A hybrid system for interfacing mm-wave and optical photons: Part 1

In this talk, I will describe a hybrid quantum platform for interfacing single optical and mm-wave photons using Rydberg atoms as mediators. Our system features a superconducting mm-wave resonator crossed with an optical Fabry-Perot cavity in a 4K cryostat, with optical access for trapping Rubidium atoms at the intersection of the two resonators. High quality factors for the mm-wave cavity, large dipole moments and long lifetimes of Rydberg states enable high single-atom cooperativities at the 100 GHz mm-wave transition. These capabilities can enable spin squeezing using the mm-wave cavity and quantum transduction between mm-wave and optical frequency regimes. I will also share some observations from our setup including cavity Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), Autler-Townes splitting of the Rydberg states with a coherent mm-wave drive, and mean-field optical nonlinearities induced by the mm-wave cavity. This talk is the first of two parts.