Optomechanical interface between telecom photons and spin quantum memory

TL;DR

This paper presents a cavity optomechanics method to connect telecom photons with spin quantum memories, enabling strain-based control of nitrogen-vacancy center spins in diamond without relying on optical transitions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel strain-based optomechanical interface that links telecom photons to solid-state spin qubits, broadening quantum network capabilities.

Findings

Demonstrated control of NV center spins using 1550 nm photons

Method is insensitive to spectral diffusion

Applicable to various solid-state qubits

Abstract

Quantum networks enable a broad range of practical and fundamental applications spanning distributed quantum computing to sensing and metrology. A cornerstone of such networks is an interface between telecom photons and quantum memories. Here we demonstrate a novel approach based on cavity optomechanics that utilizes the susceptibility of spin qubits to strain. We use it to control electron spins of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond with photons in the 1550 nm telecommunications wavelength band. This method does not involve qubit optical transitions and is insensitive to spectral diffusion. Furthermore, our approach can be applied to solid-state qubits in a wide variety of materials, expanding the toolbox for quantum information processing.