UV Raman spectroscopy has demonstrated its advantages in the detection of trace gas (e.g. minute amounts of explosives or hazardous gases), quality control of raw substances, and monitoring of biological systems. It permits the detection of analytes that would otherwise be undetectable using visible or near-infrared Raman spectroscopy, such as monoclonal antibodies, which are currently being developed for new therapies against COVID-19, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and neurological disorders that result in the degeneration of body cells, such as Alzheimer's disease, with enormous potential impact in the pharmaceutical industry.
Quantum computers are expected to provide a degree of computing power that will permit to solve calculations not available currently to the most powerful supercomputers. Quantum computers are ideally suited to solve complex optimization problems, such as finding the most efficient route for a delivery courier, the best way to balance risk and reward in a financial portfolio, or the best way to run factory equipment quickly and reduce maintenance stoppages, therefore leading to more efficient manufacturing processes. Quantum computers based on multiple-ion traps represent one of the most advanced quantum computing technologies, where light resonant to different ion electronic transitions (typically in the UV wavelength region) is used to manipulate and readout the quantum state of the trapped ion.
However, current commercial UV Raman spectrometers as well as quantum computers are bulky, costly, extremely complex and non-scalable systems, which limit their potential scientific, economic and societal impact by preventing their large-scale market penetration.
The solution to this problem is photonic integration, which enables the reduction of the size and cost of optical systems while increasing their robustness, maintaining their performance and enabling scalability, as has been widely demonstrated in fields such as telecom/datacom, 5G communications and optical biosensing. Unfortunately, most integrated photonic platforms do not operate in the ultraviolet wavelength range, which is desirable for the aforementioned applications as well as for other technologies and fields such as atomic clocks, precision metrology, superresolution and structured UV microscopy, frequency synthesis and comb generation.
The Al2O3-on-SiO2 integrated photonic platform developed in the ALUVia project will be a key-enabling technology for applications operating in the UV wavelength range by enabling miniaturization, cost reduction and scalability, while performance is maintained. For this project, we have selected two technologies, namely UV Raman spectrometers and quantum computers, to function as test-beds for the Al2O3-on-SiO2 integrated photonic platform to demonstrate the platform’s excellent performance.
The overall objectives of the ALUVia project are:
- To establish the first European Al2O3-on-SiO2 (aluminum oxide on silicon dioxide) integrated photonic platform for operation in the ultraviolet (UV) wavelength region.
- Mature the technology, including the packaging, so that it can be offered commercially via the University of Twente spin-off company ALUVIA Photonics.
- Demonstrate the performance of the technology in two demonstrators: (1) an UV Waveguide based Raman spectrometer and (2) a multi-ion trap for quantum computer.
The successful completion of the ALUVia project will position Europe in a leadership position in UV integrated photonics.
