The conversion efficiency of electric microwave signals into surface acoustic waves in different types of superconducting transducers is studied with the aim of quantum applications. We compare delay lines containing either conventional symmetric transducers (IDTs) or unidirectional transducers (UDTs) at 2.3 GHz and 10 mK. The UDT delay lines improve the insertion loss with 4.7 dB and a directivity of 22 dB is found for each UDT, indicating that 99.4% of the acoustic power goes in the desired direction. The power lost in the undesired direction accounts for more than 90% of the total loss in IDT delay lines, but only ∼3% of the total loss in the floating electrode unidirectional transducer delay lines.
The conversion efficiency of electric microwave signals into surface acoustic waves in different types of superconducting transducers is studied with the aim of quantum applications. We compare delay lines containing either conventional symmetric transducers (IDTs) or unidirectional transducers (UDTs) at 2.3 GHz and 10 mK. The UDT delay lines improve the insertion loss with 4.7 dB and a directivity of 22 dB is found for each UDT, indicating that 99.4% of the acoustic power goes in the desired direction. The power lost in the undesired direction accounts for more than 90% of the total loss in IDT delay lines, but only ∼3% of the total loss in the floating electrode unidirectional transducer delay lines.
One of the most fundamental phenomena occurring in nature is the interaction between single atoms and electromagnetic fields. This is studied in quantum optics to probe the quantum nature of the system. In appended Paper I, we demonstrated that an artificial atom can couple to propagating sound, which is the acoustic analogue of quantum optics. This thesis covers experiments where surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are used in superconducting circuits at gigahertz frequencies with the aim for quantum applications.Since SAWs are mechanical vibrations that propagate on the surface of solids and dissipate little power, they can propagate freely over long distances before and after they interact with the artificial atom. Their five order of magnitude slower speed and smaller wavelength than light at gigahertz frequencies, open up for exploring new regimes of quantum physics. In addition, the coupling between the artificial atom and the SAWs is promising for reaching ultrastrong coupling limits, which is hard in other types of systems. Many of the future applications are discussed in appended Paper II, together with a more detailed description of the theory and fabrication of the devices.Although the possibilities are many, a variety of potential experiments would benefit from higher conversion efficiency between electric signals and SAWs. Therefore, improvements of this conversion are studied in appended Paper III, making use of the many advances in classical SAW devices. More specifically, the conversion of unidirectional transducers (UDTs) on lithium niobate is studied and compared to symmetric interdigital transducers (IDTs). The results show that 99.4 % of the acoustic power can be focused in the desired direction and that the conversion between electric signals and SAWs is greatly improved by using UDTs, eliminating the largest contribution to loss of the IDTs. However, there is a trade-off between conversion efficiency and bandwidth. This knowledge allows us to better tailor potential quantum experiments based on SAWs, possibly towards measuring quantum sound.
Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are mechanical vibrations that propagate on the surface of solids while dissipating little power, consequently enabling them to propagate freely over long distances. The speed and wavelength of SAWs are reduced a five order of magnitude compared to when light is used as a carrier at gigahertz frequencies. The unique properties of SAWs combined with the possibility to let them interact with artificial atoms, discovered and shown for the very first time in appended Paper I of this thesis, open up for exploration of new regimes of quantum physics. The appended Paper II is a book chapter providing an overview of many of the new areas of research, as well as going into depth of the method and significance of the results ofthe appended Paper I.The essential interaction between artificial atoms and SAWs was further investigated by using Autler-Townes splitting to achieve fast control of the interactions. The appended Paper IV, shows a transmitted field extinction of 80 %, and provides proof of concept for a SAW router in the quantum regime. In addition, due to the artificial atom's highly frequency dependent coupling to SAWs, electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) could be observed in the appended Paper V. Furthermore, the EIT region was distinguished from the Autler-Townes splitting region by a threshold in the applied power. The results produce parallel findings to quantum optics, but are perhaps best described as part of a different field, quantum acoustics.Among the many possible areas of research emerging as an outcome of this work, a variety of potential quantum experiments would benefit greatly from a higher conversion efficiency between electric signals and SAWs. Due to this, focus was put on improving this conversion efficiency by studying superconducting unidirectional transducers (UDTs), making use of advances in classical SAW devices. The appended Paper III shows that 99.4~\\% of the acoustic power can be focused in a desired direction and that the conversion between electric signals and SAWs is greatly improved by using UDTs, thereby eliminating the largest source of loss of symmetric inter-digital transducers. There is, however, a trade-off between conversion efficiency and bandwidth. This finding allows tailoring of quantum experiments based on SAWs that may pave the way towards measuring quantum sound.
We propose a universal, on-chip quantum transducer based on surface acoustic waves in piezoactive materials.Because of the intrinsic piezoelectric (and/or magnetostrictive) properties of the material, our approach provides a universal platform capable of coherently linking a broad array of qubits, including quantum dots, trapped ions, nitrogen-vacancy centers, or superconducting qubits.The quantized modes of surface acoustic waves lie in the gigahertz range and can be strongly confined close to the surface in phononic cavities and guided in acoustic waveguides.We show that this type of surface acoustic excitation can be utilized efficiently as a quantum bus, serving as an on-chip, mechanical cavity-QED equivalent of microwave photons and enabling long-range coupling of a wide range of qubits.
Abstract Surface acoustic waves are commonly used in classical electronics applications, and their use in quantum systems is beginning to be explored, as evidenced by recent experiments using acoustic Fabry–Pérot resonators. Here we explore their use for quantum communication, where we demonstrate a single-phonon surface acoustic wave transmission line, which links two physically separated qubit nodes. Each node comprises a microwave phonon transducer, an externally controlled superconducting variable coupler, and a superconducting qubit. Using this system, precisely shaped individual itinerant phonons are used to coherently transfer quantum information between the two physically distinct quantum nodes, enabling the high-fidelity node-to-node transfer of quantum states as well as the generation of a two-node Bell state. We further explore the dispersive interactions between an itinerant phonon emitted from one node and interacting with the superconducting qubit in the remote node. The observed interactions between the phonon and the remote qubit promise future quantum-optics-style experiments with itinerant phonons.
Acoustic waves are versatile excitations that couple to many different physical systems. They interact with optical fields in optomechanics, with spin defects through strain, and with superconducting circuits via capacitive or piezoelectric mechanisms. This versatility has motivated their use in hybrid quantum systems for quantum transduction, qubit control, and precision sensing, among other applications. In this thesis, the focus is on the optimization of microwave-to-acoustic coupling between superconducting circuits and Lamb modes in suspend thin-film lithium niobate (LiNbO₃). We leverage the strong piezoelectricity of this material to engineer strong interactions.The first part of the work addresses linear transduction. IDTs require impedance matching to operate efficiently, but this generally imposes a trade-off between efficiency and bandwidth. An optimal design can be identified in theory but is difficult to reach with standard microwave engineering. Here, high-impedance SQUID arrays are employed as linear, tunable inductors to realize the necessary impedance transformation. This approach enables transducers that operate close to the efficiency-bandwidth limit imposed by the piezoelectric coupling strength of LiNbO₃. The design strategy is applied to different types of devices: standard bi-directional IDTs, unidirectional IDTs where acoustic mirrors recover backward-emitted waves, and single-mode IDTs where additional transverse confinement produces quasi-one-dimensional propagation. Among these, unidirectional IDTs achieve unprecedented coupling, with efficiency–bandwidth products of ≈440 MHz and peak efficiencies of 62%. By leveraging flux tunability of SQUIDs we get tunable couplers between microwave circuits and Lamb-wave resonators.The second part investigates the nonlinear regime, where transmon qubits are coupled to Lamb-wave resonators. Unlike the high-Q but weakly coupled resonators often used in the literature, LiNbO₃ offers strong piezoelectric interactions that enable access to very strong coupling even without extremely high quality factors.Overall, this thesis establishes efficient linear transducers and explores strong nonlinear interactions, advancing superconducting-acoustic interfaces based on LiNbO₃. These results extend the superconducting circuit toolbox with sensitive acoustic elements and open pathways toward hybrid applications such as microwave-optical transduction, acoustic spectroscopy, and fundamental experiments exploring the interplay of quantum mechanics and gravity.