Quantum Electro-Optomechanical Transduction with Surface Acoustic Waves

Abstract

Future quantum networks and testbeds will require the ability to distribute entanglement between multiple qubit platforms for efficiently storing and exchanging quantum information. Such networks will inevitably be needed for quantum systems operating at microwave frequencies. Interfacing microwave-frequency qubit systems, such as superconducting circuits and spins in defect centers, with optical photons, which propagate coherently and losslessly in optical fibers, leverages the advantages of each system for distributed quantum information processing. Essential to this functionality are quantum-state-preserving transducers capable of reliably transferring quantum information between microwave and optical signals, which have not yet been demonstrated with the requisite speed or noise properties for scalable networking of quantum devices. To this aim, I propose establishing the science and technology to achieve single-photon transduction, which not only strongly aligns with the Quantum Foundry’s research objectives in building quantum networks (Thrust 3), but also has interest from the Google Quantum A.I. team in interfacing with their superconducting qubits.