2D magnetic semiconductor bridges microwaves and light in 300MHz quantum push

Physicists at City College of New York demonstrated conversion of microwaves to an optical signal using the layered magnetic semiconductor CrSBr. Magnons excited by microwaves interact with excitons and transfer the signal to laser light in a band around 300 MHz. The work, published in Nature Materials, could form the basis for interfaces between quantum processors and fiber-optic networks.

• Microwave-to-light conversion achieved on a CrSBr crystal without resonators
• Conversion band is about 300 MHz, frequency tuned by external magnetic field
• Material can be scaled down to several layers while retaining properties
• Only the mechanism has been demonstrated, not transfer of individual quantum states