Addressing option area #II.A.2.a: Integrated electro-optic transducers to couple superconducting qubits and optical photons
Abstract
IBM seeks to develop a novel hybrid integrated photonics platform that enables single photon level microwave-optical conversion to provide quantum state transfer capabilities for superconducting qubits. A primary application for our transduction technology is blind quantum computing that requires the capability to transfer a quantum state from a remote client site to a quantum computer without exposing clientÕs data and algorithms to the cloud quantum computing provider. Over the course of the proposed program, IBM will develop devices and protocols for quantum state transfer from the microwave domain to the optical domain and vice versa. High-bandwidth, high-efficiency microwave-optical transduction remains an outstanding challenge for any physical realizations to date. Here, we propose a path towards this critical transduction task, capable of achieving 1 MHz conversion rate with 90% conversion efficiency via a novel hybrid integrated photonics platform between the silicon-germanium (SiGe) material system and superconducting circuits. The novel platform can simultaneously enable low RF loss, low optical loss, and high RF-optical field overlap that is crucial for an efficient transduction. The strong third-order nonlinearities of Si & SiGe can be leveraged to produce an effective linear electro-optic coefficient x(2) through the DC Kerr effect activated by a strong DC bias field. In an ultra-low loss platform, this nonlinearity is suitable for MHz transduction rates. Further enhancement of the effective nonlinearity within the platform can be explored by introducing strain gradients to break crystal inversion symmetry. SiGe/Si is compatible with the world-leading superconducting fabrication process developed at IBM and the intimate connection between superconducting qubits and optical transduction devices may lead to other new applications within quantum information processing such as distributed quantum computation methodologies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 11, 2018
- Source ID
- W911NF1810022
Entities
People
- Jason S. Orcutt
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY)
- National Security Agency