Universal Quantum Transducers based on Surface Acoustic Waves

Understand

We propose a universal, on-chip quantum transducer based on surface acoustic waves in piezo-active materials.

• Because of the intrinsic piezoelectric (and/or magnetostrictive) properties of the material, our approach provides a universal platform capable of coherently linking a broad array of qubits, including quantum dots, trapped ions, nitrogen-vacancy centers or superconducting qubits.
• The quantized modes of surface acoustic waves lie in the gigahertz range, can be strongly confined close to the surface in phononic cavities and guided in acoustic waveguides.
• We show that this type of surface acoustic excitations can be utilized efficiently as a quantum bus, serving as an on-chip, mechanical cavity-QED equivalent of microwave photons and enabling long-range coupling of a wide range of qubits.