I-Corps: Low-energy High-speed Optical Interconnects for Quantum Computers

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过使用光信号传输来改善低温量子计算系统和最终用户之间的互连。该方法为目前易受热噪声干扰的电信号传输线提供了一种替代方案。该项目将解决目前的技术挑战，将量子计算系统和高速光学信息分发网络作为一个单一的信息电路结合在一起。具体地说，该项目将(1)大幅提高最终用户的数据处理和传输速率，(2)减少系统的总体电力消耗。拟议中的创新将有可能使量子计算范式从目前的实验阶段转变为大规模工业应用，包括大数据科学、人工智能、生物技术和阻力发现、金融预测以及国家安全，包括强大的量子加密通信和量子传感。这个i-Corps项目将进一步开发用于量子计算的光学互连。这项拟议的技术利用了腔极化子，这是在半导体光学微腔中带有电荷的光子，与真空或电介质中的光子不同，它对电场极其敏感。这使得能够通过来自量子比特读出系统的电脉冲来重新路由、开启和关闭光。过渡金属硫化物等新出现的二维激子材料的使用有助于显著增加光与物质的相互作用，从而通过提高工作速度、降低延迟和降低系统功耗来提高数据传输协议的稳定性。后者将允许缓解维护低温量子计算数据传输模块的冷却功率限制。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to improve interconnects between low-temperature quantum computing systems and the end users by using optical signal transmission. This method provides an alternative to the current electric signal transmission lines, which are easily disturbed by thermal noise. The project will address the current technological challenge of combining, as a single information circuit, the quantum computing systems and high-speed optical information distribution networks. Specifically, the project will (i) enable significant increases to the data processing and transfer rates for the end user and (ii) reduce the overall power consumption of the system. The proposed innovation will potentially enable to shift the quantum computing paradigm from the current experimental stage to large-scale applications in industry including big data science, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and drag discovery, and financial forecasting, as well as national security by including robust quantum-encrypted communication and quantum sensing.This I-Corps project will further develop optical interconnects for quantum computing. The proposed technology utilizes cavity polaritons, which are photons dressed with charges in a semiconductor optical microcavity and, unlike photons in vacuum or dielectrics, are extremely sensitive to electric fields. This enables re-routing, switching on and off the light by means of the electric pulses from the qubit readout system. The use of emergent two-dimensional excitonic materials such as transition metal chalcogenides helps to significantly increase the light-matter interactions and thereby to improve the stability of the data transfer protocol by increasing the working speed, lowering latency and reducing the power consumption in the system. The latter will allow mitigation of the cooling power constraints for maintaining the cryogenic quantum computing data-transfer module.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.