Stable optomechanical Fabry-Pérot architecture in a continuous microwave-to-optical transducer

A transducer capable of faithfully converting single quanta between microwave and optical frequencies would enable an optical network of superconducting quantum computers. A primary challenge in the ongoing effort to bridge these frequency scales is the detrimental effect that optical photons have on superconducting circuits. This manuscript details the membrane-optomechanical Fabry-P´erot architecture we employ in a high-efficiency electrooptomechanical transducer. We use a chemical bonding process to create an integrated membrane-mirror etalon assembly that is robust against thermal misalignment upon cryogenic cooling. Our choice of input coupling mirror and cavity geometry allow flexible operation of the transducer in the presence of any additional nonidealities in the optical cavity, such as additional scattering loss associated with one mirror. Our transducer is unique in its ability to operate with continuous laser illumination without substantially impacting the superconducting circuitry of the transducer or a superconducting transmon qubit linked to its microwave input. We quantify the effect of laser light on the superconductor, measuring the effective occupancy of the transducer’s superconducting circuit with varying optical power to be less than 0.15 photons even at powers greatly exceeding that needed for transducer operation. We also measure the coherence time T₂ of a qubit attached to the transducer for optical readout, and determine that continuous laser pumping of the transducer has no measurable effect.