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An integrated microwave-to-optics interface for scalable quantum computing

Nature Nanotechnology volume 19, pages 166–172 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Microwave-to-optics transduction is emerging as a vital technology for scaling quantum computers and quantum networks. To establish useful entanglement links between qubit processing units, several key conditions must be simultaneously met: the transducer must add less than a single quantum of input-referred noise and operate with high efficiency, as well as large bandwidth and high repetition rate. Here we present a design for an integrated transducer based on a planar superconducting resonator coupled to a silicon photonic cavity through a mechanical oscillator made of lithium niobate on silicon. We experimentally demonstrate its performance with a transduction efficiency of 0.9% with 1 μW of continuous optical power and a spectral bandwidth of 14.8 MHz. With short optical pulses, we measure the added noise that is limited to a few photons, with a repetition rate of up to 100 kHz. Our device directly couples to a 50 Ω transmission line and can be scaled to a large number of transducers on a single chip, laying the foundations for distributed quantum computing.

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Fig. 1: Microwave-to-optical transduction device.
Fig. 2: Resonant electromechanical coupling and bidirectional transduction.
Fig. 3: Pulsed transduction and added noise.
Fig. 4: Repetition rate and quasiparticle generation.

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Data availability

Source data for the figures are available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8232627.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank A. Safavi-Naeini for valuable discussions and support. We thank J. van Oven and D. de Jong at Qblox for technical support. We further gratefully acknowledge assistance from E. He, helpful discussions with C. Jurczak and J. Fink, supply of wafers from NGK Insulators and the hospitality of the Department of Quantum Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology and the Kavli Nanolab Delft. This work is financially supported by the European Innovation Council (EIC Accelerator QModem 190109269) and the Province of Zuid-Holland (R&D samenwerkingsproject QConnect).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Matthew J. Weaver, Pim Duivestein, Alexandra C. Bernasconi, Selim Scharmer.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. QphoX B.V., Delft, The Netherlands

    Matthew J. Weaver, Pim Duivestein, Alexandra C. Bernasconi, Selim Scharmer, Mathilde Lemang, Thierry C. van Thiel, Frederick Hijazi, Bas Hensen, Simon Gröblacher & Robert Stockill

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the simulation, fabrication and testing of the device. P.D., S.S. and M.L. fabricated the device. M.J.W., A.C.B., R.S., B.H., T.C.v.T. and F.H. performed the experiments described in the manuscript. B.H., S.S. and R.S. simulated the device performance. M.J.W., R.S., S.G., A.C.B. and B.H. wrote the manuscript with input and editing from all authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Simon Gröblacher or Robert Stockill.

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Competing interests

All authors are or have been employed by QphoX B.V. and are, have been, or may in the future be participants in incentive stock plans at QphoX B.V. The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Nature Nanotechnology thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Information

Supplementary Sections I–X, Figs. 1–6, Tables 1 and 2 and references.

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Weaver, M.J., Duivestein, P., Bernasconi, A.C. et al. An integrated microwave-to-optics interface for scalable quantum computing. Nat. Nanotechnol. 19, 166–172 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-023-01515-y

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