Ultrafast Single-photon detection for Quantum Applications (USQA)

单光子探测是捕获光的单量子的能力，并且正在迅速成为许多新兴量子技术以及一系列新的低光传感应用的关键能力。这项国际中心对中心合作提案将三个卓越的量子光子学中心联系起来，通过结合他们互补的专业知识，进行合作，旨在在该领域产生持续的世界级研究。近年来，喷气推进实验室（JPL）的团队与加州理工学院（Caltech）的学术合作伙伴合作，在超导纳米线光学探测器领域取得了重大进展，提供了世界级的时间性能（比以前好5倍）和迄今为止展示的最大格式探测器阵列。与赫瑞瓦特大学的联系提供了一个独特的机会，将这些最先进的探测器用于新兴的量子技术应用领域，如单光子和量子增强激光雷达，自由空间和基于卫星的量子通信，以及在超高维量子成像和通信中使用量子纠缠。这项EPSRC国际中心对中心的合作提供了一个难得的机会，可以加强赫瑞瓦特大学的几个世界领先的研究领域，并为英国的主要合作研究计划做出重大的、互补的和持续的贡献，特别是EPSRC SPEXS计划拨款和EPSRC量子技术中心网络，这与英国的研究重点非常一致。

Single-photon detection is the ability to capture the single quantum of light and is rapidly emerging as the critical capability for numerous emerging quantum technologies, as well as a range of new low-light sensing applications. This International Centre-to-Centre Collaboration proposal links three centres of excellence in quantum photonics to produce a collaboration designed to yield sustained world-class research in the field by combining their complementary expertise. The teams at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) working with academic partners at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have made significant advances in the field of superconducting nanowire optical detectors in recent years, providing world-class temporal performance (> 5 times better than previously) and the largest format detector arrays yet demonstrated. The link to Heriot-Watt University offers a unique opportunity to use these state-of-the-art detectors in emerging quantum technology application areas such as single-photon and quantum-enhanced LIDAR, free-space and satellite-based quantum communications and in the use of quantum entanglement in ultra-high dimensional quantum imaging and communications. This EPSRC International Centre-to-Centre Collaboration affords a rare opportunity to enhance several world-leading research strands at Heriot-Watt, and make a significant, complementary and sustained contribution to major UK collaborative research initiatives, particularly the EPSRC SPEXS Programme Grant and the EPSRC Quantum Technology Hub network, strongly in line with UK research priorities.