From superconducting qubits to optical photons

Alp Sipahigil

Mohammad Mirhosseini, Alp Sipahigil, Mahmoud Kalaee +1 more

Alp Sipahigil

Sumanta Das, Sanli Faez, Anders Søndberg Sørensen

We propose an efficient light-matter interface at optical frequencies between a superconducting qubit and a single photon. The desired interface is based on a hybrid architecture composed of an organic molecule embedded inside an optical waveguide and electrically coupled to a superconducting qubit far from the optical axis. We show that high fidelity, photon-mediated, entanglement between distant superconducting qubits can be achieved with incident pulses at the single photon level. Such low light level is highly sought for to overcome the decoherence of the superconducting qubit caused by absorption of optical photons.

Sumanta Das, Vincent E. Elfving, Sanli Faez +1 more

We propose an efficient light-matter interface at optical frequencies between a single photon and a superconducting qubit. The desired interface is based on a hybrid architecture composed of an organic molecule embedded inside an optical waveguide and electrically coupled to a superconducting qubit placed near the outside surface of the waveguide. We show that high fidelity, photon-mediated, entanglement between distant superconducting qubits can be achieved with incident pulses at the single photon level. Such a low light level is highly desirable for achieving a coherent optical interface with superconducting qubit, since it minimizes decoherence arising from the absorption of light.

Piero Chiappina

Superconducting quantum circuits are a leading hardware candidate for realizing a large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer. However, scaling superconducting quantum computers will soon approach the physical limits imposed by their cryogenic operating environments. Consequently, interconnects between multiple processor modules will become increasingly necessary for scaling quantum computers. Optical fiber is a particularly promising candidate for these interconnects due to its low loss and negligible thermal noise at room temperature. However, interfacing microwave-frequency superconducting circuits with optical fibers presents several challenges. In this thesis, we present a modular architecture which addresses many of the current challenges in building this interface. We develop an optomechanical quantum transducer which is capable of generating microwave- and optical-frequency photons in pairs, and demonstrate quantum entanglement between these microwave-optical photon pairs. Further, we develop a superconducting qubit module optimized for efficient absorption of itinerant microwave photons, and demonstrate a high-efficiency photon catch protocol. Finally, we connect the superconducting qubit module to the transducer module via a superconducting microwave cable. We drive the microwave-optical photon pair generation process in the transducer module and employ the photon catch protocol in the qubit module to facilitate state transfer between the qubit and the flying microwave photon from the transducer. We observe correlations between the final qubit state and the detection of an optical photon, demonstrating a crucial step toward establishing quantum entanglement between superconducting qubits and light. We discuss ongoing progress and challenges in realizing hybrid entanglement and in extending this approach to entangle remote superconducting qubits over optical networks.