Exploiting light: from quantum nanophotonics to advanced fabrication

光子学是21世纪的关键使能技术。NSERC DG资金将使我的团队能够利用光与物质的相互作用应用于从解决关键制造问题到探索新型纳米结构的各种应用。我们的重点是解开这个过程的动态，并以创新的方式使用光来控制它。在新的合作和数百万美元的基础设施投资的推动下，我们将帮助解决我们这个时代的两大技术挑战，即如何使我们的社会更可持续和更安全。我们还将拓展超灵敏传感和超快动力学的前沿。为了更有效地利用我们的资源，我们需要新的制造工艺，以更少的浪费生产更轻、更高效的部件。基于激光的加法制造(LAM)有望给制造业带来革命性的变化，因为它能够直接“写”复杂的3D金属部件，但由于强烈的光/物质相互作用的复杂性，它的广泛采用正受到阻碍。通过在激光写入过程中的高速现场监测，我们将解决LAM的质量保证和控制问题。由于光纤网络的巨大进步，信息流动前所未有，但安全损失可能会造成可怕的后果。几乎所有的安全传输都依赖于公钥加密，但专家们一致认为，它的过时只是个时间问题。至关重要的是，我们必须迅速转向由物理定律保证的加密系统，例如依赖于编码到单个光子上的比特的量子密钥分发(QKD)。推广量子密钥分发的一个重要障碍是缺乏合适的量子光源，这些光源可以扩大规模以满足技术需求。我们将利用标准的半导体制造技术，开发集成到芯片上的高亮度、高保真单光子源。机械系统为我们周围的世界提供了极其灵敏的探测器，当插入光腔时，可以由光控制和读出。我们将探索机械-光学混合系统(例如，单原子厚膜、单光子光场)的极限量子极限，以发现在极限量子极限下创建量子力学和光学态、传输量子信息和创建高灵敏度传感器的新能力。这一提议的时机至关重要：DG资助的HQP将能够利用最近CFI资助的女王纳米光子学研究中心(730万美元)。这项研究的成果包括：在对加拿大工业至关重要的领域培训了11名研究人员(外加15名本科生)，使用激光进行精密制造的新方法，用于安全通信和传感的新型纳米材料，以及提高对激光束尖端存在的基本物理的理解。

Photonics is a key enabling technology of the 21st century. NSERC DG funding will allow my team to exploit light-matter interaction for applications ranging from solving key manufacturing problems to exploring novel nanostructures. Our focus is on unravelling the dynamics of the process, and using light in innovative ways to control it. Powered by new collaborations and multi-million dollar investments in infrastructure, we will help solve two of the major technical challenges of our age, namely how to make our society more sustainable and more secure. We will also expand the frontiers of ultrasensitive sensing and ultrafast dynamics. To become more efficient with our resources, we need new manufacturing processes that generate lighter and more efficient components with less waste. Laser-based additive manufacturing (LAM) promises to revolutionise manufacturing with its ability to directly "write" intricate 3D metal components, but its widespread adoption is being impeded by the complexity of the intense light/matter interaction. By high-speed in situ monitoring during laser writing, we will solve the LAM quality assurance and control problem. Due to the great advances in fiber optic networks, information flows like never before but loss of security can have dire consequences. Almost all secure transmissions rely on public key encryption, but experts agree that its obsolescence is only a matter of time. It is crucial that we move quickly to encryption systems guaranteed by physical law, such as quantum key distribution (QKD) which relies on bits encoded onto single photons. A significant roadblock to widespread QKD implementation is the lack of appropriate quantum optical sources that can be scaled up to meet technological needs. We will develop high brightness, high fidelity single-photon sources integrated onto a chip, exploiting standard semiconductor fabrication technology. Mechanical systems provide exquisitely sensitive probes of the world around us, and when inserted into a optical cavity, can be controlled and read out by light. We will explore the ultimate quantum limit of hybrid mechanical-optical systems (e.g., single-atomic thick membranes, single-photon light fields) to discover new capabilities for quantum mechanical and optical state creation, transduction of quantum information, and creation of high-sensitivity sensors working at the ultimate quantum limit. Timing of this proposal is critical: DG-funded HQP will be able to exploit the recently CFI-funded Queen's Nanaophotonics Research Centre ($7.3M). Outcomes of this research include: training of 11 researchers (plus 15 undergraduates) in fields of key importance to Canadian industry, novel methods of using lasers for precision manufacturing, novel nanomaterials for secure telecommunications and sensing, and improved understanding of the underlying physics present at the tip of a laser beam.