FET: Small: Spectrally Efficient High-dimensional Quantum Communications in an Integrated Quantum Photonic Platform

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Quantum information processing opens new avenues for next-generation high-precision sensing, high-performance computing, and reliable communications. Entanglement is a unique resource for quantum information processing. Quantum communication is the cornerstone to fully unleash the power of entanglement. On the secure communication front, quantum communication leverages underlying principles of quantum mechanics to realize distribution of keys with verifiable security, known as Quantum Key distribution (QKD). Despite appealing features of quantum communication, a number of fundamental and technical challenges need to be tackled prior to its widespread applications. This project will develop high-dimensional protocols and tailored efficient photonic-integrated circuits to substantially advance scalable, high-rate, and long-haul quantum communications, thus providing solutions to challenges faced in practical deployments. This work enables high spectral efficiency quantum communications so that communication rates can be substantially improved. As such, this project will represent an essential step toward low-cost integrated quantum communication systems that can be mass-produced.High-dimensional quantum communication enables transmitting quantum information in a large Hilbert space, opening promising routes for constructing new quantum error-correcting codes, building efficient quantum repeaters, and high-rate quantum-secured communications. The project seeks to introduce a new framework of quantum communications with high-dimensional entangled-qubits encoded in orthogonal Slepian sequences bases. This approach is highly robust against turbulence effects in free-space optical links and dispersion effects/nonlinearities in fiber-optics channels, thereby improving the quantum communication distance. Generation, processing, and detection of Slepian-states will be implemented in an integrated quantum photonics platform. This project will make possible the development of electronically controlled waveguide Bragg gratings (EC-WBGs) implemented in nonlinear photonic-integrated circuits as a key component employed in the quantum transmitters and receivers for high-dimensional quantum communications. Compared to fiber Bragg gratings, EC-WBGs can be mass fabricated in a photonic-integrated circuit platform, so that quantum information encoded in a large number of mutually unbiased basis can be processed. As such, scalability is significantly improved while substantially reducing the cost. The Slepian-state sources and the photonic-integrated circuits-based EC-WBGs will be integrated to perform quantum communication tasks including high-dimensional entanglement distribution and high-dimensional QKD. This project is dedicated to 1) analyzing high-dimensional quantum communication protocols based on Slepian states; 2) developing entangled and single-photon-level Slepian-state sources and scalable processing units in a photonic-integrated circuit platform; and 3) demonstrating Slepian-state high-dimensional quantum communication systems and testing the developed high-dimensional quantum communication prototypes in a real-world quantum network testbed.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.