Phonon-mediated quantum state transfer and remote qubit entanglement

Abstract

Good vibrations in quantum communication Quantum information processing platforms typically require qubits to talk to each other. To date, photons (either optical or microwave) have been the carrier of choice to transfer quantum states between the qubits. For some solid-state systems, however, the vibrational properties of the materials themselves, phonons, could be advantageous. Bienfait et al. describe the deterministic emission and capture of itinerant phonons through an acoustic communication channel, enabling the phonon-based coherent transfer of quantum states from one superconducting qubit to another and the quantum entanglement of the two qubits over the acoustic channel. The results provide a route to couple hybrid quantum solid-state systems using surface acoustic waves. Science , this issue p. 368