Converting Quantum Information to Mechanical Motion

Mechanical systems that combine motion and electricity are often used to process information. They are employed as compact clocks, filters, and sensors in almost all modern electronic devices. Yet these devices are limited to processing classical information. To exploit mechanical systems in emerging quantum communication and computation technologies, such systems must process fragile quantum bits of information. In this thesis, I experimentally demonstrate the conversion of quantum bits encoded in electrical signals to the motion of a micron-scale mechanical resonator. This capability is crucial for harnessing mechanical systems as memories for quantum signals, or as converters of information between electronic quantum processors and telecommunications light. Beyond quantum information processing, this work opens up the possibility to test quantum theory in objects of an unprecedented mass scale