Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1601.07261 · Optica

Efficient microwave to optical photon conversion: an electro-optical realization

Alfredo Rueda, Florian Sedlmeir, Michele C. Collodo, Ulrich Vogl, Birgit Stiller, Gerhard Schunk, Dmitry Strekalov, Christoph Marquardt, J. M. Fink, Oskar J. Painter, Gerd Leuchs, Harald G. L. Schwefel

Published Jun 3, 2016• 249 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Linking classical microwave electrical circuits to the optical telecommunication band is at the core of modern communication. Future quantum information networks will require coherent microwave-to-optical conversion to link electronic quantum processors and memories via low-loss optical telecommunication networks. Efficient conversion can be achieved with electro-optical modulators operating at the single microwave photon level. In the standard electro-optic modulation scheme this is impossible because both, up- and downconverted, sidebands are necessarily present. Here we demonstrate true single sideband up- or downconversion in a triply resonant whispering gallery mode resonator by explicitly addressing modes with asymmetric free spectral range. Compared to previous experiments, we show a three orders of magnitude improvement of the electro-optical conversion efficiency reaching 0.1% photon number conversion for a 10GHz microwave tone at 0.42mW of optical pump power. The presented scheme is fully compatible with existing superconducting 3D circuit quantum electrodynamics technology and can be used for non-classical state conversion and communication. Our conversion bandwidth is larger than 1MHz and not fundamentally limited.

DOI
10.1364/optica.3.000597

Related papers

Electro-optic entanglement source for microwave to telecom quantum state transfer

Alfredo Rueda, William Hease, Shabir Barzanjeh +1 more

Abstract We propose an efficient microwave-photonic modulator as a resource for stationary entangled microwave-optical fields and develop the theory for deterministic entanglement generation and quantum state transfer in multi-resonant electro-optic systems. The device is based on a single crystal whispering gallery mode resonator integrated into a 3D-microwave cavity. The specific design relies on a new combination of thin-film technology and conventional machining that is optimized for the lowest dissipation rates in the microwave, optical, and mechanical domains. We extract important device properties from finite-element simulations and predict continuous variable entanglement generation rates on the order of a Mebit/s for optical pump powers of only a few tens of microwatts. We compare the quantum state transfer fidelities of coherent, squeezed, and non-Gaussian cat states for both teleportation and direct conversion protocols under realistic conditions. Combining the unique capabilities of circuit quantum electrodynamics with the resilience of fiber optic communication could facilitate long-distance solid-state qubit networks, new methods for quantum signal synthesis, quantum key distribution, and quantum enhanced detection, as well as more power-efficient classical sensing and modulation.

arXiv:1909.01470•npj Quantum Information•Nov 28, 2019•87 citations

Bidirectional Electro-Optic Wavelength Conversion in the Quantum Ground State

William Hease, Alfredo Rueda, Rishabh Sahu +4 more

Microwave photonics lends the advantages of fiber optics to electronic sensing and communication systems.In contrast to nonlinear optics, electro-optic devices so far require classical modulation fields whose variance is dominated by electronic or thermal noise rather than quantum fluctuations.Here we demonstrate bidirectional single-sideband conversion of X band microwave to C band telecom light with a microwave mode occupancy as low as 0.025 ± 0.005 and an added output noise of less than or equal to 0.074 photons.This is facilitated by radiative cooling and a triply resonant ultra-low-loss transducer operating at millikelvin temperatures.The high bandwidth of 10.7 MHz and total (internal) photon conversion efficiency of 0.03% (0.67%) combined with the extremely slow heating rate of 1.1 added output noise photons per second for the highest available pump power of 1.48 mW puts near-unity efficiency pulsed quantum transduction within reach.Together with the non-Gaussian resources of superconducting qubits this might provide the practical foundation to extend the range and scope of current quantum networks in analogy to electrical repeaters in classical fiber optic communication.

arXiv:2005.12763•PRX Quantum•Nov 23, 2020•86 citations

Efficient quantum microwave-to-optical conversion using electro-optic nanophotonic coupled resonators

Mohammad Soltani, Mian Zhang, Colm A. Ryan +3 more

We propose a low-noise, triply resonant, electro-optic (EO) scheme for quantum microwave-to-optical conversion based on coupled nanophotonics resonators integrated with a superconducting qubit. Our optical system features a split resonance---a doublet---with a tunable frequency splitting that matches the microwave resonance frequency of the superconducting qubit. This is in contrast to conventional approaches, where large optical resonators with free-spectral range comparable to the qubit microwave frequency are used. In our system, EO mixing between the optical pump coupled into the low-frequency doublet mode and a resonance microwave photon results in an up-converted optical photon on resonance with high-frequency doublet mode. Importantly, the down-conversion process, which is the source of noise, is suppressed in our scheme as the coupled-resonator system does not support modes at that frequency. Our device has at least an order of magnitude smaller footprint than conventional devices, resulting in large overlap between optical and microwave fields and a large photon conversion rate ($g/2\ensuremath{\pi}$) in the range of $\ensuremath{\sim}5$--15 kHz. Owing to a large $g$ factor and doubly resonant nature of our device, microwave-to-optical frequency conversion can be achieved with optical pump powers in the range of tens of microwatts, even with moderate values for optical $\mathit{Q}$ ($\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{6}$) and microwave $Q$ ($\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{4}$). The performance metrics of our device, with substantial improvement over the previous EO-based approaches, promise a scalable quantum microwave-to-optical conversion and networking of superconducting processors via optical fiber communication.

arXiv:1711.00346•Physical Review A•Oct 5, 2017•79 citations

On-chip microwave-to-optical quantum coherent converter based on a superconducting resonator coupled to an electro-optic microresonator

Clément Javerzac‐Galy, Kirill Plekhanov, Nathan Bernier +3 more

We propose a device architecture capable of direct quantum coherent electro-optical conversion of microwave-to-optical photons. The hybrid system consists of a planar superconducting microwave circuit coupled to an integrated whispering-gallery-mode microresonator made from an electro-optical material. We show that by exploiting the large vacuum electric field of the planar microwave resonator, electro-optical (vacuum) coupling strengths ${g}_{0}$ as large as $\ensuremath{\sim}2\ensuremath{\pi}O(10\ensuremath{-}100)$ kHz are achievable with currently available technology---a more than 3 orders of magnitude improvement over prior designs and realizations. Operating at millikelvin temperatures, such a converter would enable high-efficiency conversion of microwave-to-optical photons. We analyze the added noise and show that maximum quantum coherent conversion efficiency is achieved for a multiphoton cooperativity of unity which can be reached with optical power as low as $O(1)$ mW.

arXiv:1512.06442•Physical Review A•Nov 9, 2016•103 citations

Cavity quantum electro-optics. II. Input-output relations between traveling optical and microwave fields

Mankei Tsang

In a previous paper [Phys. Rev. A 81, 063837 (2010)], I proposed a quantum model of the cavity electro-optic modulator, which can coherently couple an optical cavity mode to a microwave resonator mode and enable quantum operations on the two modes, including laser cooling of the microwave resonator, electro-optic entanglement, and backaction-evading optical measurement of a microwave quadrature. In this sequel, I focus on the quantum input-output relations between traveling optical and microwave fields coupled to the cavity electro-optic modulator. With red-sideband optical pumping, the relations are shown to resemble those of a beam splitter for the traveling fields, so that in the ideal case of zero parasitic loss and critical coupling, microwave photons can be coherently up converted to ``flying'' optical photons with unit efficiency, and vice versa. With blue-sideband pumping, the modulator acts as a nondegenerate parametric amplifier, which can generate two-mode squeezing and hybrid entangled photon pairs at optical and microwave frequencies. These fundamental operations provide a potential bridge between circuit quantum electrodynamics and quantum optics.

arXiv:1105.2336•Physical Review A•Oct 27, 2011•113 citations

All-dielectric resonant cavity electro-optic transduction between microwave and telecom

Mihir Khanna, Yang Hu, Thomas Purdy

Achieving efficient microwave–optical transduction is a critical challenge for quantum networks where information is shared optically across disparate microwave systems and for coherent optical detection and manipulation of microwave states. Resonant electro-optic systems are being pursued as a means of efficiently bridging these frequencies. Here, we present a platform that employs a bulk lithium niobate crystal whose large dielectric constant creates wavelength-scale confinement of microwave photons. By incorporating this crystal within a high-finesse Fabry–Pérot optical cavity, microwave photons couple to optical photons through the electro-optic effect. We demonstrate the ability to tune our system into triply resonant operation, where microwave photons, optical pump photons, and upconverted optical photons are simultaneously resonant with high quality factor electromagnetic modes of the system. The device achieves photon-number conversion efficiency at the percent level, comparable to that of state-of-the-art devices at room temperature—sufficient to resolve the thermal occupation of the microwave mode—by taking advantage of the high-power handling, low loss, and low noise of all-dielectric devices. These results establish our all-dielectric devices as a promising platform for high-precision sensing of optically detected microwave fields and as a viable route toward single-photon-level microwave–optical quantum transduction.

Optica•May 29, 2026•0 citations
Linking classical microwave electrical circuits to the optical telecommunication band is at the core of modern communication. Future quantum information networks will require coherent microwave-to-optical conversion to link electronic quantum processors and memories via low-loss optical telecommunication networks. Efficient conversion can be achieved with electro-optical modulators operating at the single microwave photon level. In the standard electro-optic modulation scheme this is impossible because both, up- and downconverted, sidebands are necessarily present. Here we demonstrate true single sideband up- or downconversion in a triply resonant whispering gallery mode resonator by explicitly addressing modes with asymmetric free spectral range. Compared to previous experiments, we show a three orders of magnitude improvement of the electro-optical conversion efficiency reaching 0.1% photon number conversion for a 10GHz microwave tone at 0.42mW of optical pump power. The presented scheme is fully compatible with existing superconducting 3D circuit quantum electrodynamics technology and can be used for non-classical state conversion and communication. Our conversion bandwidth is larger than 1MHz and not fundamentally limited.
Abstract We propose an efficient microwave-photonic modulator as a resource for stationary entangled microwave-optical fields and develop the theory for deterministic entanglement generation and quantum state transfer in multi-resonant electro-optic systems. The device is based on a single crystal whispering gallery mode resonator integrated into a 3D-microwave cavity. The specific design relies on a new combination of thin-film technology and conventional machining that is optimized for the lowest dissipation rates in the microwave, optical, and mechanical domains. We extract important device properties from finite-element simulations and predict continuous variable entanglement generation rates on the order of a Mebit/s for optical pump powers of only a few tens of microwatts. We compare the quantum state transfer fidelities of coherent, squeezed, and non-Gaussian cat states for both teleportation and direct conversion protocols under realistic conditions. Combining the unique capabilities of circuit quantum electrodynamics with the resilience of fiber optic communication could facilitate long-distance solid-state qubit networks, new methods for quantum signal synthesis, quantum key distribution, and quantum enhanced detection, as well as more power-efficient classical sensing and modulation.
Microwave photonics lends the advantages of fiber optics to electronic sensing and communication systems.In contrast to nonlinear optics, electro-optic devices so far require classical modulation fields whose variance is dominated by electronic or thermal noise rather than quantum fluctuations.Here we demonstrate bidirectional single-sideband conversion of X band microwave to C band telecom light with a microwave mode occupancy as low as 0.025 ± 0.005 and an added output noise of less than or equal to 0.074 photons.This is facilitated by radiative cooling and a triply resonant ultra-low-loss transducer operating at millikelvin temperatures.The high bandwidth of 10.7 MHz and total (internal) photon conversion efficiency of 0.03% (0.67%) combined with the extremely slow heating rate of 1.1 added output noise photons per second for the highest available pump power of 1.48 mW puts near-unity efficiency pulsed quantum transduction within reach.Together with the non-Gaussian resources of superconducting qubits this might provide the practical foundation to extend the range and scope of current quantum networks in analogy to electrical repeaters in classical fiber optic communication.
We propose a low-noise, triply resonant, electro-optic (EO) scheme for quantum microwave-to-optical conversion based on coupled nanophotonics resonators integrated with a superconducting qubit. Our optical system features a split resonance---a doublet---with a tunable frequency splitting that matches the microwave resonance frequency of the superconducting qubit. This is in contrast to conventional approaches, where large optical resonators with free-spectral range comparable to the qubit microwave frequency are used. In our system, EO mixing between the optical pump coupled into the low-frequency doublet mode and a resonance microwave photon results in an up-converted optical photon on resonance with high-frequency doublet mode. Importantly, the down-conversion process, which is the source of noise, is suppressed in our scheme as the coupled-resonator system does not support modes at that frequency. Our device has at least an order of magnitude smaller footprint than conventional devices, resulting in large overlap between optical and microwave fields and a large photon conversion rate ($g/2\ensuremath{\pi}$) in the range of $\ensuremath{\sim}5$--15 kHz. Owing to a large ggg factor and doubly resonant nature of our device, microwave-to-optical frequency conversion can be achieved with optical pump powers in the range of tens of microwatts, even with moderate values for optical Q\mathit{Q}Q ($\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{6}$) and microwave QQQ ($\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{4}$). The performance metrics of our device, with substantial improvement over the previous EO-based approaches, promise a scalable quantum microwave-to-optical conversion and networking of superconducting processors via optical fiber communication.
We propose a device architecture capable of direct quantum coherent electro-optical conversion of microwave-to-optical photons. The hybrid system consists of a planar superconducting microwave circuit coupled to an integrated whispering-gallery-mode microresonator made from an electro-optical material. We show that by exploiting the large vacuum electric field of the planar microwave resonator, electro-optical (vacuum) coupling strengths g0{g}_{0}g0​ as large as $\ensuremath{\sim}2\ensuremath{\pi}O(10\ensuremath{-}100)$ kHz are achievable with currently available technology---a more than 3 orders of magnitude improvement over prior designs and realizations. Operating at millikelvin temperatures, such a converter would enable high-efficiency conversion of microwave-to-optical photons. We analyze the added noise and show that maximum quantum coherent conversion efficiency is achieved for a multiphoton cooperativity of unity which can be reached with optical power as low as O(1)O(1)O(1) mW.
In a previous paper [Phys. Rev. A 81, 063837 (2010)], I proposed a quantum model of the cavity electro-optic modulator, which can coherently couple an optical cavity mode to a microwave resonator mode and enable quantum operations on the two modes, including laser cooling of the microwave resonator, electro-optic entanglement, and backaction-evading optical measurement of a microwave quadrature. In this sequel, I focus on the quantum input-output relations between traveling optical and microwave fields coupled to the cavity electro-optic modulator. With red-sideband optical pumping, the relations are shown to resemble those of a beam splitter for the traveling fields, so that in the ideal case of zero parasitic loss and critical coupling, microwave photons can be coherently up converted to ``flying'' optical photons with unit efficiency, and vice versa. With blue-sideband pumping, the modulator acts as a nondegenerate parametric amplifier, which can generate two-mode squeezing and hybrid entangled photon pairs at optical and microwave frequencies. These fundamental operations provide a potential bridge between circuit quantum electrodynamics and quantum optics.
Achieving efficient microwave–optical transduction is a critical challenge for quantum networks where information is shared optically across disparate microwave systems and for coherent optical detection and manipulation of microwave states. Resonant electro-optic systems are being pursued as a means of efficiently bridging these frequencies. Here, we present a platform that employs a bulk lithium niobate crystal whose large dielectric constant creates wavelength-scale confinement of microwave photons. By incorporating this crystal within a high-finesse Fabry–Pérot optical cavity, microwave photons couple to optical photons through the electro-optic effect. We demonstrate the ability to tune our system into triply resonant operation, where microwave photons, optical pump photons, and upconverted optical photons are simultaneously resonant with high quality factor electromagnetic modes of the system. The device achieves photon-number conversion efficiency at the percent level, comparable to that of state-of-the-art devices at room temperature—sufficient to resolve the thermal occupation of the microwave mode—by taking advantage of the high-power handling, low loss, and low noise of all-dielectric devices. These results establish our all-dielectric devices as a promising platform for high-precision sensing of optically detected microwave fields and as a viable route toward single-photon-level microwave–optical quantum transduction.