Laser-cooled atoms bring networks of quantum computers a step closer

Quantum information in superconducting processors is stored as low-energy microwave photons, but transmitting this information over long distances to build a quantum network requires conversion of low-energy photons to high-energy optical photons. Laser-cooled rubidium atoms now enable conversion between photons with vastly different energies.

This is a summary of: Kumar, A. et al. Quantum-enabled millimetre wave to optical transduction using neutral atoms. Nature 615, 614-619 (2023).

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00323-7

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