Hybrid Quantum Systems

The current state of quantum computing research can be characterized as competition between several major and many smaller qubit platforms, all racing to be the first to achieve a fault-tolerant device capable of running algorithms with real world applications. The proponents of any given qubit type are quick to point out the advantages of their systems and the limitations of other approaches. Our work represents a powerful alternative to this winner-take-all ecosystem which we hope will provide a model for co-development of mixed architecture devices that will prove superior to single qubit-type systems.

In conjunction with our collaborators in Kai Mei-Fu’s group, our research aims to entangle a qubit implemented via the hyperfine structure of the ground state of a Ytterbium ion with the spin of a donor bound exciton in ZnO. Such a system may enable a hybrid quantum device to leverage the long coherence times demonstrated in ionic qubits for state storage and readout while utilizing the far faster gate speeds achieved in semiconductor qubits with photonic transduction generating entanglement between the subsystems.

Our proposed measurement based entanglement scheme makes use of the close optical transitions (369 nm) present in 171Yb+  (2S1/2 to 2P1/2) and a donor bound exciton in ZnO. The experiment relies on the probabilistic production of near identical photons from the two sources which are interfered on a beam splitter and then detected by high efficiency photon counters. By matching the time of arrival of photons from both emitters as well as their photon production probability, this protocol will produce path erasure of the photons leading to heralded entanglement.

This research is a collaboration with the Kai-Mei Fu group and UW I.T.Q.C.

For more information, see our publication below.