Characterization of an on-chip rare-earth ion based microwave to optical transducer*

Microwave to optical transduction can enable large-scale quantum networks and distributed quantum computing with superconducting qubits. Cavity coupled rare-earth ion (REI) ensembles offer a promising platform for converting between microwave and optical photons. Among REIs, erbium is of particular interest because of its optical transitions in the lowest-loss telecommunication band.

Here, we present an on-chip REI-based transducer utilizing a nanophotonic optical resonator and a superconducting microwave resonator on an erbium-doped yttrium orthovanadate substrate. We calibrate the microwave-to-optical transduction efficiency at dilution temperatures. Pulsed mode measurements will also be presented, where higher efficiency and lower transducer temperature are achieved.