A UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) research team has made headway in the future of quantum information science; the physicists at the University of California (UC), who explore exactly how information science depends on quantum effects (e.g., electrical, optical and chemical properties of nanostructures) in physics, discovered that a variety of nanomechanical systems (i.e., fundamental mechanical properties of physical systems at the nanoscale) can now operate at the quantum limit.
The discovery of the Quantum Physics Research by UCSB Physicists shows there actually is a way to translate electrical quantum states to optical quantum; “the scientists were able generate coherent interactions between electrical signals, very high frequency mechanical vibrations, and optical signals,” as stated in the online edition of Nature Physics, a monthly, peer reviewed, scientific journal published by the Nature Publishing Group (NPG).
This research paper, presented by the UCSB team, gives details that describe what is said to be “the first and arguably most challenging step in the process” of quantum information processing (QIP) and the quantum nature of optical phenomena to improve the security of digital information transfer. The research team found out that by using a piezoelectric optomechanical crystal it can achieve coherent signal transfer of full quantum information to and from one electron spin and a single nuclear spin at room temperature while able to generate a strong optical response from the source, explained David Awschalom, director of UCSB's Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation.
The scientists have shown how it is possible to improve fiber-optic data transmission for computers and networks that work on the principles of quantum physics, said lead author and featured researcher Jörg Bochmann, a postdoctoral scholar in UCSB's Department of Physics. He point out the nanomechanical transducer, which is an effective conduit for translating electrical signals (microwaves) into light (photons), provides high bandwidth displacement, strong and coherent coupling over long distances between microwave signals and optical photons.
According to Andrew Cleland, a professor of physics and associate director of the California Nanosystems Institute at UCSB, the "genuine quantum features and non-classical mechanical states will emerge when we couple a superconducting qubit to the transducer.”
The prototype transducer, which has not been operated in the quantum realm, can provide the interactions between microwaves, mechanical and optical modes. It is fully compatible with superconducting quantum circuits and is well suited for cryogenic operation, Bochmann explained.
Edited by
Rachel Ramsey
