{"id":244188,"date":"2026-09-18T02:25:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T07:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/a-new-bridge-for-quantum-networks-physicists-convert-microwaves-to-light-using-2d-magnets"},"modified":"2026-09-18T02:25:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T07:25:50","slug":"a-new-bridge-for-quantum-networks-physicists-convert-microwaves-to-light-using-2d-magnets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/a-new-bridge-for-quantum-networks-physicists-convert-microwaves-to-light-using-2d-magnets","title":{"rendered":"A new bridge for quantum networks: Physicists convert microwaves to light using 2D magnets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/a-new-bridge-for-quantum-networks-physicists-convert-microwaves-to-light-using-2d-magnets2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Physicists at The City College of New York have demonstrated a new way to transfer microwave signals onto light using magnetic waves inside a layered semiconductor. The work establishes a materials platform for building interfaces that could one day link quantum computers through optical networks. The research, titled \u201cMicrowave-to-optical transduction using magnon\u2013exciton coupling,\u201d was led by the Laboratory for Nano and Micro Photonics (LaNMP) at CCNY, headed by physics professor Vinod M. Menon. It <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41563-026-02748-7\" target=\"_blank\">appears<\/a> in the journal <i>Nature Materials.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Many of today\u2019s leading quantum processors use microwave signals, while light is far better suited to carrying information over long distances through optical fiber. Linking the two requires a transducer: a device that converts a signal from one frequency range to another while preserving the information it carries.<\/p>\n<p>The team turned to chromium sulfide bromide (CrSBr), a layered magnetic semiconductor. When driven by microwaves, the atomic magnetic moments in the crystal move collectively, producing waves known as magnons. These waves shift the energies of excitons, bound pairs of electrons and holes that interact strongly with light. As a result, laser light reflected from the crystal picks up a coherent optical signal that tracks the microwave drive. The approach takes advantage of the especially strong interaction between light and matter near exciton resonances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Physicists at The City College of New York have demonstrated a new way to transfer microwave signals onto light using magnetic waves inside a layered semiconductor. The work establishes a materials platform for building interfaces that could one day link quantum computers through optical networks. The research, titled \u201cMicrowave-to-optical transduction using magnon\u2013exciton coupling,\u201d was led [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1523,1617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computing","category-quantum-physics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244188\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}