Bidirectional and efficient conversion between microwave and optical light

By C. Regal, R. Andrews, R. W. Peterson, Thomas Purdy, Katarina Cicak, Raymond W. Simmonds, Konrad Lehnert. Nature Physics, 2013

675 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Converting low-frequency electrical signals into much higher-frequency optical signals has enabled modern communication networks to leverage the strengths of both microfabricated electrical circuits and optical fibre transmission, enabling information networks to grow in size and complexity. A microwave-to-optical converter in a quantum information network could provide similar gains by linking quantum processors through low-loss optical fibres and enabling a large-scale quantum network. However, no current technology can convert low-frequency microwave signals into high-frequency optical signals while preserving their fragile quantum state. Here we demonstrate a converter that provides a bidirectional, coherent and efficient link between the microwave and optical portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. We use our converter to transfer classical signals between microwave and optical light with conversion efficiencies of ∼10%, and achieve performance sufficient to transfer quantum states if the device were further precooled from its current 4 K operating temperature to temperatures below 40 mK. An optomechanical system that converts microwaves to optical frequency light and vice versa is demonstrated. The technique achieves a conversion efficiency of approximately 10%. The results indicate that the device could work at the quantum level, up- and down-converting individual photons, if it were cooled to millikelvin temperatures. It could, therefore, form an integral part of quantum-processor networks.

Subfields: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7f7edc53eb166d15b2ad6a55d61307d3ce49f0cf

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

In Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Citations in the corpus

Ultralow-Noise SiN Trampoline Resonators for Sensing and Optomechanics (2015, background): “It is hard to predict what form the latter might take, but in the simplest case, we envision capacitive [31,32] or fiber [33] readout from within the silicon etch pit, and a sharp tip (or other probe) fabricated upon the top surface.”
Quantum information processing with superconducting circuits: a review (2016, methodology): “There are proofofconcept experimental results show ing coherent bidirectional efficient conversion of GHz micro wave photons and THz optical photons [248].”
Optimal architectures for long distance quantum communication (2015, background): “(4 ) The opto-electro-mechanical systems have recently demonstrated efficient coherent frequency conversion between optical and microwave photons 48,49 and can potentially enable using superconducting systems 50 for reliable fast local quantum gates for QRs.”
The 2019 surface acoustic waves roadmap (2019, background): “A proof-of-principle demonstration combined capacitive electromechanical transduction with dispersive optomechanical transduction [108], where the latter used a free-space Fabry–Perot cavity modulated by a thin membrane vibrating at MHz frequencies.”
Demonstration of Efficient Nonreciprocity in a Microwave Optomechanical Circuit (2017, methodology): “For example, efficient, reciprocal frequency conversion using optomechanics has already been demonstrated in both the microwave [26] and optical [27, 28] frequency bands, as well as in conversion between the two [29].”
Pulsed excitation dynamics of an optomechanical crystal resonator near its quantum ground-state of motion (2015, positive): “In the specific example of optomechanically mediated coherent transfer of photons between optical and superconducting microwave resonators [8,9], the relevant figure of merit is the effective cooperativity Ceff ≡ C=nb, where nb is the effective bath occupancy defined such that γbnb 1⁄4 γ0n0 þ γpnp, ”
Efficient microwave to optical photon conversion: an electro-optical realization (2016, methodology): “conversion from 7 GHz microwaves into the optical domain was demonstrated in a cryogenic environment [12].”