Towards two spin-mechanical hybrid quantum systems

Hybrid quantum systems combine complimentary phenomena to enable breakthroughs in quantum mechanics, information processing, and simulation - from preparation of non-thermal states of mechanical objects, to quantum buses for long-distance entanglement of qubits. A particular hybrid quantum system with such potential can be achieved by combining the spins with a magnetic mechanical oscillator. Creating such a platform with high cooperativity is both desirable and challenging to implement: we need a large resonator zero-point motion and magnetic field gradient to maximize the coupling, while both the resonator and spin are isolated from the environment.

To address this challenge, we investigate two mechanical resonators, each of which are coupled to a spin: (i) high-Q nanobeam SiN resonators and (ii) levitated mechanical oscillators. In both cases, the small mass results in a large zero-point motion, and the geometry reduces coupling to the environment, thereby minimizing dissipation. For the spin, we use a nearby nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center defect in diamond, which features long coherence times. In this talk, we demonstrate progress towards these hybrid systems, each of which could open doors to unexplored regions of parameter space in the physics of quantum optics.