Coherent state transfer between itinerant microwave fields and a mechanical oscillator

Area of Science:

• Quantum physics
• Quantum information science
• Cavity optomechanics

Background:

• Macroscopic mechanical oscillators can exhibit quantum behavior through cooling techniques.
• Mechanical oscillators are proposed for quantum information processing with superconducting circuits, acting as quantum memories or interfaces.
• Efficiently transferring quantum states to and from mechanical oscillators has been a significant challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate coherent transfer, storage, and retrieval of itinerant microwave field states in a mechanical oscillator.
• To achieve single-quantum level control of mechanical oscillator amplitudes.
• To enable quantum information transfer between microwave fields and mechanical systems.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing macroscopic mechanical oscillators cooled to a quantum regime.
• Implementing rapid interaction control to enable state transfer.
• Employing techniques for single-quantum level manipulation.

Main Results:

• Successfully demonstrated coherent transfer of itinerant microwave field states into a mechanical oscillator.
• Achieved storage and retrieval of quantum states at the single-quantum level.
• Confirmed that capture and retrieval times are shorter than the quantum state lifetime of the oscillator.

Conclusions:

• Macroscopic mechanical oscillators can function as quantum memories for microwave fields.
• This work enables quantum state transfer between microwave fields and mechanical systems.
• The demonstrated capabilities pave the way for interfacing otherwise incompatible quantum systems.