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

这个研究基础设施改善轨道-4 EPSCoR研究员项目将提供奖学金，副教授和培训研究生在西弗吉尼亚大学（WVU）。这项工作将与美国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PI和一名研究生实习生对位于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级光导结构制造所需的专业知识。这些纳米光子结构将增强PI现有的量子限制固态系统（称为量子点）的研究计划。含有量子点的纳米光子结构将使基本量子光-物质相互作用的研究成为可能，并可能导致光子集成电路中纠缠光子的产生。在奖学金期间获得的经验将对PI研究小组的科学生产力产生长期影响，并将使WVU的学生能够在未来充分利用NIST的制造设施。拟议研究的成功完成将产生一种有可能改变光子量子计算的设备，并启动WVU的一项计划，重点研究量子光子设备的基础物理。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量子计算软件开发包Qiskit的认证考试。该项目的研究愿景是开发一种包含半导体量子点的全芯片纳米光子器件，该器件可按需产生路径纠缠光子对，用于光子量子信息处理。职业发展愿景是为PI提供规划和执行量子点周围纳米光子结构制造的专业知识。该奖学金将支持PI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NIST NanoFab中的电子束光刻和相关的辅助洁净室技能。完成拟议的研究不仅将产生一个有可能彻底改变光子量子计算的设备，而且还将启动一个旨在研究量子光子设备基础物理的WVU计划。光子量子计算可以实现普适的量子计算，因此研究光子量子计算具有重要意义。一个重要的组成部分是在一定程度上自由纠缠的光子源。该研究项目具有重要意义，因为它将使路径纠缠光子对发射到片上波导中。这是非常期望的，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。这种纠缠光源的优点将是有价值的玻色子采样实验，离散时间量子行走的通用量子计算，和其他线性光学量子计算协议。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得的支持，通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

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.