QLC: EAGER: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Cavity-Enhanced Strategies to Protect and Entangle Quantum Emitters

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

Quantum communication offers the tantalizing possibility of sending secure messages over long distances. However, developing materials that can act as the central information carriers, the "bits" in quantum communication, is difficult. One strategy for creating quantum bits, or "qubits", is to combine the quantum mechanical properties of light with molecules, or plasmonic nanoparticles. With support from the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry and Chemical Theory, Models and Computational Methods Programs in the Division of Chemistry, Professor David Masiello of the University of Washington and Professor Randall Goldsmith of the University of Wisconsin Madison are developing ways to force repeated interaction between light and molecular or nanoparticle quantum emitters, enabling them to act as qubits. The research discoveries could have broad implications for emerging quantum-based technologies, including quantum computing and quantum communication. The project is also providing interdisciplinary training at the graduate and undergraduate levels at the intersection between optics, photonics, quantum information, and nanomaterial fields, as well as public outreach activities demonstrating the importance of photonics (the interaction of light and matter) and quantum information. Working with their students, Professors Masiello and Goldsmith create small disk-shaped structures called toroidal microresonators decorated with molecules or nanoparticles. Light injected into the disk undergoes total internal reflection, causing it to propagate almost endlessly around the periphery of the disk with very little loss. As it moves around the disk, it interacts with molecules or nanoparticles placed on its surface, enabling the structure to maintain strong coupling between a variety of molecular and nanomaterial quantum absorbers. The project, which contains a strong interplay between theory and experiment, focuses on production and manipulation of states that demonstrate Dicke superradiance. Characterization of new coupled states is achieved by microresonator photothermal spectroscopy and photoluminescence, with experimental observation being understood in the context of an underlying theory that describes the state evolution and relevant dissipation processes. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.