Making colloidal nanostructures stable for optical quantum computing with quantum rings, single-electron transistors and frequency comb interferometry.

目前的计算机微处理器由大约23亿个晶体管组成，仅比人脑中神经元的数量少40倍。计算机核心的散热密度现在达到了惊人的100W/cm2，大约是太阳表面功率密度的1/60。因此，开发下一种更节能的晶体管开关是一个非常活跃的研究领域。我们的研究是研究胶体纳米结构作为替代物，可以带来一种不同的计算方案，即光学量子信息处理。这些结构实际上是纳米尺寸的半导体晶体，我们可以通过量子力学定律来设计其电学和光学性质。然而，胶体纳米结构的发光性能需要更加稳定，我们打算解决这个问题。更具体地说，我们将开发一种新的胶体纳米结构-一维量子环，作为稳定和相干的量子信息单光子源。这将需要对胶体纳米结构中的表面相关效应有一个透彻的了解。因此，它们将被放置在单电子晶体管结构中，以研究在存在静电场和/或光的情况下流经它们的电流。我们还将采用一种新的方法来探测单个胶体纳米结构的光吸收，即使用频率梳的干涉方法。最后，我们的胶体纳米结构将被用于构建光纤基单光子光源，增强和稳定光发射。除了开发新的工具和方法来提高我们对胶体量子受限纳米结构的理解外，我们的研究还将通过促进节能计算机的可持续发展而使加拿大人受益。

Current computer microprocessors comprise about 2.3 billions transistors, which is barely 40 times less than the number of neurons in the human brain. The thermal power dissipation density in the computer core now reaches an enormous 100 W/cm2, or about 1/60th of the power density on the sun's surface. The quest for developing the next, more energy-efficient, transistor switch is therefore a very active field of research. Our research investigates colloidal nanostructures as substitutes that could bring about a different computational scheme, namely optical quantum information processing. These structures are in fact nanometre-sized semiconductor crystals for which we can engineer the electrical and optical properties through the laws of quantum mechanics. However, the light emission properties of colloidal nanostructures need to be more stable, and we intend to resolve this issue. More specifically, we will develop a new colloidal nanostructure, a 1D quantum ring, to act as a stable and coherent single photon source for quantum information. This will require a thorough understanding of surface-related effects in colloidal nanostructures. Hence, they will be placed in single electron transistor structures to study the current flowing through them in presence of a static electric field and/or light. We will also take a new approach to probe the optical absorption of a single colloidal nanostructure, namely an interferometric method using frequency combs. Finally, our colloidal nanostructures will be used to build a fiber-based single photon source enhancing and stabilizing the light emission. In addition to developing new tools and methods to improve our understanding of colloidal quantum confined nanostructures, our research will benefit Canadians by promoting the sustainable development of energy-efficient computers.