RAISE-EQuIP: Integrated Silicon Photonics Platforms for Scalable Quantum Systems

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Quantum information processing (QIP) relies on the extraction, processing and manipulation, as well as transmission and detection of information by exploiting quantum properties of light and matter. QIP is expected to be used to secure and scale-up multiparty quantum computations to tackle computational problems that currently remain outside the reach of computers, such as large-scale molecular simulations for materials design and drug discovery; or it can connect a network of distributed quantum sensors for ultraprecise measurements with applications to biological imaging, gravitometry, and position navigation-timing. In a general landscape of QIP, quantum communications plays a special role, because it can be used to implement a secure data transmission network, leveraging the concept of quantum cryptography, where the security of transmission is guaranteed by the basic laws of quantum physics. Over the last decade, there has been tremendous progress in science and technology related to the generation, manipulation, storage, propagation, and detection of photons for QIP. Much of this progress has been focused on developing individual device components that satisfy the rather stringent requirements of QIP at the single-photon level. Integrating these individual components into a complete quantum-communication system with optimized operation requires an interdisciplinary approach. The move beyond individual discrete components necessitates a new paradigm that will integrate various components on a single chip. The main vision of this research is to push the frontiers of engineering in quantum technologies by implementing a silicon-based integrated platform and exploring the interactions of quantum devices in a quantum network. In addition to the advancement of the new science and technology, a major outcome will be the exposure of undergraduate and graduate students working on this project to a broad range of topics in an interdisciplinary environment. This broad teaching/research experience is a platform to train the highly skilled workforce of the future.This transformative project will integrate novel devices for the generation, manipulation, propagation, and detection of single and entangled photons for quantum information processing in a silicon photonics platform that can be used to implement a large-scale quantum communication network. This is a highly interdisciplinary project that brings together expertise in materials science and engineering; semiconductor fabrication, processing, and devices; superconducting device physics; classical nonlinear and quantum optics; and optical communications to solve technical challenges for the development and realization of a scalable integrated quantum communication platform. The research covers both design and fabrication of single-photon and entangled photon pair sources, single-photon detectors, and integrated channels to manipulate photons, as well as experiments to characterize the quantum nature of the photonic states for implementation in viable quantum communication protocols. The proposed integrated platform is very promising for implementation in a quantum communication system network, as well as in development and realization of large-scale systems. The individual components and devices that will be used in the proposed research are quite novel and amenable to scalable integration using standard semiconductor device processing technologies. Superconducting quantum-dot light-emitting diodes, whose operation is based on Cooper-pair interband transition in a semiconductor, will be developed to generate single- and pair-photon states. For single-photon detection, traveling-wave superconducting nanostripe single-photon detectors will be developed and integrated in the device platform. The on-demand electrically driven photon sources, as well as single-photon detectors, will be used along with passive silicon nitride waveguides, all integrated on the silicon substrate, to study various scenarios for quantum information processing implementations, such as characterization of path-entangled photons, multi-qubit entanglement, quantum state tomography, and, potentially, as a proof-of-concept for quantum communication protocols.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.