The proposed project seeks to develop research that will enable scalable quantum computing
Yuping Huang, associate professor in the Department of Physics and director of the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (CQSE), recently received a $567,974 grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) for his project "Nonlinear-Optical Pseudo Atoms on Chip.” The project seeks to develop strong photon-photon interaction, which will form a foundation for room temperature quantum computing using single photons – a long-sought necessity for scalable quantum computing.
“This has long been a quest in the field of quantum optics, and one of my own career pursuits. We have been working on this topic since my graduate studies, first theoretically, then experimentally, and now on the device level,” said Huang.
This project will push nonlinear optics to the ultimate quantum limit, where a single photon can create strong optical nonlinear effects to alter the propagation or change the quantum state of other photons. Huang and his team aim to demonstrate strong photon-photon interaction on a room temperature, chip-integrated platform that is drop-in compatible with distributed quantum sensing and information processing over free space and telecom fibers.
“Basically we will attempt to trap photons in an optical cavity for a prolonged time, during which they interact with each other through the large optical nonlinear susceptibility of the material constituting the cavity,” explained Huang.
“Although there are many potential material platforms, our team is devoted to demonstrating the first kind of photon-photon logical gates based on lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) platforms,” explained Jiayang Chen, a senior investigator on Huang’s team. “With this timing support, we are going to accelerate the research progress toward room-temperature photonic quantum computing,”
The project builds upon an accumulation of many research results in different areas, especially Huang’s team’s recent progress in photonic integrated circuits. “We hope to utilize this support to give this research frontier another big push, towards the ultimate goal: efficient photon-photon logical operations, which will enable a multitude of quantum optical information applications,” said Huang.
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Quantum Engineering Master's Program
