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arXiv:2610.01252

Correlation Imaging via Hybrid Entanglement between Microwave Photons and Surface Acoustic Wave Phonons

Yu-Yuan Chen, Ling-An Wu, Yu-xi Liu

physics.app-phquant-phSubmitted Oct 1, 2026• Announced Oct 2, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

Establishing effective spatial correlations between distinct quantum fields is essential for multi-physics quantum sensing.~We here propose a correlation imaging approach based on the hybrid entanglement between microwave photons and microwave surface acoustic wave phonons generated via a superconducting quantum circuit.~At matched microwave frequencies, the five order-of-magnitude wavelength disparity between photons and phonons leads to a unique quantum entanglement resource, which allows the optimal field for probing an object to be distinct from that used for readout.~This resource enables two imaging modalities with giant spatial scaling: a $10^{-8}-10^{-6}$-fold demagnification of macroscopic object profiles onto microscopic phononic chips, and conversely, a $10^{4}-10^{6}$-fold magnification of microscopic object profiles into macroscopic photonic readout devices. By interfacing free-space long-wavelength microwaves with on-chip short-wavelength surface acoustic waves, our correlation imaging approach provides a general framework for cross-scale quantum sensing.

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7 pages, 4 figures

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Establishing effective spatial correlations between distinct quantum fields is essential for multi-physics quantum sensing.~We here propose a correlation imaging approach based on the hybrid entanglement between microwave photons and microwave surface acoustic wave phonons generated via a superconducting quantum circuit.~At matched microwave frequencies, the five order-of-magnitude wavelength disparity between photons and phonons leads to a unique quantum entanglement resource, which allows the optimal field for probing an object to be distinct from that used for readout.~This resource enables two imaging modalities with giant spatial scaling: a 10−8−10−610^{-8}-10^{-6}10−8−10−6-fold demagnification of macroscopic object profiles onto microscopic phononic chips, and conversely, a 104−10610^{4}-10^{6}104−106-fold magnification of microscopic object profiles into macroscopic photonic readout devices. By interfacing free-space long-wavelength microwaves with on-chip short-wavelength surface acoustic waves, our correlation imaging approach provides a general framework for cross-scale quantum sensing.
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