CAREER: Coherent Single-Photons for Quantum Information

非技术摘要：该奖项由材料研究部凝聚态物理计划、信息前沿物理计划和EPSCoR计划资助。量子计算和通信通过利用量子力学的非直观性，为处理能力和通信安全提供了巨大的潜在好处。光子将在未来的量子信息处理方案中发挥积极作用，被称为量子点的半导体纳米结构很可能作为光子源。然而，目前由量子点产生的光子并不适合，因为量子点会经历光谱扩散。本研究项目的目标是识别、建模和建立有效的策略来缓解导致光谱扩散的因素。该项目涉及正在接受光学和光谱测量技术、量子光学和凝聚态物理培训的研究生和本科生。该项目的另一个组成部分是为西弗吉尼亚州的4-H青年团体开发、评估和传播与光学有关的学习模块。光学学习模块填补了4-H组长物理课程的空白，将提高学生的科学素养，增加从事与科学相关的职业的人数。来自研究生和本科生物理学会的志愿者参与了学习模块的开发和测试，从而获得了宝贵的扩展和教育经验，这将有助于他们为未来的公共教育努力做好准备。技术摘要：量子点发射的光子在许多量子信息处理应用中具有潜在的重要作用，但由于它们的相干性目前并不理想，这种潜力仍然非常有限。由于点与其局部环境之间的相互作用，特别是附近电荷分布的波动，光谱扩散降低了量子点光子的相干性水平。为了显着提高量子点光子的相干度，迫切需要识别和控制量子点中光谱扩散的环境源和外部源。该研究项目的目标是表征不同实验条件下光谱扩散的大小和时间尺度，模拟点与环境的相互作用，并设计减少或没有光谱扩散的光子源。这种方法的基本原理是，在各种情况下减少或消除光谱扩散有望使基于量子点的光子源的设计具有比目前基于干涉的量子信息处理协议更高的保真度性能。作为补充，研究生和本科生参与设计、评估和在全州范围内传播与光学相关的4-H学习模块。

Non-Technical Abstract:This award is funded by the Condensed Matter Physics program in the Division of Materials Research, the Physics at the Information Frontier program in Physics and the EPSCoR program. Quantum computation and communication offer great potential benefits to processing power and communication security by exploiting the non-intuitive properties of quantum mechanics. Photons will play an active part in future quantum information processing schemes, and semiconductor nanostructures called quantum dots are likely candidates to act as photon sources. Currently, however, photons produced by quantum dots are not suitable because of spectral diffusion experienced by the dots. The goal of this research project is to identify, model, and establish effective strategies to mitigate the factors responsible for spectral diffusion. The project involves graduate and undergraduate students who are being trained in optical and spectrographic measurement techniques, quantum optics, and condensed matter physics. Also integral to the project is the development, evaluation, and dissemination of an optics-related learning module for 4-H youth groups in West Virginia. The optics learning module fills a gap in the physical science curriculum available to 4-H group leaders, and will improve the students' science literacy and increase the number pursuing science-related careers. Volunteers from graduate and undergraduate physics societies are involved in the development and testing of the learning module, whereby they gain valuable outreach and educational experience that will help prepare them for future public education efforts.Technical Abstract:Photons emitted by quantum dots are potentially important in a number of quantum information processing applications, but because their coherence is currently non-ideal, that potential remains severely limited. The level of coherence of quantum dot photons is reduced by spectral diffusion due to interactions between a dot and its local environment, specifically fluctuations in the nearby charge distribution. In order to significantly improve the degree of coherence of quantum dot photons there is a critical need to identify and be able to control the environmental and external sources of spectral diffusion in the dots. The goal of the research project is to characterize the magnitude and timescale of spectral diffusion under different experimental conditions, model the interaction of the dots and the environment, and design photon sources with reduced or no spectral diffusion. The rationale for this approach is that reducing or eliminating spectral diffusion in a variety of situations is expected to enable the design of quantum dot-based photon sources with significantly higher fidelity performance than is currently possible in interference-based quantum information processing protocols. A complementary outreach effort involves graduate and undergraduate students in the design, evaluation, and state-wide dissemination of an optics-related 4-H learning module.