MRI: Development of Integrated Multi-Access Entangled-Photon Sources and Single-Photon Detector Array Instrument for Interdisciplinary Quantum Information Research

量子信息科学（QIS）为通信、传感和计算提供了新的、令人兴奋的范式。然而，美国支持qis的科学技术的研究和开发受到量子资源有限的阻碍，这些资源需要专门的专业知识来产生和维护。跨学科量子信息研究（INQUIRE）中央校园仪器消除了亚利桑那大学（UA）广泛的科学和学生池访问量子资源的障碍。INQUIRE仪器是世界上第一个共享的主要设施，作为促进QIS跨学科研究和学生培训的试验台，该领域被确定为国家和nsf范围内的优先事项。这种新仪器使QIS与不同领域的融合成为可能。INQUIRE是一个可访问的、多用户的网络化平台，它通过独特的光纤网络在校园建筑、学院和科学学科之间通信量子资源。量子纠缠光子可按需从INQUIRE发送到各个实验室，用于光子学、量子通信、生物成像和传感以及材料科学等领域的研究。这些实验室在实验中使用纠缠光子，然后将处理过的光送回INQUIRE仪器进行超灵敏测量。这样，没有QIS专业知识的团体可以享受最先进的量子资源，从而极大地促进了QIS与各个领域的结合，并创造了前所未有的研究和教育能力。亚利桑那大学工程学院、科学学院和光学科学学院的各种早期职业研究人员、研究生和本科生，以及来自其他地区和国家机构的访问研究人员，都可以直接从INQUIRE仪器的先进研究和研究培训中受益，并追求qis支持的科学和技术，以造福社会。UA的教学实验室使用INQUIRE来激励STEM学生追求QIS教育和职业，并培养能够应用QIS基本概念以造福美国社会的下一代劳动力。此外，初高中学生参观QIS教学实验室，参与基于QIS的实验，开放日活动为当地社区提供探询之旅。INQUIRE仪器有：1)三个高亮度纠缠光子源，工作在电信波长；2)光纤连接UA校园的很大一部分，连接五个不同的建筑和学科；3)光交换，将纠缠光子路由到多个用户，然后返回INQUIRE的单光子探测器进行超灵敏测量；4)一个健壮、安全、可访问的用户和管理员软件界面。该中心仪器为生物医学工程和材料科学等多个科学学科提供独特的光源，并提供了首个探索量子信息处理（QIP）和共享开端的平台。研究实例包括二维材料QIP、宽带量子通信网络、无光漂白生物医学成像和光子量子计算。前所未有的能力包括：1)所有资源都可以远程访问，而不需要事先的实验QIS背景，以无缝地集成到各种最终用户的实验追求中；2)查询资源可由多个用户同时访问，从而使仪器的利用率最大化；3)用户友好的软件界面，使终端用户能够远程安全地配置纠缠光子源并进行测量；4)管理员具有维护和监控查询状态的软件接口。这样的基础设施为这种独特的多用户资源提供了高度自动化的管理，并确保了仪器的长期稳定性和健壮性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

Quantum information science (QIS) gives rise to new, exciting paradigms for communications, sensing, and computing. The research and development of QIS-enabled science and technologies in the U.S., however, is impeded by the limited availability of quantum resources that require specialized expertise to generate and maintain. The INterdisciplinary QUantum Information REsearch (INQUIRE) central-campus instrument removes the barrier to access quantum resources for a broad scientific and student pool at the University of Arizona (UA). The INQUIRE instrument is the world's first shared major facility as a test-bed to foster interdisciplinary research and student training in QIS, an area identified as both a national and NSF-wide priority. This new instrument enables the convergence of QIS with diverse fields. INQUIRE is an accessible, multiuser, networked platform that communicates quantum resources over a unique fiber network between campus buildings, colleges, and scientific disciplines. Quantum entangled photons arrive from INQUIRE on demand to various laboratories conducting research in photonics, quantum-communications, bioimaging and sensing, and materials science. These laboratories use entangled photons in experiments and then route the processed light back to the INQUIRE instrument for ultrasensitive measurements. In doing so, groups with no QIS expertise enjoy state-of-the-art quantum resources to greatly foster the incorporation of QIS into diverse fields and create unprecedented research and education capabilities. Diverse early-career researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students in the UA Colleges of Engineering, Science, and Optical Sciences, and visiting researchers from other regional and national institutions benefit directly from advanced research and research training with the INQUIRE instrument, and pursue QIS-enabled science and technologies to benefit the society. Teaching laboratories at UA use INQUIRE to inspire STEM students to pursue QIS education and careers, and to develop the next-generation workforce who can apply the essential concepts of QIS to benefit U.S. society. In addition, middle-school and high-school students visit the QIS teaching laboratory to participate in QIS-based experiments, and open-house events provide local community tours of INQUIRE.The INQUIRE instrument has: 1) three high-brightness entangled-photon sources operating at telecommunication wavelengths; 2) fiber optic links over a significant fraction of the UA campus that link five different buildings and disciplines; 3) optical switching to route entangled photons to multiple users and then back to INQUIRE's single-photon detectors for ultrasensitive measurements; and 4) a robust, safe, and accessible user and administrator software interface. This central instrument delivers unique light sources to multiple scientific disciplines such as biomedical engineering and materials science, and offers a first-of-its-kind platform to explore the beginnings of quantum information processing (QIP) and sharing. Research examples include QIP with two-dimensional materials, broadband quantum-communication networks, photobleaching-free biomedical imaging, and photonic quantum computing. The unprecedented capabilities include: 1) all resources are remotely accessed without requiring prior experimental QIS background to seamlessly integrate into a variety of end users' experimental pursuits; 2) the INQUIRE resources can be simultaneously accessed by multiple users, thereby maximizing the instrument's utilization; 3) a user-friendly software interface enables end users to remotely and safely configure the entangled-photon sources and take measurements; and 4) the administrator has a software interface to maintain and monitor the state of INQUIRE. Such an infrastructure provides highly automated management of this unique multiuser resource, and ensures the long-term stability and robustness of the instrument.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.