Entanglement-based single-shot detection of a single magnon with a superconducting qubit

The recent development of hybrid systems based on superconducting circuits has opened up the possibility of engineering sensors of quanta of different degrees of freedom. Quantum magnonics, which aims to control and read out quanta of collective spin excitations in magnetically-ordered systems, furthermore provides unique opportunities for advances in both the study of magnetism and the development of quantum technologies. Using a superconducting qubit as a quantum sensor, we report the detection of a single magnon in a millimeter-sized ferromagnetic crystal with a quantum efficiency of up to 0.71. The detection is based on the entanglement between a magnetostatic mode and the qubit, followed by a single-shot measurement of the qubit state. This proof-of-principle experiment establishes the single-photon detector counterpart for magnonics.