Tuning the field in a microwave resonator faster than the photon lifetime

We have fabricated and characterized tunable superconducting transmission line resonators. To change the resonance frequency, we modify the boundary condition at one end of the resonator through the tunable Josephson inductance of a superconducting quantum interference device. We demonstrate a large tuning range (several hundred megahertz), high quality factors (10(4)), and that we can change the frequency of a few-photon field on a time scale orders of magnitude faster than the photon lifetime of the resonator. This demonstration has implications in a variety of applications. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.