Project description
From the active control of qubits to the realisation of large-scale quantum photonic circuits
Quantum entanglement, a phenomenon observed at the quantum level, could be used to instantly transfer data between chips. Current advances in photonic quantum technologies provide the fundamental tools for generating and manipulating photons within a chip. However, performing large-scale experiments which involve many quantum bits (qubits) remains challenging due to the lack of a method to incorporate and control many sources of identical photons in the same chip. The EU-funded NANOMEQ project will merge two flourishing research fields – optomechanics and deterministic photon-emitter interfaces – to actively control quantum circuits and realise large-scale nanomechanical quantum photonic circuits. If successful, project results will hit important milestones in quantum photonics and will pave the way for scaling up photon-emitter interfaces for advanced quantum information processing.
Objective
Photons are essential for transmitting quantum information and for building entangled system on a global scale. Recent developments in photonic quantum technologies provide the fundamental tools for generating and manipulating photons within a chip. Yet, performing large-scale experiments, involving many quantum bits (or qubits), remains a major challenge due to the lack of a method to incorporate and control many sources of identical photons in the same chip. With an efficient strategy to control quantum photonic circuits, single-photon sources, and multi-photon entanglement, a fully-integrated platform for quantum information processing with many qubits and logical gates, can be built.
In this project, I intend to merge two flourishing fields of research, opto-mechanics and deterministic photon-emitter interfaces, in order to achieve active control of quantum circuits and to realize large-scale nano-mechanical quantum photonic circuits. Unparalleled by other methods, nano-mechanical systems enable full control over light propagation in optical circuits with exceedingly low loss and noise, which makes them fully compatible with single-photon emitters.
The main highlights of NANOMEQ are to:
1. Build the world’s smallest and most efficient photonic quantum gate.
2. Control light-matter interaction to efficiently extract, in a scalable fashion, many high-fidelity photonic qubits from a deterministic single-photon source.
3. Perform on-chip frequency conversion to telecom wavelengths for long-distance communication.
These achievements will be milestones in quantum photonics and, by addressing outstanding challenges in the field, will pave the way for scaling-up deterministic photon-emitter interfaces for advanced quantum-information processing and beyond.
Fields of science
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Funding Scheme
ERC-STG - Starting GrantHost institution
1165 Kobenhavn
Denmark