QuIC-TAQS: Integrated Lithium Niobate Quantum Photonics Platform

Quantum technology, which derives its advantage from the non-intuitive laws of quantum physics, promises to drastically alter the course of computer, network, and sensor development. The realization of this technology relies on the transmission of the smallest units of energy, often across large distances. This is challenging because each unit can be easily misidentified or lost to the environment.

Fortunately, particles of light – photons - can circumvent this, and therefore are promising carriers of quantum information even in ambient conditions. However, it is an outstanding challenge to efficiently interface photons with emerging quantum technologies, such as quantum processors and sensors. Thus, realizing so-called quantum interconnects, quantum analog of optical networks that form the backbone of internet, is essential to enable scalability and usability of all quantum technologies.

The team is combining expertise in microscale fabrication, non-linear optics, electronics, superconductivity, and material science, to realize transmitter and receiver elements of quantum interconnects for light, all integrated on a photonic chip. This interdisciplinary program provides a unique training ground for students and creates a pipeline for the quantum-ready workforce.

The team is actively exploring opportunities for commercialization, leveraging partnerships with industry. Beyond the quantum realm, the team’s work is poised to advance the state of the art in classical communication technology.

Optical photons have many attractive properties to realize quantum interconnects, the crucial interfaces between quantum technologies. Photons exist under ambient conditions, can travel long distances, are generally impervious to environmental noise, and can be generated, manipulated, and detected easily. These properties also introduce challenges to realizing quantum technologies that require deterministic interactions between photons, as well as efficient interactions between photons and matter qubits.

Both are essential for transmitting quantum information over lossy or long-distance channel, by way of quantum repeaters. Overcoming limitations of existing photonic platforms, the team will develop a scalable, ultra-low-loss, integrated quantum photonic platform based on high-quality thin-film lithium niobate films, and utilize it to realize quantum transmitters and receivers.

The approach uses frequency multiplexing and feed-forward to generate and distribute entanglement, leveraging fast single-photon detectors and switches, solid-state quantum memories, and photon pair sources, all integrated on the same chip. Importantly, our team is developing material growth techniques to realize high-quality and ultra-low-loss stoichiometric single-crystal lithium niobate device layers that outperform commercially available material.

As an aspirational and stretch goal of the program, the PI and his collaborators are utilizing these components to demonstrate a frequency multiplexed photonic quantum repeater.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.