We study a superconducting single-electron transistor (SSET) which is coupled to a $\mathit{LC}$ oscillator via the phase difference across one of the Josephson junctions. This leads to a strongly anharmonic coupling between the SSET and the oscillator. The coupling can oscillate with the number of photons, which makes this system very similar to the single-atom injection maser. However, the advantage of a design based on superconducting circuits is the strong coupling and existence of standard methods to measure the radiation field in the oscillator. This makes it possible to study many effects that have been predicted for the single-atom injection maser in a circuit quantum electrodynamics setup.

• Received 15 April 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.83.180505