On-chip coherent microwave-to-optical transduction mediated by ytterbium in YVO4

Abstract

Optical networks that distribute entanglement among various quantum systems will form a powerful framework for quantum science but are yet to interface with leading quantum hardware such as superconducting qubits. Consequently, these systems remain isolated because microwave links at room temperature are noisy and lossy. Building long distance connectivity requires interfaces that map quantum information between microwave and optical fields. While preliminary microwave-to-optical transducers have been realized, developing efficient, low-noise devices that match superconducting qubit frequencies (gigahertz) and bandwidths (10 kilohertz – 1 megahertz) remains a challenge. Here we demonstrate a proof-of-concept on-chip transducer using trivalent ytterbium-171 ions in yttrium orthovanadate coupled to a nanophotonic waveguide and a microwave transmission line. The device′s miniaturization, material, and zero-magnetic-field operation are important advances for rare-earth ion magneto-optical devices. Further integration with high quality factor microwave and optical resonators will enable efficient transduction and create opportunities toward multi-platform quantum networks.

Cavity electro-optics in thin-film lithium niobate for efficient microwave-to-optical transduction

“…Practically, this level of performance implies efficiency approaching 100%, low noise, and enough bandwidth for the desired signals [11]. Some of the most promising approaches toward quantum transduction have used electro-or piezo-optomechanical devices [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23], nonlinear crystals that display a Pockels electro-optic (EO) effect [24][25][26][27][28][29], trapped atoms [30,31], crystals doped with rare-earth ions [32,33], and optomagnonic devices [34]. Although quantum coherent performance has proved challenging to realize, the optomechanical approach -the leading platform to date -has achieved bidirectional operation [12], high efficiency [13,20], and single-quantum scale noise levels [21,35].…”

A silicon‐organic hybrid platform for quantum microwave-to-optical transduction

“…Many approaches for performing microwave-to-optical transduction utilize superconducting resonators in close proximity to intense optical light [6,14,[52][53][54]. Since optical photons are well above the superconducting gap energy, stray light impinging on the superconductor will break Cooper pairs and 3 MHz.…”

Characterization of Er3+:YVO4 for microwave to optical transduction

“…Many physical systems have been proposed for microwave to optical (M2O) transduction [8,9], including optomechanical systems [10,11], electro-optical systems [12,13], atomic ensembles [14,15] and others [16,17]. Among the atomic ensemble approaches, rare-earth ions (REIs) in solids are a promising platform for M2O transduction applications [14,18,19,20,21]. REIs can be optically addressed using their narrow 4f-4f transitions, while electron spin, nuclear spin, or magnonic transitions can be used in the microwave domain.…”

“…Additionally, REIs doped in crystals possess long coherence lifetimes in both the optical and spin domain [24,25], which gives the possibility of a built-in memory incorporated with the transducer. Lastly, isotopes of REIs with nonzero nuclear spin have zero-field hyperfine structure [20,26], which enables transduction without an external magnetic field. One promising transduction protocol involves using a cavity-enhanced Raman scattering process with a 3-level system [18].…”