Abstract: Optically interconnected networks of heterogeneous quantum platforms are milestones of future quantum information infrastructure. Integrating superconducting qubits as the prominent quantum processors in such a network requires efficient and high-fidelity microwave-optical interfaces. In this talk, I will highlight our recent progress towards an electro-optomechanical transducer, which converts quantum-level microwave signal in a superconducting circuit to optical photons in telecom-band fibers via electrostatically actuated high-quality silicon nanomechanics. I will share our design strategy to achieve simultaneously high conversion rate and low added noise - the two important metrics for entangling remote superconducting qubits. Lastly, I will conclude with our plans to tackle optically heralded long-distance entanglement generation and the prospect of distributed quantum computation. 

About the Speaker: Han Zhao is an assistant professor at the Department of Physics, UCF. Previously, he was a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech working on quantum microwave-to-optical frequency conversion using silicon nanomechanics. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2019, where his research focus was on non-Hermitian topological photonics.