Optics and Quantum Information

对光的研究是我们认识世界的基础。在过去的几十年里，它还刺激了令人难以置信的技术变革：激光、光纤和集成光子学的发明是开启信息革命的基础，从根本上改变了人类的体验。今天，越来越多的人一致认为，利用光的量子特性将带来一场光学技术的新革命。这个新的量子时代预计将迎来一系列颠覆性技术，从允许绝对安全的量子通信，到在某些应用中比当前设备具有指数级优势的量子计算机。为了开发这些有前途的技术，目前人们共同努力开发各种方法来创造、操纵和测量量子光。在他们作为加拿大光学和量子信息研究主席的第二个任期内，Hamel博士将进一步研究他们的研究活动，以开发实验工具来实现这些目标，最终目标是开发光学量子信息技术的使能工具。这将包括产生和测量非经典光态的新方法，以及这些光学量子信息处理方法有效性的概念证明。一个特别的重点将是研究如何将级联下转换（由Hamel博士和他们的合作者开创的一种新的物理过程）用于开发量子信息技术。这些创新的方法有望为单光子水平的非线性光学过程和光量子系统的行为提供基本的见解。它还将开发可用于技术应用的工具，从而带来商业化的机会。最后，该研究项目将为学生和研究人员提供高级培训，为他们在加拿大新兴的量子领域工作做好准备。

The study of light is fundamental to our understanding of the world. It also has, over the last few decades, spurred incredible technological change: the invention of lasers, optical fibres and integrated photonics were fundamental in ushering in the information revolution, which has fundamentally altered the human experience. Today, there is a growing consensus that a new revolution in optical technologies will come from harnessing the quantum nature of light. This new quantum era is expected to usher in a slate of disruptive technologies, ranging from quantum communication allowing for absolute security, to quantum computers processing exponential advantages over current devices in certain applications. In order to develop these promising technologies, there are currently concerted efforts to develop a variety of approaches to create, manipulate and measure quantum light. During their second term as a Canada Research Chair in Optics and Quantum information, Dr. Hamel will further their research activities towards the development of experimental tools to achieve these goals, with the ultimate goal of developing enabling tools for optical quantum information technologies. This will include novel methods of producing and measuring non-classical states of light, as well as proofs of concepts for the validity of these methods for optical quantum information processing. A particular focus will be to study how cascaded downconversion, a novel physical process pioneered by Dr. Hamel and their collaborators, can be used to develop technologies for quantum information.These innovative approaches are expected to provide fundamental insight into nonlinear optical processes at the single-photon level and into the behaviour of optical quantum systems. It will also develop tools which will be of use for technological applications, leading to opportunities for commercialization. Finally, this research program will provide advanced training to students and researchers, preparing them to work in Canada's emerging quantum sector.