The lab recently reported using vibrations in a nanoscale mechanical resonator to control (change the state) of a quantum memory.  Crucially, this was accomplished using a device in which the mechanical vibrations were controlled with light, i.e. optomechanically. This is a milestone result in the lab’s quest to coupling single photons to quantum memories using an optomechanical interface that does not rely upon optical transitions that can be unstable and at inconvenient wavelengths.

Published in Nature Physics. An open access preprint of this work is available.