RII Track-4: NSF: Fabrication of Inversely Designed Nanophotonic Structures for Quantum Emitters

这一研究基础设施改善轨道4 EPSCoR研究员项目将为西弗吉尼亚大学(WVU)的一名副教授提供奖学金，并为一名研究生提供培训。这项工作将与国家标准与技术研究所(NIST)的研究人员合作进行。该奖学金将支持国际和平研究所和一名研究生实习生对马里兰州盖瑟斯堡的NIST进行长期访问，以获得电子束光刻和纳米光导结构制造所需的专业知识。这些纳米光子结构将加强PI现有的研究被称为量子点的量子受限固态系统的性质的计划。包含量子点的纳米光子结构将使人们能够研究基本的量子光与物质的相互作用，并可能导致在光子集成电路中产生纠缠光子。在奖学金期间获得的经验将对国际和平研究所研究小组的科学生产力产生长期影响，并将使西弗吉尼亚大学的学生在未来充分利用NIST的制造设施。拟议中的研究的成功完成将导致一种有可能改变光子量子计算的设备，并启动西弗吉尼亚大学一个专注于研究量子光子设备基础物理的项目。资金还将支持西弗吉尼亚大学量子技术俱乐部的本科生参加Qiskit认证考试，Qiskit是一个量子计算软件开发包。这将增加西弗吉尼亚大学学生对量子信息科学职业岗位的招聘。该项目的研究愿景是开发一种全芯片纳米光子器件，其中包含一个半导体量子点，可以产生按需、路径纠缠的光子对，用于光子量子信息处理。我们的职业发展愿景是为PI提供专业知识，以计划和执行围绕量子点的纳米光子结构的制造。该奖学金将支持国际和平研究所和一名研究生实习生进行两次为期3个月的夏季访问，以学习电子束光刻技术和NIST NanoFab的相关辅助洁净室技能。这项拟议研究的完成不仅将产生一种有可能彻底改变光子量子计算的设备，还将启动西弗吉尼亚大学一个旨在研究量子光子设备基础物理的计划。进行光子量子计算的研究是至关重要的，因为它可以实现普遍的量子计算。其中一个重要组成部分是纠缠在一定自由度内的光子源。提出的研究项目具有重要意义，因为它将使路径纠缠的光子对发射到片上光波导中。这是非常可取的，因为它将允许在紧凑、稳定和潜在快速的光子集成电路中进行量子态操纵和测量。这种纠缠光源的优势对玻色子采样实验、用于普适量子计算的离散时间量子行走和其他线性光学量子计算协议都是有价值的。这一奖项反映了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。

This Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-4 EPSCoR Research Fellows project will provide a fellowship to an Associate Professor and training for a graduate student at West Virginia University (WVU). This work will be conducted in collaboration with researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The fellowship will support extended visits by the PI and a graduate student trainee to NIST in Gaithersburg, MD to acquire the expertise required for electron-beam lithography and the fabrication of nanoscopic light-guiding structures. These nanophotonic structures will enhance the PI's existing program of investigations into the properties of quantum-confined solid-state systems known as quantum dots. Nanophotonic structures containing quantum dots will enable the study of fundamental quantum light-matter interactions and potentially lead to the production of entangled photons in a photonic integrated circuit. The experience gained during the fellowship will have a long-lasting impact on the scientific productivity of the PI's research group and will enable students at WVU to fully utilize NIST's fabrication facilities in the future. The successful completion of the proposed research will result in a device with the potential to transform photonic quantum computation and kickstart a program at WVU focused on investigating the fundamental physics of quantum photonic devices. Funding will also support undergraduate students in the WVU Quantum Technology club in taking the certification exam for Qiskit, a quantum computing software development package. This will increase the recruitment of WVU students for career positions in quantum information science.The research vision of the project is to develop an all-on-chip nanophotonic device containing a semiconductor quantum dot that produces on-demand, path-entangled photon pairs for the purpose of photonic quantum information processing. The career development vision is to provide the PI with the expertise to plan and perform the fabrication of nanophotonic structures around quantum dots. The fellowship will support two 3-month summer visits by the PI and a graduate student trainee to learn electron-beam lithography and the associated ancillary cleanroom skills in the NanoFab at NIST. Completion of the proposed research will not only yield a device with the potential to revolutionize photonic quantum computation but will also kickstart a program at WVU aimed at investigating the fundamental physics of quantum photonic devices. Pursuing research to realize photonic quantum computation is crucial because it can achieve universal quantum computation. One essential component is a source of photons entangled in some degree of freedom. The proposed research project is significant because it will enable the emission of path-entangled photon pairs into on-chip waveguides. This is highly desirable, as it would allow quantum state manipulation and measurement in compact, stable, and potentially fast photonic integrated circuits. The advantages of this entangled light source would be valuable for boson sampling experiments, discrete-time quantum walks for universal quantum computation, and other linear optical quantum computation 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.