Interfacing superconducting qubits and single optical photons

Abstract

We propose an efficient light-matter interface at optical frequencies between a superconducting qubit and a single photon. The desired interface is based on a hybrid architecture composed of an organic molecule embedded inside an optical waveguide and electrically coupled to a superconducting qubit far from the optical axis. We show that high fidelity, photon-mediated, entanglement between distant superconducting qubits can be achieved with incident pulses at the single photon level. Such low light level is highly sought for to overcome the decoherence of the superconducting qubit caused by absorption of optical photons.