Simultaneous Brillouin and piezoelectric coupling to a high-frequency bulk acoustic resonator

Bulk acoustic resonators support robust, long-lived mechanical modes, capable of coupling to various quantum systems. In separate works, such devices have achieved strong coupling to both superconducting qubits, via piezoelectricity, and optical cavities, via Brillouin interactions. In this work, we present a hybrid microwave-optical platform capable of cou-pling to bulk acoustic waves through cavity-enhanced piezoelectric and photoelastic interactions. The modular, tunable system achieves fully resonant and well-mode-matched interactions among a 3D microwave cavity, a high-frequency bulk acoustic resonator, and a Fabry-Perot cavity. We realize this piezo-Brillouin interaction in x-cut quartz, demon-strating the potential for strong optomechanical interactions and high cooperativity using optical cavity enhancement. We further show how this device functions as a bidirectional electro-opto-mechanical transducer, with transduction efficiency exceeding 10-8, and a feasible path towards unity conversion efficiency. The high optical sensitivity and ability to apply a large resonant microwave field in this system also offers a tool for probing anomalous electromechani-cal couplings, which we demonstrate by investigating (nominally centrosymmetric) CaF2 and revealing a parasitic piezoelectricity of 83 am/V. Such studies are an important topic for emerging quantum technologies, and highlight the versatility of this hybrid platform. (c) 2023 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

This study presents a hybrid microwave-optical platform capable of coupling to bulk acoustic waves through cavity-enhanced piezoelectric and photoelastic interactions. The system achieves resonant and well-mode-matched interactions, demonstrating strong optomechanical interactions and high cooperativity using optical cavity enhancement. Furthermore, the device functions as a bidirectional electro-opto-mechanical transducer and offers a tool for probing anomalous electromechanical couplings.