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arXiv:1410.4024

Microwave Photodetection with Electro-Opto-Mechanical Systems

Shabir Barzanjeh, M. C. de Oliveira, Stefano Pirandola

Published Oct 15, 2014• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

While detection of optical photons is today achieved with very high efficiencies, the detection of microwave fields at the photon level still poses non-trivial experimental challenges. In this Letter we propose a model of microwave photodetector which is based on the use of an electro-opto-mechanical system. Using state of the art technology, we show how single microwave photons can efficiently be converted into optical photons which are then measured by standard optics. The overall quantum efficiency of our microwave detector tends to one for achievable values of the optical and microwave cooperativity parameters. Our scheme could be used for sensing and scanning very faint microwave fields, as they may occur in radio astronomy, satellite and deep space communications.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1410.4024

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While detection of optical photons is today achieved with very high efficiencies, the detection of microwave fields at the photon level still poses non-trivial experimental challenges. In this Letter we propose a model of microwave photodetector which is based on the use of an electro-opto-mechanical system. Using state of the art technology, we show how single microwave photons can efficiently be converted into optical photons which are then measured by standard optics. The overall quantum efficiency of our microwave detector tends to one for achievable values of the optical and microwave cooperativity parameters. Our scheme could be used for sensing and scanning very faint microwave fields, as they may occur in radio astronomy, satellite and deep space communications.
We present a microwave photon detection scheme based on wavelength conversion in hybrid cavity system (electro-opto-mechanical converter). By converting microwave pulse into optical pulse efficiently, tough microwave photon detection can be switched to convenient optical photon detection. We demonstrate that a theoretical detection efficiency analogous to optical detection efficiency can be reached by selecting proper parameters. Pulse shapes of both wavelengths match well. Furthermore, we enhance the scheme by applying the Josephson parametric amplifier (JPA) and optical parametric amplifier (OPA) in the respective cavity, and we obtain a maximum detection efficiency enhancement of near 41% compared to the non-amplification case.
Converting signals from the microwave to the optical domain has attracted great attention due to its potential applications in the field of quantum networks. Achieving efficient transduction is a significant yet challenging task, where a high efficiency at single photon level and low added noise are required. Electro-opto-mechanics have been proven to be efficient to convert microwave and optical photons bidirectionally. In this work, we propose and demonstrate an enhanced microwave-optical conversion in an electro-opto-mechanical system by introducing a mechanical ancilla attached the microwave resonator. Based on the ancillary electromechanical coupling, the damping rate of the microwave resonator is controlled and further leads to significant enhancement in conversion, such as the increase of conversion efficiency, broadening of conversion bandwidth and reduction of added noise. It provides a feasible approach to realize a broadband microwave-optical conversion with high efficiency. Moreover, the reduced added noise may break the limitation of quantum transduction due to the ancillary electromechanical coupling. Our scheme is also applicable and feasible for opto-mechanics and other systems to achieve practical quantum interface.
Single-photon detectors are fundamental tools of investigation in quantum optics and play a central role in measurement theory and quantum informatics. Photodetectors based on different technologies exist at optical frequencies and much effort is currently being spent on pushing their efficiencies to meet the demands coming from the quantum computing and quantum communication proposals. In the microwave regime, however, a single-photon detector has remained elusive, although several theoretical proposals have been put forth. In this article, we review these recent proposals, especially focusing on non-destructive detectors of propagating microwave photons. These detection schemes using superconducting artificial atoms can reach detection efficiencies of 90% with the existing technologies and are ripe for experimental investigations.
Detecting an itinerant microwave photon with high efficiency is an outstanding problem in quantum optics at microwave frequencies and in the fundamental quantum mechanics experimental toolbox. This subject has attracted a lot of attention and there are growing number of excellent experimental demonstrations and theoretical proposals towards this aim. However, due to the extremely low energy of microwave quanta, efficiently detecting a propagating microwave photon in a non-absorbing manner is still an unresolved challenge and it is the focus of the major part of this thesis. Motivated by a recent experiment that shows a superconducting artificial atom (a transmon) in a one-dimensional microwave transmission line exhibits gigantic cross-Kerr nonlinearities, 1000 times larger than in comparable optical systems, I investigate the possibility of detection single microwave photons using a transmon induced cross-Kerr-like interaction between two microwave fields. The photon number in one field is inferred through the measurement of the displacement of the other field. The first project on this subject is to investigate the feasibility of detecting a single microwave photon with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) greater than unity using a three-level approximation for the transmon in an open transmission line, due to the saturation of transmon response to the probe intensity. After that, an improved scheme was proposed to overcome the limitations in the preceding work. By using a cavity probe field the signal photon induced probe displacement is strongly enhanced. Further additional transmon-cavity units can be cascaded to further improve the detection efficiency. It is shown that with only two transmons the distinguishability to resolve a single-photon state from the vacuum is up to 90%90\%90%. One advantage of this photon detection scheme is that it does not rely on the absorption of single microwave photons, which enables repeated measurements and further applications. Moreover, I also show how the measurement diminishes coherence in the photon number basis thereby illustrating a fundamental principle of quantum measurement: the higher the measurement efficiency, the greater is the decoherence. Apart from the investigation on the single microwave photon detection, this thesis also studies nonlinear dynamics of a hybrid coupled-resonator and opto-mechanical system. It is shown that the saddle-node bifurcation and the Hopf bifurcation appear in the system, which leads to bistability and limit cycle dynamics of the mechanical position and the output light intensity. More importantly, the opto-mechanical nonlinearity dramatically changes the transparency window of the coupled resonator induced transparency (CRIT) and based on the narrow and bistable CRIT transparency window, the proposed system is shown to be a good platform for the weak impulsive force detection with a good sensitivity.
Abstract Quantum information technology based on solid state qubits has created much interest in converting quantum states from the microwave to the optical domain. Optical photons, unlike microwave photons, can be transmitted by fiber, making them suitable for long distance quantum communication. Moreover, the optical domain offers access to a large set of very well‐developed quantum optical tools, such as highly efficient single‐photon detectors and long‐lived quantum memories. For a high fidelity microwave to optical transducer, efficient conversion at single photon level and low added noise is needed. Currently, the most promising approaches to build such systems are based on second‐order nonlinear phenomena such as optomechanical and electro‐optic interactions. Alternative approaches, although not yet as efficient, include magneto‐optical coupling and schemes based on isolated quantum systems like atoms, ions, or quantum dots. Herein, the necessary theoretical foundations for the most important microwave‐to‐optical conversion experiments are provided, their implementations are described, and the current limitations and future prospects are discussed.
The realization of a high-efficiency microwave single photon detector is a long-standing problem in the field of microwave quantum optics. Here, we propose a quantum nondemolition, high-efficiency photon detector that can readily be implemented in present state-of-the-art circuit quantum electrodynamics. This scheme works in a continuous fashion, gaining information about the photon arrival time as well as about its presence. The key insight that allows us to circumvent the usual limitations imposed by measurement backaction is the use of long-lived dark states in a small ensemble of inhomogeneous artificial atoms to increase the interaction time between the photon and the measurement device. Using realistic system parameters, we show that large detection fidelities are possible.