An Integrated Quantum Key Distribution Transceiver using Silicon Photonic Circuits

该项目汇集了来自加拿大三所大学的六个研究小组，他们将与一家软件公司和一家纳米制造公司的研发人员密切合作，生产一种完全集成的光学芯片组，该芯片组将通过光缆发送和接收量子力学编码的加密密钥。发射器芯片将硅中的杂质中心(西蒙·弗雷泽大学的专业知识)作为单光子发射器，通过蚀刻在硅晶片上的光学微腔(不列颠哥伦比亚大学和卡尔加里大学的专业知识)耦合到硅光子电路中(申请人在不列颠哥伦比亚大学的专业知识)。接收器芯片将包括匹配的硅电路和不列颠哥伦比亚大学正在申请专利的全集成单光子探测器。一个无处不在的量子网络需要在量子通信理论和设计方面取得许多技术进步，实现量子中继器，并显著提高单个量子信道的吞吐量和它们的多路复用。高性能量子光源和探测器与光子电路在可制造的半导体平台上的集成将是这一旅程中的一个重要里程碑。世界各地的研究人员都在寻求实现这种集成的许多材料平台，但大多数人都认为，如果所有相关的组件功能都能被展示出来，硅将是最好的宿主材料。共同申请者与这两个赞助组织都有非常成功的合作历史。该软件公司将利用该项目通过直接实验验证来增强其现有产品，并开发一系列全新的量子光学模拟工具。这家纳米制造公司将受益于共同开发量子光学硅光子电路的工艺配方，这将使精度极限超过大多数经典硅光子学客户目前的要求。

This project brings together a team of six research groups from three universities in Canada who will work closely with the R&D personnel in one software company and one nanofabrication company to produce a fully-integrated optical chip set that will send and receive quantum mechanically-encoded encryption keys over fibre optic cables. The transmitter chip will incorporate an impurity centre in silicon (expertise at Simon Fraser University) as a single photon emitter that will be coupled into silicon photonic circuits (expertise of the applicant at the University of British Columbia) via optical microcavities (expertise at the University of British Columbia and the University of Calgary) etched into silicon wafers. The receiver chip will incorporate matching silicon circuitry and a fully integrated single photon detector that the University of British Columbia is in the process of patenting. A ubiquitous quantum network will require many technological advances in; quantum communication theory and design, realizing a quantum repeater, and dramatically increasing the throughput of individual quantum channels, and their multiplexing. The integration of high-performance quantum light sources and detectors with photonic circuits in a manufacturable semiconductor platform would represent a major milestone on this journey. Many material platforms for achieving this integration are being pursued by researchers around the world, but most agree that silicon would be the best host material, if all of the relevant component functionalities can be demonstrated. The co-applicants have a history of very successful collaboration with both the sponsor organizations. The software company will use the project to enhance its current offerings by direct experimental validation, and to develop a completely new line of quantum optical simulation tools. The nanofabrication company will benefit by co-developing process recipes for quantum-optical silicon photonic circuits, which will push the limits of precision beyond those currently demanded by most classical silicon photonics customers.