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arXiv:2505.02057 · IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials

Quantum Transduction: Enabling Quantum Networking

Marcello Caleffi, Laura d'Avossa, Xu Han, Angela Sara Cacciapuoti

Published Nov 10, 2025• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The complementary features of different qubit platforms for computing and communicating impose an intrinsic hardware heterogeneity in any quantum network, where nodes, while processing and storing quantum information, must also communicate through quantum links. Indeed, one of the most promising hardware platforms at quantum node scale for scalable and fast quantum computing is the superconducting technology, which operates at microwave frequencies. Whereas, for communicating at distances of practical interest beyond few meters, quantum links should operate at optical frequencies. Therefore, to allow the interaction between superconducting and photonic technologies, a quantum interface, known asquantum transducer, able to convert one type of qubit to another is required. This paper aims to provide a tutorial treatise on the fundamental research challenges of quantum transduction. The tutorial is structured around a communications engineering framework, thereby shedding light on its fundamental role in quantum network design and deployment—a perspective often overlooked in existing literature. This framework allows us to categorize different transduction modalities and to reveal an unorthodox one where the transducer itself can act as an entanglement source. From this standpoint, it is possible to conceive different source-destination link archetypes, where transduction plays a crucial role in the communication performances. The analysis also translates the quantum transduction process into a proper functional block within a new communication system model for a quantum network.

DOI
10.1109/comst.2025.3631150

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The complementary features of different qubit platforms for computing and communicating impose an intrinsic hardware heterogeneity in any quantum network, where nodes, while processing and storing quantum information, must also communicate through quantum links. Indeed, one of the most promising hardware platforms at quantum node scale for scalable and fast quantum computing is the superconducting technology, which operates at microwave frequencies. Whereas, for communicating at distances of practical interest beyond few meters, quantum links should operate at optical frequencies. Therefore, to allow the interaction between superconducting and photonic technologies, a quantum interface, known asquantum transducer, able to convert one type of qubit to another is required. This paper aims to provide a tutorial treatise on the fundamental research challenges of quantum transduction. The tutorial is structured around a communications engineering framework, thereby shedding light on its fundamental role in quantum network design and deployment—a perspective often overlooked in existing literature. This framework allows us to categorize different transduction modalities and to reveal an unorthodox one where the transducer itself can act as an entanglement source. From this standpoint, it is possible to conceive different source-destination link archetypes, where transduction plays a crucial role in the communication performances. The analysis also translates the quantum transduction process into a proper functional block within a new communication system model for a quantum network.
Superconducting and photonic technologies are envisioned to play a key role in the Quantum Internet. However the hybridization of these technologies requires functional quantum transducers for converting superconducting qubits, exploited in quantum computation, into “flying” qubits, able to propagate through the network (and vice-versa). In this paper, quantum transduction is theoretically investigated for a key functionality of the Quantum Internet, namely, multipartite entanglement distribution. Different communication models for quantum transduction are provided, in order to make the entanglement distribution possible. The proposed models departs from the large heterogeneity of hardware solutions available in literature, abstracting from the particulars of the specific solutions with a communication engineering perspective. Then, a performance analysis of the proposed models is conducted through key communication metrics, such as quantum capacity and entanglement generation probability. The analysis reveals that – although the considered communication metrics depend on transduction hardware parameters for all the proposed models – the particulars of the considered transduction paradigm play a relevant role in the overall entanglement distribution performance.
Superconducting and photonic technologies are envisioned to play a key role in the Quantum Internet. However the hybridization of these technologies requires functional quantum transducers for converting superconducting qubits, exploited in quantum computation, into ``flying'' qubits, able to propagate through the network (and vice-versa). In this paper, quantum transduction is theoretically investigated for a key functionality of the Quantum Internet, namely, multipartite entanglement distribution. Different communication models for quantum transduction are provided, in order to make the entanglement distribution possible. The proposed models departs from the large heterogeneity of hardware solutions available in literature, abstracting from the particulars of the specific solutions with a communication engineering perspective. Then, a performance analysis of the proposed models is conducted through key communication metrics, such as quantum capacity and entanglement generation probability. The analysis reveals that -- although the considered communication metrics depend on transduction hardware parameters for all the proposed models -- the particulars of the considered transduction paradigm play a relevant role in the overall entanglement distribution performance.
The Quantum Internet would likely be composed of diverse qubit technologies that interact through a heterogeneous quantum network. Thus, quantum transduction has been identified as a key enabler of the Quantum Internet. To better study heterogeneous quantum networks, the integration of a quantum transducer component into quantum network simulators has become crucial. In this paper, we extend SeQUeNCe, an opensource, discrete-event simulator of quantum networks, with a quantum transduction component along with auxiliary hardware device models and protocols. Moreover, we explore two strategies for transmitting quantum information between superconducting nodes via optical channels, with a focus on the impact of quantum transduction on the transmission process. The performance of these strategies is analyzed and compared through simulations conducted using SeQUeNCe. Our results align with theoretical predictions, offering simulation-based validation of the strategies and providing a path to accurate, larger-scale simulations of heterogeneous quantum networks.
The development of scalable quantum networks requires coherent interfaces capable of converting microwave photons used in superconducting quantum processors into optical photons suitable for long-distance fiber transmission. This review surveys recent progress in microwave-to-optical quantum transduction across optomechanical, electro-optic, and magneto-optic platforms, with emphasis on conversion efficiency, bandwidth, added noise, and operating temperature. In addition to standard metrics, we propose the internal efficiency eta_in and the magnon decay rate kappa_m/2pi as normalized parameters that enable fairer comparison across heterogeneous implementations. Optomechanical systems achieve internal phonon-to-photon efficiencies of 93% with sub-quantum added noise of 0.25 quanta at millikelvin temperatures. Electro-optic devices based on LiNbO3 and AlN have advanced from room-temperature efficiencies below 1% to millikelvin systems with internal efficiencies approaching 99.5%, added noise as low as 0.16 quanta at 60 mK, and bandwidths extending to several tens of megahertz. Magneto-optic (optomagnonic) platforms exhibit the lowest efficiencies (typically 10−1010^{-10}10−10 to 10−8)10^{-8})10−8), but offer intrinsic non-reciprocity and broadband magnonic operation, with emerging approaches based on topological heterostructures and magnon squeezing predicting enhancements up to 10−410^{-4}10−4. Optomechanical systems appear promising for high-fidelity quantum state transfer, electro-optic transducers for high-bandwidth coherent links, and magneto-optic devices for non-reciprocal network components. We discuss the fundamental trade-off between efficiency and added noise across all three platforms, and argue that heterogeneous microwave-optical transduction is emerging as a key enabling technology for distributed quantum computing and large-scale quantum networks.
Optical photons play unique role in transmitting information over long distances. Photonic links by the optical fiber networks compose the backbone of today's global internet. Such fiber optics can also provide the most cost-effective quantum channels to distribute quantum information across distant stationary nodes in future large-scale quantum networks. This prospect motivates the recent emerging efforts in developing microwave-optical quantum transduction technology to interconnect microwave quantum processors. Various frequency conversion approaches are investigated to efficiently bridge the enormous electromagnetic frequency gap while preserving quantum coherence. Nonetheless, high-fidelity entanglement generation between remote quantum processing units has remained out of reach to date. Here, we summarize the state-of-the-art progresses in quantum transducer engineering and provide the perspectives on the key challenges and opportunities toward optically heralded quantum entanglement distributions.
Efficient transduction of electromagnetic signals between different frequency scales is an essential ingredient for modern communication technologies as well as for the emergent field of quantum information processing. Recent advances in waveguide photonics have enabled a breakthrough in light-matter coupling, where individual two-level emitters are strongly coupled to individual photons. Here we propose a scheme that exploits this coupling to boost the performance of transducers between low-frequency signals and optical fields operating at the level of individual photons. Specifically, we demonstrate how to engineer the interaction between quantum dots in waveguides to enable efficient transduction of electric fields coupled to quantum dots. Owing to the scalability and integrability of the solid-state platform, our transducer can potentially become a key building block of a quantum internet node. To demonstrate this, we show how it can be used as a coherent quantum interface between optical photons and a two-level system like a superconducting qubit.