qubit control in circuit QED

Transitions between quantum states by photon absorption or emission are intimately related to the symmetries of the system which lead to selection rules and the formation of dark states. In a circuit quantum electrodynamics setup, in which two resonant superconducting qubits are coupled through an on-chip cavity and driven via the common cavity field, one single-excitation state remains dark. Here, we demonstrate that this dark state can be excited using local phase control of individual qubit drives to change the symmetry of the excitation field. We observe that the dark state decay via spontaneous emission into the cavity is suppressed, a characteristic signature of subradiance. This local control technique could be used to prepare and study highly correlated quantum states of cavity-coupled qubits.