Quantum spin-optomechanics

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Quantum technologies promise to enhance our ability to communicate securely, analyse complex problems, and realise powerful sensors for probing and monitoring our world. They achieve this by harnessing properties of the quantum systems-electrons, photons, sound waves-that make up the signals that stream into our homes and computers. Advances in quantum devices-microchips patterned with quantum optical or electronic circuits-are making execution of delicate operations on these quantum systems increasingly accessible, leading to widely publicised breakthroughs in quantum technology by established companies like Google and IBM, and by start-ups such as Xanadu and D-Wave in Canada. Despite this excitement, there are many technical and fundamental challenges that must be overcome to move quantum technologies from proof-of-principle demonstrations to readily available resources that impact everyday life. One of these challenges is the interconnect problem: how can we interface quantum technologies created from widely differing physical systems without destroying their quantum properties, i.e. changing their quantum state? This challenge prevents, for example, today's most powerful quantum computers from being connected to microscopic quantum memories or to optical networks that could form the backbone of a "quantum internet". Fortunately, innovations in quantum devices are emerging to address these challenges. This proposal describes how the world leading nanofabrication capabilities of Barclay and his group will be used to create quantum devices that connect physical systems that are otherwise incompatible with each other. These devices are centered around the lab's pioneering approach to fabricating quantum devices from diamond, a material that is commercially available in chip form and whose imperfections-impurities-host electrons whose quantum states are relatively impervious to the noisy outside world. These quantum states, which are related to the different spin that electrons can possess, form the basis for atomic sized qubits and are of intense interest to quantum technology researchers.  Building on a recent breakthrough in diamond quantum device development, this proposal will create interfaces between diamond spin qubits and quantum communication and computing hardware. These quantum interfaces will harness the ability of vibrations of mechanical resonators to couple to many different types of quantum systems: optical photons, superconducting quantum circuits, and spin qubits. Their underlying technology will also lead to architectures for connecting spin qubits to each other, and to powerful quantum sensing platforms for probing nanoscale materials. This project builds on recent investments in state-of-the-art research infrastructure (major CFI Innovation Fund awards in 2017 and 2021) and will position Canada as a leader within a highly competitive and rapidly growing area of quantum research.