This new chip paves the way for optical quantum technology in smartphones and laptops

An international team of researchers set a new record for the complexity possible on a quantum computing chip, bringing us a step closer to the ultra-secure telecommunications of the future.  

A key component of quantum science and technology is the notion of entangled particles, usually either electrons or photons. These particles remain connected, even if they’re separated over large distances, so that actions performed by one affect the behavior of the other. 

Image source: Ultrafast Optical Processing Group, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique.

In a paper recently published in the journal, Science , the research team outlines how it created entangled photon states with unprecedented complexity and over many parallel channels simultaneously on an integrated chip. The chip was also created with processes compatible with the current computer chip industry, opening up possibilities of incorporating quantum devices directly into smartphones and laptops.

Led by Professor David Moss, the director of the Centre for Micro-Photonics at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, and Professor Roberto Morandotti from the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique in Montreal, Canada, the researchers used what they refer to as “optical frequency combs,” which, unlike the combs used for hair, help to tangle photons on a computer chip.

The team’s success has set a new record in both the number and complexity of entangled photons that can be generated on a chip to help discover the ultra-secure telecommunications of the future. It also includes direct applications for quantum information processing, imaging, and microscopy.

“Not only can we generate entangled photon pairs over hundreds of channels simultaneously, but for the first time we’ve succeeded in generating four-photon entangled states on a chip,” said Morandotti.

According to Morandotti, the breakthrough is the culmination of 10 years of collaborative research on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible chips for both classical and quantum nonlinear optics.

“By achieving this on a chip that was fabricated with processes compatible with the computer chip industry we have opened the door to the possibility of bringing powerful optical quantum computers for everyday use closer than ever before,” said Morandotti.

Source: swinburne.edu