(Quantum Accelerator) An entangled photon pair source for hybrid optical-microwave quantum networks
Abstract
The vision of this research is to realize a quantum internet for connecting quantum technologies through efficient and robust distribution of quantum states over long distances. This project will advance an essential component for the quantum internet- an adapter that allows low temperature microwave-regime quantum computers to connect to room temperature quantum optical fiber networks. Combining these disparate technology platforms leads to two important advances- 1. Quantum computing power can be increased by optically networking otherwise isolated processors, which will accelerate solutions to materials design and advanced simulation problems that are beyond the capacity of classical computers to solve. 2. Quantum encryption networks can be advanced from simple point-to-point links to complex multi-node networks by incorporating the error correction capabilities of future quantum computers into network nodes. A challenge to connecting quantum computing platforms like superconducting qubits to room temperature optical networks is creating entanglement between microwave and optical photons. Although this is a key enabling capability for integrating different quantum hardware, it has not yet been demonstrated in any system. Our solution is to engineer a hybrid source that will generate a pair of entangled photons- an optical photon for fiber transmission at room temperature, and a microwave photon to couple to superconducting qubit circuits. The source incorporates an atomic quantum memory that can be used to control the release of the second photon for future network synchronization. The entangled photons will be generated by an ensemble of rare-earth atoms embedded in a crystal, and efficiently extracted using coupling to optical and microwave resonators. We aim to demonstrate the feasibility of this innovative approach through numerical modelling and proof-of-principle experiments with existing on-chip devices. Beyond this project, we aim to leverage this source of entanglement as a powerful building block for long-distance, multi-node hybrid quantum technology networks.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 07, 2023
- Source ID
- FA95502110055
Entities
People
- John Bartholomew
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of Sydney