"A commercially viable platform for monolithic, parametric and quantum photonic integrated circuits"

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Semiconductor laser chip sources are the most attractive coherent light sources available. This is due to their relative ruggedness, efficiency, affordable cost and small size. Semiconductor lasers are employed in a vast spectrum of applications from consumer electronics to photodynamic therapy. The color of radiation emitted by semiconductor lasers is governed by the material (the material bandgap) from which they are made. However, there is a limited set of suitable materials, which can be used in generating infrared laser radiation in semiconductors. Using those lasers in conjunction with frequency mixing elements can provide an alternative source to the conventional diode lasers. This novel source does not currently exist, would be in chip form, requires no alignment, and is electrically injected like electronic circuits. The technology that will be developed in this program will enable the realization of these novel lasers for the first time to provide coherent radiation in regions of the spectrum where no current sources exist using a commercially viable platform. The radiation will be vastly tuneable in comparison to other sources and is alignment free. These sources will provide a breakthrough for numerous applications including sensing, e.g. environmental, clinical analysis, life sciences, food monitoring, pharmaceutical, security and forensics, where they play a pivotal role. The same technology will also be used to develop the world's first room temperature, efficient, electrically pumped, chip-based entangled (quantum mechanical) photon sources. Metrology that is based on the quantum mechanical properties of photons enables previously unthinkable capabilities; those include breakthroughs in precision nano-scale manufacturing, lithography and medical imaging. Information processing using these sources akin to techniques developed for electronic circuits promises considerable transformation to our capacity to exploit the digital information age.