Manipulating light from a single photon to complex beams and wave packets, and their novel applications.

今天，社会比以往任何时候都更加依赖互联网在世界各地传递信息。全光信号产生和处理是基于光纤的电信系统(互联网和当今数字经济的支柱)的基石之一，这些业务在实现大量关键技术方面取得了极大的成功。其中，光信号的复接和解复用可能是最大的成就之一，使信息传输能够以前所未有的速度进行。该技术基于非常简单但有效的操作原理：不是以极高的重复率对长脉冲串进行编码(这对产生和处理非常苛刻)，而是产生并并行地分别产生和处理非常多(数百)种颜色(波长)的较慢脉冲串，从而在每个通道中以低得多的重复率传送相同的信息量，从而显著地更容易地处理光信号。另一个潜在的概念是将量子信息光学引入现实世界的电信系统，这有望成为另一个基石。在量子信息中，经典比特(0和1，例如，包含许多光子的光脉冲的存在或不存在)被替换为量子态，包含被称为量子比特的量子信息单元。由于量子力学的本质，在不改变量子系统(读取量子比特)的情况下，任何测量都无法进行，这意味着原则上任何对消息的篡改(即使只是监听)都必须留下痕迹。因此，量子技术构成了真正安全的数据传输的基础。这就是为什么，为了适应未来在数据量和安全性方面的需求，下一代电信网络的圣杯将是将量子信息技术与多路复用技术相结合。鉴于这种毋庸置疑的兴趣，我最近在INRS-EMT制定了一个强有力的光子学研究计划，特别是在集成光学方面，以实现这一重要目标。在目前的发现基金的框架内，我打算阐明量子力学、波动光学和(集成)光电子学之间的关系，以研究与光控制有关的两个基本方面。具体地说，在接下来的五年里，我将研究：1)基于集成玻璃环形谐振器的使用，能够产生数十个多路复用量子关联光子对(与量子存储器兼容)的可能性，以及2)利用所谓的艾里光束和脉冲的特性(它们既可以自我弯曲/加速，也可以自我修复，即使在扰动时也可以再生)，以i)克服影响最重要的非线性过程的众所周知的材料约束，包括频率转换和ii)开发新型的能量传输机制。与这样一个雄心勃勃的研究计划相关的好处有两个：它不仅将为开发符合加拿大数字经济迫切需求的新的先进技术铺平道路，而且还将促进高素质人才的培训，以应对我们现代社会的科学和技术挑战。

Today more than ever, society relies on the Internet to move information over the world. All-optical signal generation and processing is one of the foundation stones of fiber-based telecommunication systems (the backbone of both the Internet and today’s digital economy), where these operations have been highly successful at enabling a vast array of key technologies. Among those, the multiplexing and de-multiplexing of optical signals is perhaps one of the biggest achievements, allowing transfer of information at unprecedented speeds. This technique is based on a very simple but effective operation principle: instead of coding long trains of pulses at extremely high repetition rates (which are very demanding to generate and process), slower pulse trains of very many (hundreds) of colors (wavelengths) are generated and processed separately yet in parallel, thus delivering the same amount of information at much lower repetition rates in each channel, resulting in a significantly easier handling of the optical signal. Another potential concept, which is hoped to be an additional foundation stone, is the introduction of quantum information optics into real-world telecommunication systems. In quantum information, the classical bit (zeros and ones, e.g. the absence or presence of an optical pulse containing many photons) is replaced by a quantum state, holding a quantum information unit known as the qubit. Due to the nature of quantum mechanics, no measurement can be performed without altering the quantum system (read qubit) and this means that in principle any tampering (even just listening) of a message must leave a trace. For this reason, quantum technology forms the basis of real secure data transfer. This is why, in order to accommodate future demands in terms of data volume and of security, the holy grail of next-generation telecommunication networks will be to combine the technology of quantum information with that of multiplexing technologies. Given this unquestionable interest, I have recently developed at INRS-EMT a vigorous research program in photonics and in particular, in integrated optics, towards reaching this important objective. In the framework of the present Discovery Grant, I intend to shed some light onto the relation between quantum mechanics, wave optics and (integrated) optoelectronics to investigate two fundamental aspects related to the control of light. Specifically, in the next five years, I will study: 1) the possibility of creating the first device, based on the use of glass integrated ring resonators, capable of generating several tens of MULTIPLEXED QUANTUM CORRELATED photon pairs (compatible with quantum memories) and 2) using the property of the so-called Airy beams and pulses (which are both self-bending/accelerating and self-healing, i.e. they can be regenerated even when perturbed) to i) overcome the well-known material constrains affecting the most important nonlinear processes, including frequency conversion and ii) to develop novel energy transfer mechanisms. The benefits related to such an ambitious research program are twofold: not only will it pave the way to the development of new advanced technologies, consistent with the IMMEDIATE needs of the Canadian digital economy, but it will also promote the training of highly qualified personnel to respond to the scientific and technological challenges of our modern society.