RAISE-TAQS: Integrated Room Temperature Single-Photon based Quantum-Secure LiFi Systems

氮化镓LED使固态照明发生了革命性的变化。与白炽灯不同，LED可以在GHz频率下切换和调制，因此它们可以实现光保真(LiFi)，作为一种利用自由空间中的可见光进行点对点通信的方式。LiFi类似于WiFi，但随着GaN LED取代住宅、工业、街道和汽车照明，其普及率预计将赶上或超过WiFi。未来实现量子意义上的自由空间LiFi通信安全既是一个及时的机会，也具有至关重要的技术重要性。利用单光子的量子特性，可以防止窃听并保证安全性，从而实现安全通信系统。这项研究中提出的设备和系统的成功演示不仅将增强快速崛起的LiFi网络的安全性，还将使量子技术从研究实验室走出，进入人们的家庭。因此，拟议的研究具有很强的变革性。此外，对材料和器件物理、光学和量子科学以及通信网络的高度重视，都将为探索和研究生研究提供丰富的领域。技术：这项计划的PI已经在宽带隙氮化物中发现了单光子源，这种氮化物比钻石中的NV中心亮20倍，更重要的是，它在室温下工作。他们已经开发出一种使用埋藏隧道结的氮化物LED的全新结构，利用这种结构，可以对单光子发射器进行电泵浦。该项目的工程主导目标有三个：(A)建立第一个完全集成在GaN材料系统上的室温电抽运按需单光子源，(B)设计和表征氮化物单光子源的光谱特性、带宽、效率、堆积密度和潜在的纠缠特性，以及(C)从理论和实验上识别和测试量子保密LiFi通信系统的基本要求和限制。该项目探索和利用了单光子发射体的物理，量子材料的进展，以及安全的LiFi系统设计和工程，导致了以实用的方式实现量子LiFi。这一探索的每一步都将加速量子技术的发展和部署。该团队将系统地探索h-BN量子发射体和III-氮化物量子点的基本物理，它们的发射率和波长，以及我们如何确定地创建这些发射体。PIS试图发现如何将明亮的III-氮化物LED结构与量子发射器相结合，并在不同的通道中高效地收集量子光和经典光。最后，他们将在真实世界的背景下设计这些设备，并部署它们，以确保由量子物理定律保证的私人通信。新的氮化物量子晶体材料是这一提议的关键。建议与世界领先的氮化物材料集团进行有意义的国际合作，提供一些世界上最高质量的氮化镓晶体。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Gallium Nitride based LEDs have revolutionized solid-state lighting. Because unlike incandescent bulbs, LEDs can be switched and modulated at GHz frequencies, they are enabling light fidelity (LiFi) as a means of point to point communications using visible light in free space. LiFi is similar to WiFi, but its penetration is expected to rival, or exceed WiFi as GaN LEDs replace residential, industrial, street, and automotive lighting. Making free- space LiFi communication secure in the quantum sense in the future is both a timely opportunity, and of paramount technological importance. Secure communication systems are possible using the quantum properties of single-photons that prevent eavesdropping, and guarantee security. A successful demonstration of the devices and systems proposed in this research would not just enhance security in the rapidly emerging LiFi networks but also make quantum technologies come out from the research labs and reach people's houses. The proposed research is therefore highly transformative. In addition, the strong emphasis on material and device physics, optical and quantum sciences, and communication networks will all provide a rich set of areas for exploration and graduate student research. Technical: The PIs of this proposal have discovered single photon sources in wide-bandgap nitrides that are 20x brighter than the NV centers in diamond, and importantly, operate at room temperature. They have developed a fundamentally new structure for nitride LEDs using buried tunnel junctions, with which it becomes possible to electrically pump the single photon emitter. The engineering-led goals of the proposed project are threefold: (a) To build the first room-temperature electrically pumped on-demand single photon source completely integrated on the GaN material system, (b) To design and characterize the spectral properties, bandwidth, efficiency, packing density, and potential entanglement properties of the nitride single photon sources, and (c) To theoretically and experimentally identify and test the fundamental requirements, and limits of quantum-secure LiFi communication systems. This project explores and exploits the physics of single photon emitters, advances in quantum materials, and secure LiFi systems design and engineering, leading to the implementation quantum Lifi in a practical way. Every step in this quest will accelerate the development and deployment of quantum technologies. The team will systematically explore the basic physics of h-BN quantum emitters and III-nitride quantum dots, their emission rates and wavelengths, and how we can create these emitters deterministically. The Pis seek to discover how to integrate bright III-nitride LED structures with quantum emitters and efficiently gather the quantum and classical light in separate channels. Finally, they will engineer these devices in a real-world context and deploy them to ensure private communications guaranteed by the laws of quantum physics. New nitride quantum crystalline materials are key to this proposal. A meaningful international collaboration is proposed with a leading nitride materials group in the world will offer some of the highest quality gallium nitride crystals in the world.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.