- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine

Physical Review Research

Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Resonator-assisted quantum transduction between superconducting qubits and trapped atomic systems via Rydberg levels

Fernando L. Semião

Matthias Keller*

  • *Contact author: m.k.keller@sussex.ac.uk
PDF

Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033210 – Published 2 September, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/j4bk-tvhc

Abstract

Using a shared microwave resonator, we propose a transduction scheme between superconducting qubits and qubit states encoded in the low-lying internal levels of trapped atomic systems. The approach employs atomic Rydberg levels together with laser pulses that connect them to the low-lying qubit states. We explore two coupling protocols: one based on resonant interactions between the subsystems and another operating in the dispersive regime, where the resonator is far detuned from the transition frequencies of the matter qubits. These protocols enable the transfer of a general qubit state from the superconducting qubit to the atomic qubit. Transfer fidelity is evaluated across different coupling regimes and under various sources of dissipation and decoherence, including resonator decay, Rydberg state decay, and both relaxation and pure dephasing of the superconducting qubit, providing a detailed assessment of the performance of the proposed scheme.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (49)

  1. A. Imamoğlu, Cavity QED based on collective magnetic dipole coupling: Spin ensembles as hybrid two-level systems, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 083602 (2009).
  2. J. Verdú, J. H. Zoubi, C. Koller, J. Majer, H. Ritsch, and J. Schmiedmayer, Strong magnetic coupling of an ultracold gas to a superconducting waveguide cavity, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 043603 (2009).
  3. M. Hafezi, Z. Kim, S. L. Rolston, L. A. Orozco, B. L. Lev, and J. M. Taylor, Atomic interface between microwave and optical photons, Phys. Rev. A 85, 020302 (2012).
  4. C. O’Brien, N. Lauk, S. Blum, G. Morigi, and M. Fleischhauer, Interfacing superconducting qubits and telecom photons via a rare-earth-doped crystal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 063603 (2014).
  5. L. A. Williamson, Y.-H. Chen, and J. J. Longdell, Magneto-optic modulator with unit quantum efficiency, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 203601 (2014).
  6. X. Fernandez-Gonzalvo, Y.-H. Chen, C. Yin, S. Rogge, and J. J. Longdell, Coherent frequency up-conversion of microwaves to the optical telecommunications band in an Er:YSO crystal, Phys. Rev. A 92, 062313 (2015).
  7. K. Stannigel, P. Rabl, A. S. Sørensen, P. Zoller, and M. D. Lukin, Optomechanical transducers for long-distance quantum communication, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 220501 (2010).
  8. R. W. Andrews, R. W. Peterson, T. P. Purdy, K. Cicak, R. W. Simmonds, C. A. Regal, and K. W. Lehnert, Bidirectional and efficient conversion between microwave and optical light, Nat. Phys. 10, 321 (2014).
  9. T. Bagci, A. Simonsen, S. Schmid, L. G. Villanueva, E. Zeuthen, J. Appel, J. M. Taylor, A. Sørensen, K. Usami, A. Schliesser, and E. S. Polzik, Optical detection of radio waves through a nanomechanical transducer, Nature (London) 507, 81 (2014).
  10. Sh. Barzanjeh, M. Abdi, G. J. Milburn, P. Tombesi, and D. Vitali, Reversible optical-to-microwave quantum interface, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 143601 (2012).
  11. A. H. Safavi-Naeini and O. Painter, Proposal for an optomechanical traveling wave phonon–photon translator, New J. Phys. 13, 013017 (2011).
  12. L. Tian and H. Wang, Optical wavelength conversion of quantum states with optomechanics, Phys. Rev. A 82, 053806 (2010).
  13. Y.-D. Wang and A. A. Clerk, Using interference for high fidelity quantum state transfer in optomechanics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 153603 (2012).
  14. L. Tian, Adiabatic state conversion and pulse transmission in optomechanical systems, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 153604 (2012).
  15. J. T. Hill, A. H. Safavi-Naeini, J. Chan, and O. Painter, Coherent optical wavelength conversion via cavity optomechanics, Nat. Commun. 3, 1196 (2012).
  16. M. I. Tsang, Cavity quantum electro-optics, Phys. Rev. A 81, 063837 (2010).
  17. M. Soltani, M. Zhang, C. A. Ryan, G. J. Ribeill, C. Wang, and M. Loncar, Efficient quantum microwave-to-optical conversion using electro-optic nanophotonic coupled resonators, Phys. Rev. A 96, 043808 (2017).
  18. R. Hisatomi, A. Osada, Y. Tabuchi, T. Ishikawa, A. Noguchi, R. Yamazaki, K. Usami, and Y. Nakamura, Bidirectional conversion between microwave and light via ferromagnetic magnons, Phys. Rev. B 93, 174427 (2016).
  19. J. R. Everts, M. C. Berrington, R. L. Ahlefeldt, and J. J. Longdell, Microwave to optical photon conversion via fully concentrated rare-earth-ion crystals, Phys. Rev. A 99, 063830 (2019).
  20. J. R. Everts, G. G. G. King, N. Lambert, S. Kocsis, S. Rogge, and J. J. Longdell, Ultrastrong coupling between a microwave resonator and antiferromagnetic resonances of rare-earth ion spins, Phys. Rev. B 101, 214414 (2020).
  21. S. Das, V. E. Elfving, S. Faez, and A. S. Sørensen, Interfacing superconducting qubits and single optical photons using molecules in waveguides, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 140501 (2017).
  22. V. E. Elfving, S. Das, and A. S. Sørensen, Enhancing quantum transduction via long-range waveguide-mediated interactions between quantum emitters, Phys. Rev. A 100, 053843 (2019).
  23. Y. Tsuchimoto, P. Knüppel, A. Delteil, Z. Sun, M. Kroner, and A. Imamoğlu, Proposal for a quantum interface between photonic and superconducting qubits, Phys. Rev. B 96, 165312 (2017).
  24. D. De Motte, A. R. Grounds, M. Rehák, A. Rodriguez Blanco, B. Lekitsch, G. S. Giri, P. Neilinger, G. Oelsner, E. Il’ichev, M. Grajcar, and W. K. Hensinger, Experimental system design for the integration of trapped-ion and superconducting qubit systems, Quantum Inf. Process. 15, 5385 (2016).
  25. D. Kielpinski, D. Kafri, M. J. Woolley, G. J. Milburn, and J. M. Taylor, Quantum interface between an electrical circuit and a single atom, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 130504 (2012).
  26. D. I. Schuster, Lev S. Bishop, I. L. Chuang, D. DeMille, and R. J. Schoelkopf, Cavity QED in a molecular ion trap, Phys. Rev. A 83, 012311 (2011).
  27. T. Walker, K. Miyanishi, R. Ikuta, H. Takahashi, S. V. Kashanian, Y. Tsujimoto, K. Hayasaka, T. Yamamoto, N. Imoto, and M. Keller, Long-distance single photon transmission from a trapped ion via quantum frequency conversion, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 203601 (2018).
  28. V. Krutyanskiy, M. Canteri, M. Meraner, J. Bate, V. Krcmarsky, J. Schupp, N. Sangouard, and B. P. Lanyon, Telecom-wavelength quantum repeater node based on a trapped-ion processor, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 213601 (2023).
  29. J. M. Raimond, M. Brune, and S. Haroche, Manipulating quantum entanglement with atoms and photons in a cavity, Rev. Mod. Phys. 73, 565 (2001).
  30. T. Wilk, A. Gaëtan, C. Evellin, J. Wolters, Y. Miroshnychenko, P. Grangier, and A. Browaeys, Entanglement of two individual neutral atoms using Rydberg blockade, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 010502 (2010).
  31. L. Isenhower, E. Urban, X. L. Zhang, A. T. Gill, T. Henage, T. A. Johnson, T. G. Walker, and M. Saffman, Demonstration of a neutral atom controlled-NOT quantum gate, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 010503 (2010).
  32. T. Feldker, P. Bachor, M. Stappel, D. Kolbe, R. Gerritsma, J. Walz, and F. Schmidt-Kaler, Rydberg excitation of a single trapped ion, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 173001 (2015).
  33. G. Higgins, F. Pokorny, C. Zhang, Q. Bodart, and M. Hennrich, Coherent control of a single trapped Rydberg ion, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 220501 (2017).
  34. C. Zhang, F. Pokorny, W. Li, G. Higgins, A. Pöschl, I. Lesanovsky, and M. Hennrich, Submicrosecond entangling gate between trapped ions via Rydberg interaction, Nature (London) 580, 345 (2020).
  35. M. A. Sillanpää, J. I. Park, and R. W. Simmonds, Coherent quantum state storage and transfer between two phase qubits via a resonant cavity, Nature (London) 449, 438 (2007).
  36. A. Blais, A. Grimsmo, S. M. Girvin, and A. Wallraff, Circuit quantum electrodynamics, Rev. Mod. Phys. 93, 025005 (2021).
  37. M. Kaiser, C. Glaser, L. Y. Ley, J. Grimmel, H. Hattermann, D. Bothner, D. Kölle, R. Kleiner, D. Petrosyan, A. Günther, and J. Fortágh, Cavity-driven Rabi oscillations between Rydberg states of atoms trapped on a superconducting atom chip, Phys. Rev. Res. 4, 013207 (2022).
  38. M. A. Chuang and I. L. Chuang, Quantum Computation and Quantum Information (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000).
  39. S. de Léséleuc, D. Barredo, V. Lienhard, A. Browaeys, and T. Lahaye, Analysis of imperfections in the coherent optical excitation of single atoms to Rydberg states, Phys. Rev. A 97, 053803 (2018).
  40. A. M. Gunyhó, S. Kundu, J. Ma, W. Liu, S. Niemelä, G. Catto, V. Vadimov, V. Vesterinen, P. Singh, Q. Chen, and M. Möttönen, Single-shot readout of a superconducting qubit using a thermal detector, Nat. Electron. 7, 288 (2024).
  41. S. B. Zheng and G. C. Guo, Efficient scheme for two-atom entanglement and quantum information processing in cavity QED, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2392 (2000).
  42. C. Gerry and P. Knight, Introductory Quantum Optics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005).
  43. F. L. Semião, Single-mode two-channel cavity QED, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 41, 081004 (2008).
  44. R. J. Schoelkopf and S. M. Girvin, Wiring up quantum systems, Nature (London) 451, 664 (2008).
  45. W. Teixeira, T. Mörstedt, A. Viitanen, H. Kivijärvi, A. Gunyhó, M. Tiiri, S. Kundu, A. Sah, V. Vadimov, and M. Möttönen, Many-excitation removal of a transmon qubit using a single-junction quantum-circuit refrigerator and a two-tone microwave drive, Sci. Rep. 14, 13755 (2024).
  46. F. Yan, S. Gustavsson, A. Kamal, J. Birenbaum, A. P. Sears, D. Hover, T. J. Gudmundsen, D. Rosenberg, G. Samach, S. Weber, J. L. Yoder, T. P. Orlando, J. Clarke, A. J. Kerman, and W. D. Oliver, The flux qubit revisited to enhance coherence and reproducibility, Nat. Commun. 7, 12964 (2016).
  47. Y. Chew, T. Tomita, T. P. Mahesh, S. Sugawa, S. de Léséleuc, and K. Ohmori, Ultrafast energy exchange between two single Rydberg atoms on a nanosecond timescale, Nat. Photon. 16, 724 (2022).
  48. B. Huber, T. Baluktsian, M. Schlagmüller, A. Kölle, H. Kübler, R. Löw, and T. Pfau, GHz Rabi flopping to Rydberg states in hot atomic vapor cells, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 243001 (2011).
  49. https://doi.org/10.25377/sussex.29852018.

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033210– Published 2 September, 2025
  • Received 6 January 2025
  • Accepted 18 July 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button
Creative Commons Logo

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation