Parametric amplification of an optomechanical quantum interconnect

Abstract

Connecting superconducting qubits to optical fiber necessitates the conversion of microwave photons to optical photons. Modern experimental demonstrations exhibit strong coupling between a microwave resonator and an optical cavity mediated through phononic modes in a mechanical oscillator. This paradigmatic transduction experiment is bounded by a theoretical efficiency with constant driving amplitudes on electromagnetic resonators. By adding a parametric drive to the microwave resonator and optical cavity, we discover the converted signal through the quantum transducer is amplified, while maintaining a lower level of the added noise. We propose a theoretical framework for time-dependent control of the driving lasers based on the input-output formalism of quantum optics and solve analytically the transduction efficiency and added noise when the control signals parametrically drive the system. Our results show better transduction efficiency and lower added noise in varying parameter regimes relevant to current transduction experiments.