Speaker: Shabir Barzanjeh, Asst. Prof., University of Calgary

Abstract: The recent interest in mechanical quantum systems is driven not only by fundamental tests of quantum gravity but also by developing a new generation of hybrid quantum technologies. Here I confirm the long-standing prediction that a parametrically driven mechanical oscillator can entangle electromagnetic fields. We observe stationary emission of path-entangled microwave radiation from a micro-machined silicon nanostring oscillator, squeezing the joint field operators of two thermal modes by 3.40 (37) ~ dB below the vacuum level. This entanglement can be used to implement Quantum Illumination. Quantum illumination is a powerful sensing technique that employs entangled photons to boost the detection of low-reflectivity objects in environments with bright thermal noise. The promised advantage over classical strategies is particularly evident at low signal photon flux. This feature makes the protocol an ideal prototype for non-invasive biomedical scanning or low-power short-range radar detection. We experimentally demonstrated quantum illumination at microwave frequencies. We generate entangled fields using a Josephson parametric converter at millikelvin temperatures to illuminate at room-temperature an object at a distance of one meter. These results are experimental proof-of-principle of bistatic radar setup.

Speaker biography: Dr. Barzanjeh has a strong background in the field of superconducting circuit QED obtained in the group of David DiVincenzo at RWTH Aachen. He received the Marie Skłodowska Curie fellowship to work as a postdoctoral fellow at Johannes Fink’s group to experimentally develop integrated electro- and optomechanical devices as well as superconducting circuits that operate in the quantum regime. His pioneering scientific research in proposing the novel microwave-optical photon conversion based on a mechanical resonator has opened a new method for coherently converting optical photons to microwave photons and consequently implementing microwave-optical quantum teleportation. He was one of the first to develop the notion of quantum radar (sensor) and proposed the prototype microwave quantum illumination (sensor).