QLC: EAGER: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Cavity-Enhanced Strategies to Protect and Entangle Quantum Emitters

量子通信提供了远距离发送安全信息的诱人可能性。然而，开发可以作为量子通信中的“比特”的中心信息载体的材料是困难的。创造量子比特或“量子位”的一种策略是将光的量子力学特性与分子或等离子体纳米粒子结合起来。在化学系大分子、超分子、纳米化学和化学理论、模型和计算方法项目的支持下，华盛顿大学的David Masiello教授和威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的Randall Goldsmith教授正在开发方法，迫使光与分子或纳米粒子量子发射器之间重复相互作用，使它们能够充当量子位。这些研究发现可能对新兴的量子技术产生广泛的影响，包括量子计算和量子通信。该项目还在光学、光子学、量子信息和纳米材料领域的交叉领域为研究生和本科生提供跨学科培训，以及展示光子学（光与物质的相互作用）和量子信息重要性的公共宣传活动。Masiello教授和Goldsmith教授与他们的学生合作，创造了一种被称为环形微谐振器的小圆盘状结构，用分子或纳米粒子装饰。注入磁盘的光经历了完全的内反射，使它几乎在磁盘的外围无限制地传播，几乎没有损失。当它在磁盘周围移动时，它与放置在其表面的分子或纳米粒子相互作用，使结构能够保持各种分子和纳米材料量子吸收剂之间的强耦合。该项目包含理论和实验之间的强烈相互作用，重点是产生和操纵状态，证明迪克超辐射。新耦合态的表征是通过微谐振器光热光谱和光致发光来实现的，实验观察是在描述状态演化和相关耗散过程的基础理论的背景下理解的。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Quantum communication offers the tantalizing possibility of sending secure messages over long distances. However, developing materials that can act as the central information carriers, the "bits" in quantum communication, is difficult. One strategy for creating quantum bits, or "qubits", is to combine the quantum mechanical properties of light with molecules, or plasmonic nanoparticles. With support from the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry and Chemical Theory, Models and Computational Methods Programs in the Division of Chemistry, Professor David Masiello of the University of Washington and Professor Randall Goldsmith of the University of Wisconsin Madison are developing ways to force repeated interaction between light and molecular or nanoparticle quantum emitters, enabling them to act as qubits. The research discoveries could have broad implications for emerging quantum-based technologies, including quantum computing and quantum communication. The project is also providing interdisciplinary training at the graduate and undergraduate levels at the intersection between optics, photonics, quantum information, and nanomaterial fields, as well as public outreach activities demonstrating the importance of photonics (the interaction of light and matter) and quantum information. Working with their students, Professors Masiello and Goldsmith create small disk-shaped structures called toroidal microresonators decorated with molecules or nanoparticles. Light injected into the disk undergoes total internal reflection, causing it to propagate almost endlessly around the periphery of the disk with very little loss. As it moves around the disk, it interacts with molecules or nanoparticles placed on its surface, enabling the structure to maintain strong coupling between a variety of molecular and nanomaterial quantum absorbers. The project, which contains a strong interplay between theory and experiment, focuses on production and manipulation of states that demonstrate Dicke superradiance. Characterization of new coupled states is achieved by microresonator photothermal spectroscopy and photoluminescence, with experimental observation being understood in the context of an underlying theory that describes the state evolution and relevant dissipation processes.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.