NIRT: Integrated Nanophotonics for Quantum Computation and Quantum Information Processing

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

0507270 O'Brien This program is a collaborative effort between faculty members at USC and UT Austin to develop the key nanophotonic components for chip-scale quantum information processing and to develop improved quantum information processing algorithms and system level implementations of this technology. The proposed program is a NIRT in the area of Nanoscale Structures, Novel Phenomena, and Quantum Control. The goal of this program is to develop technology to emit, manipulate, and detect single quanta. Only single-photon sources, single-photon detectors, beamsplitters, and phase shifters are necessary in order to build gates for efficient quantum computation. The PI proposes to improve the state-of-the-art in these components using a common chip-scale, indium phosphide compatible, approach. Single-photon sources developed at USC will be shared with the single-photon detector effort at UT Austin, and similarly, the singlephoton detectors developed at UT Austin will be shared with the single-photon source effort at USC. The collaboration will also ensure that the device designs will be compatible with the eventual integration onto a single InP substrate. Intellectual Merit: This proposed program will investigate both optically and electrically-pumped, single-mode, photonic crystal single-photon sources incorporating a single quantum dot emitting near 1.5 um. These sources will be coupled to a photonic crystal waveguide to facilitate chip-scale optical processing. Electronic circuits will be designed to drive these single-photon sources, sense the photon emission, and generate a trigger signal that can be used in subsequent gate timing. The single-photon detectors will be developed using Geiger mode avalanche photodiodes fabricated in InGaAs/InAlAs lattice matched to InP. While the long term goal is to develop a chip scale quantum gate technology applicable to quantum computation, this technology will find much nearer term applications in quantum cryptography. Broader Impacts: The research directions of this program will also impact the classroom teaching at both USC and the University of Texas. The investigators on this team teach 20 different undergraduate and graduate courses over the course of the proposed four-year program. There is also ongoing undergraduate participation in these research groups and the PI expects 6 undergraduates to be involved in this project.