Connectorizing Integrated Quantum Photonics Devices

量子信息科学是研究量子系统中存在的信息的学科。由于纯粹的量子现象，通信和计算领域的许多新技术应用可以被解锁。与可以是0和1的经典信息比特相反，量子比特（或量子位）与量子物体的状态相关。由于量子叠加原理，量子位可以是0、1或两者的相干叠加，从而获得非常丰富的字母表。量子信息科学还利用量子纠缠，即量子物体之间的强相关性，作为所谓量子网络发展中快速安全量子通信的资源。由于不可克隆定理，量子网络可以检测共享的加密密钥是否被窃听者拦截和/或泄露。同时，由于不可克隆定理禁止量子态的放大，它们被证明容易产生光子损失。单光子源和双光子源以及量子存储器是量子网络的关键组成部分，因为它们允许在光子上编码的量子态的产生及其长期存储。在小芯片上实现这样的设备有可能复制现代电子小型化的革命。量子器件的集成实际上可以增强光-物质相互作用，并提供高水平的可扩展性和内在的力学稳定性。然而，目前的实现受到自由空间中产生/存储光子的低提取/插入效率或设置的复杂性的限制，这阻碍了可扩展性的潜力。该提案解决了在集成量子光子学设备和光纤之间实现高效和强大互连的挑战，其目标是1)**减少整个网络的光损耗**，2)**使其可扩展，而不仅仅是简单的原理证明演示**。这项工作涉及两家量子技术公司，即英国的对偶量子光子学（DQP）和光电子元件（OEC，加拿大），以及加拿大国家科学研究所（INRS，加拿大）和赫瑞瓦特大学（HWU，英国）的两个研究小组。该联盟聚集了世界领先的集成量子光子学合作伙伴，在开发的所有步骤中具有广泛认可的专业知识：集成电路和模式转换结构（DQP）的设计和制造，集成量子器件的实现，如单光子源（HWU），光子纠缠源（INRS）和量子存储器（HWU），以及光的量子态的有效检测（OEC）。该项目的成果将为量子安全通信网络的发展做出重大贡献。

Quantum information science is the discipline that studies the information present in quantum systems. Numerous new technological applications in communication and computing can be unlocked thanks to purely quantum phenomena. As opposed to classical information bits, which can be either 0s and 1s, the quantum bits (or qubits), are associated to the state of quantum objects. Because of the quantum superposition principle, the qubits can be 0s, 1s, or coherent superposition of both, thus giving access to an extraordinarily richer alphabet. Quantum information science also exploits quantum entanglement, i.e. strong correlation between quantum objects, as a resource for fast and secure quantum communication in the development of the so-called quantum networks. Thanks to the no-cloning theorem, quantum networks can detect whether shared cryptographic keys have been intercepted and/or compromised by the presence of an eavesdropper. At the same time, they prove prone to photonic loss because the no-cloning theorem forbids amplification of quantum states. Single- and two-photon sources and quantum memories are key components of quantum networks, as they allow the generation of quantum states encoded on photons and their long-term storage. The implementation of such devices on small chips has the potential to replicate the revolution of modern electronic miniaturization. The integration of quantum devices can in fact enhance the light-matter interaction and provide high-level scalability and intrinsic mechanical stability. However, current realizations are limited either by the low extraction/insertion efficiencies of the generated/stored photons in free-space or by the complexity of the setups which hinders the scalability potential.This proposal tackles the challenge of implementing **efficient and robust interconnects** between integrated quantum photonics devices and optical fibres with the aims of 1) **minimizing the optical losses** throughout the networks and 2) **making them scalable beyond simple proof-of-principle demonstrations**. The effort involves two quantum technology companies, Duality Quantum Photonics (DQP, UK) and OptoElectronic Component (OEC, Canada) and two research groups at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS, Canada) and Heriot-Watt University (HWU, UK). Such consortium gathers world-leading partners in integrated quantum photonics, with widely recognized expertise in all steps of the development: design and fabrication of integrated circuits and mode conversion structures (DQP), implementation of integrated quantum devices, as single photon sources (HWU), sources of photonic entanglement (INRS), and quantum memories (HWU), and efficient detection of quantum states of light (OEC). The project outcomes will provide a significant contribution towards the development of quantum secure communication networks.