CAREER: Integrated sources of multiphoton entanglement for enabling quantum interconnects

非技术性：在寻求将量子技术推向前沿的过程中，将量子系统扩展到实际应用的挑战迫在眉睫。作为量子互连的光子提供了一种解决方案，将较小的量子系统编织在一起，以增强整体量子计算能力，类似于经典的集群计算机。然而，实际光子量子互连的实现取决于具有所需亮度、质量和纠缠粒子数量的纠缠多光子源的可用性。该项目的核心目标是改造量子光源，特别是旨在创造高效和高质量的多光子纠缠态。该研究利用了主要研究人员在芯片级单光子源方面取得的进展，这些单光子源采用嵌入纳米制造光子结构中的半导体量子点来实现鲁棒性和可扩展性。为了将单光子源的这种性能转化为多光子纠缠，材料和器件级建模的创新将与精确的光谱学和量子位控制相结合，以表征和抑制量子位中的噪声。这种全面的方法旨在在短期内建立光子量子互连的实用性和弹性。作为对这些科学追求的补充，该项目非常重视教育，力求在学生中培养强大的科学身份和科学界的归属感。通过跨学科论坛和量子外展计划，该项目旨在通过为学生在量子技术的迷人领域的互动和合作提供独特的机会，加强STEM中代表性不足的社区的招聘和保留。该方案的核心目标是设计和实现一个片上多光子纠缠态源，满足对效率、保真度、以及实现实际量子互连的可扩展性。为了实现这一目标，我们将控制和利用光学活性单量子点和耦合到光子晶体波导的隧道耦合量子点中的自旋光子相互作用，以实现高收集效率，同时利用局部液滴蚀刻量子点的低噪声特性。完成这项建议的研究任务将通过以下方式促进对强大和有效的量子互连的理解并奠定基础：（1）通过新颖的理论模型和实验建立光子纯度和纠缠保真度的基本限制，（2）解决纳米结构中自旋光子相互作用的基础物理学知识空白，以及（3）在芯片集成的量子光源中演示一维和二维多光子纠缠的产生。该项目由电气，通信和网络系统（ECCS）和既定计划，以刺激竞争力的研究（EPSCoR）该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Nontechnical: In the quest to bring quantum technologies to the forefront, the challenge of scaling up quantum systems for practical applications looms large. Photons, serving as quantum interconnects, offer a solution by weaving together smaller quantum systems to enhance the overall quantum computational power, akin to classical cluster computers. However, the realization of practical photonic quantum interconnects hinges on the availability of entangled multiphoton sources with the required brightness, quality, and number of entangled particles. This project's core objective is to transform quantum light sources, specifically aiming to create efficient and high-quality multiphoton entangled states. The research leverages the advances made by the lead researchers in chip-scale single-photon sources that employ semiconductor quantum dots embedded in nanofabricated photonic structures to achieve robustness and scalability. To translate this performance of single-photon sources to multiphoton entanglement, innovations in material and device level modeling will be coupled with precise spectroscopy and qubit control to characterize and suppress noise in qubits. This comprehensive approach seeks to establish the practicality and resilience of photonic quantum interconnects in the near term. Complementing these scientific pursuits, the project places a strong emphasis on education, seeking to foster a robust science identity and a sense of belonging within the scientific community among students. Through an interdisciplinary forum and a quantum outreach program, the project aims to enhance the recruitment and retention of underrepresented communities in STEM by providing unique opportunities for student interaction and collaboration in the captivating field of quantum technologies.Technical: The central objective of this proposal is to design and implement an on-chip source of multiphoton entangled states that satisfy the steep demands on efficiency, fidelity, and scalability for realizing practical quantum interconnects. To achieve this, we will control and harness spin-photon interactions in optically active single quantum dots and tunnel-coupled quantum dots coupled to photonic crystal waveguides to achieve high collection efficiency, while leveraging low-noise properties of local-droplet etched quantum dots. Accomplishing the research tasks of this proposal will advance the understanding and lay the foundation for robust and efficient quantum interconnects by (1) establishing the fundamental limits on photon purity and entanglement fidelity through novel theoretical models and experiments, (2) addressing the knowledge gaps in the fundamental physics of spin-photon interactions in nanostructures, and (3) demonstrating 1D and 2D multiphoton entanglement generation in a chip-integrated quantum light source.This project is jointly funded by Electronic, Photonic, and Magnetic Devices (EPMD) Program of the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.