INTEGRATED NONLINEAR QUANTUM PHOTONICS WITH VAN DER WAAL HETEROSTRUCTURE CAVITY POLARITONS
Abstract
Third order ?^3 (optical Kerr nonlinearities), that are pronounced at the single photon level, are critical for photonic quantum information processing. Fundamentally, strong optical Kerr-like effects mediate single photon interactions, can realize quantum optical logic gates for quantum computing and provide a mechanism for quantum light generation. Unfortunately, conventional materials exhibit a relatively weak optical Kerr effect rendering them unsuitable for quantum photonics. A variety of approaches to enhance photon-photon interactions that utilize cavity QED systems have been proposed and demonstrated but almost all suffer from some undesirable operating characteristic - complicated vacuum systems, have a limited photon generation rate or be challenging to incorporate into an integrated photonic platform. One system is an exception – cavity polaritons based on 2D material excitons (neutral and charged excitons as well as Moire excitons). The PI, along with a handful of other research groups, have recently demonstrated the formation of neutral exciton and trion polaritons. They exhibit extremely large Kerr-like nonlinearities potentially facilitating polariton mediated photon-photon interactions. Remarkably, it is anticipated for trion-polaritons the presence or absence of a single electron can fundamentally alter the cavity response! Technologically, this has the potential to enable room temperature integrated quantum photonic devices that can generate quantum states of light, operate as quantum switches and gates as well as potentially provide solid-state opportunities for quantum simulation. The proposed program “Integrated nonlinear quantum photonics with van der Waal heterostructure cavity polaritons” will leverage infrastructure from the PI’s previous AFOSR program and a strong collaboration with AFRL to demonstrate an integrated photonic device, compatible with AIM Photonics processes, that utilizes cavity polaritons to generate on-chip quantum states of light.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 20, 2023
- Source ID
- FA95502210373
Entities
People
- Anthony Vamivakas
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of Rochester