Photonic Quantum Technologies
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Abstract
Quantum mechanics tells us how the world works at its most fundamental level. It predicts very strange behaviour that can typically only be observed when things are very cold and very small. It has an inbuilt element of chance, allows superpositions of two different states, and admits super-strong correlations between objects that would be nonsensical in our everyday world / entanglement . Despite this strange behaviour, quantum mechanics is the most successful theory that we have ever had / it predicts what will happen almost perfectly!Although the theory of quantum mechanics was invited at the beginning of the last century, quantum information science has only emerged in the last decades to consider what additional power and functionality can be realised by specifically harnessing quantum mechanical effects in the encoding, transmission and processing of information. Anticipated future technologies include quantum computers with tremendous computational power, quantum metrology which promises the most precise measurements possible, and quantum cryptography which is already being used in commercial communication systems, and offers perfect security.Single particles of light / photons / are excellent quantum bits or qubits, because they suffer from almost no noise. They also have great potential for application in future quantum technologies: schemes for all optical quantum computers are a leading contender, and photons are the obvious choice for both quantum communication and for quantum metrology schemes for measuring optical path lengths. There have already been a number of impressive proof-of-principle demonstrations of photonic information science.However, photonic quantum technologies have reached a roadblock: they are stuck in the research laboratory. All of the demonstrations to date have relied on imperfect, unscalable and bulky elements with single photons travelling in air. This is not suitable for future technologies. In addition there has been no integration of these critical components which will be essential for the realisation of scalable and practical technologies. This project aims to address these problems by developing single photon sources based on diamond nanocrystals, optical wires on optical chips, and superconducting single photon detectors, to the high performance levels required. It also aims to integrate all of these components on a single optical chip, and thus bring photonic quantum technologies out of the laboratory towards the marketplace.
Organisations
- University of Bristol (Lead Research Organisation)
- Monitoring Division (Collaboration)
- National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Collaboration)
- University of Stuttgart (Collaboration)
- University of Sydney (Collaboration)
- Qinetiq (United Kingdom) (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- University of Vienna (Collaboration)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Collaboration)
- Harvard University (Collaboration)
- Finisar (Collaboration)
- University of Oxford (Collaboration)
- University of Ghent (Collaboration)
- National ICT Australia NICTA (Collaboration)
- Sapphicon Semiconductor (Collaboration)
- Hewlett Packard Ltd (Collaboration)
- National Computational Infrastructure (Collaboration)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (Collaboration)
- University of St Andrews (Collaboration)
- University of Southampton (Collaboration)
- IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
- Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) (Collaboration)
- Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz (Collaboration)
- Technical University of Denmark (Collaboration)
- Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) (Collaboration)
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Collaboration)
- Interuniversity Micro-Electronics Centre (Collaboration)
- De Beers Group (Collaboration)
- US Army (Collaboration)
- University of Ulm (Collaboration)
- University of Toronto (Collaboration)
- Macquarie University (Project Partner)
- Huawei Technologies (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Hewlett-Packard (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Materials Modelling NPL (Project Partner)
People |
ORCID iD |
Jeremy O'Brien (Principal Investigator) |
Publications

Ahonen O
(2008)
Entanglement-enhanced quantum key distribution
in Physical Review A

Aungskunsiri K
(2011)
Integrated quantum photonics
in Optics InfoBase Conference Papers

Birchall P
(2017)
Quantum-classical boundary for precision optical phase estimation
in Physical Review A

Bonneau D
(2011)
Fast path and polarisation manipulation of telecom wavelength single photons in lithium niobate waveguide devices
in Optics InfoBase Conference Papers

Bonneau D
(2011)
Quantum interference in silicon waveguide circuits

Cai X
(2012)
Integrated compact optical vortex beam emitters.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)

Castelletto S
(2011)
Diamond-based structures to collect and guide light
in New Journal of Physics

Clark A
(2009)
All-optical-fiber polarization-based quantum logic gate
in Physical Review A

Crespi A
(2012)
Measuring protein concentration with entangled photons
in Applied Physics Letters

Fulconis J
(2009)
Fibre source of intrinsically time bandwidth limited photon pairs
in Optics InfoBase Conference Papers
Description | This project has led to further investment in the development of integrated quantum photonics. A significant step forward in the development of quantum technologies. The impact of these technologies will be far reaching but there is further work to be done to realise this vision and to generate maximum impact. |
Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) |
Description | EPSRC Challenging Engineering |
Amount | £1,304,946 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/K021931/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2013 |
End | 04/2018 |
Description | EPSRC Established Career Fellowship |
Amount | £1,185,033 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/J017175/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2012 |
End | 09/2017 |
Description | EPSRC Standard Grant |
Amount | £522,323 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/I035935/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2012 |
End | 06/2016 |
Description | Research Chair in Emerging Technologies |
Amount | £1,230,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Royal Academy of Engineering |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2013 |
End | 01/2023 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | Finisar |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | Imperial College London |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | Karlsruhe Institute of Technology |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | Monitoring Division |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | National Computational Infrastructure |
Country | Australia |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | National ICT Australia NICTA |
Country | Australia |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology |
Country | Japan |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | Sapphicon Semiconductor |
Country | Australia |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | Technical University of Denmark |
Country | Denmark |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | University College Oxford |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | University of Ghent |
Country | Belgium |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | University of Southampton |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | University of St Andrews |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems |
Organisation | University of Toronto |
Country | Canada |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Development of Ultra-high bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems. |
Collaborator Contribution | CUDOS brings together a powerful team of Australian and International researchers in optical science and photonics technology, our efforts will lead to significant advancement in the capabilities and knowledge in this crucial field. |
Impact | Numerous papers & Public Engagement activities based on the research undertaken |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | DIAMANT |
Organisation | De Beers Group |
Department | Element Six |
Country | Luxembourg |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The discovery and development of diamond as a uniquely promising material system for solid-state molecular technologies. |
Collaborator Contribution | Development of Molecular sensors operating under ambient conditions promise to revolutionize the field of biological imaging and precision sensing. |
Impact | Numerous publications based on results of Diamant with further research being performed on this area after its completion. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | DIAMANT |
Organisation | Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) |
Country | Netherlands |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The discovery and development of diamond as a uniquely promising material system for solid-state molecular technologies. |
Collaborator Contribution | Development of Molecular sensors operating under ambient conditions promise to revolutionize the field of biological imaging and precision sensing. |
Impact | Numerous publications based on results of Diamant with further research being performed on this area after its completion. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | DIAMANT |
Organisation | Harvard University |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The discovery and development of diamond as a uniquely promising material system for solid-state molecular technologies. |
Collaborator Contribution | Development of Molecular sensors operating under ambient conditions promise to revolutionize the field of biological imaging and precision sensing. |
Impact | Numerous publications based on results of Diamant with further research being performed on this area after its completion. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | DIAMANT |
Organisation | Interuniversity Micro-Electronics Centre |
Country | Belgium |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The discovery and development of diamond as a uniquely promising material system for solid-state molecular technologies. |
Collaborator Contribution | Development of Molecular sensors operating under ambient conditions promise to revolutionize the field of biological imaging and precision sensing. |
Impact | Numerous publications based on results of Diamant with further research being performed on this area after its completion. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | DIAMANT |
Organisation | Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The discovery and development of diamond as a uniquely promising material system for solid-state molecular technologies. |
Collaborator Contribution | Development of Molecular sensors operating under ambient conditions promise to revolutionize the field of biological imaging and precision sensing. |
Impact | Numerous publications based on results of Diamant with further research being performed on this area after its completion. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | DIAMANT |
Organisation | University of California, Santa Barbara |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The discovery and development of diamond as a uniquely promising material system for solid-state molecular technologies. |
Collaborator Contribution | Development of Molecular sensors operating under ambient conditions promise to revolutionize the field of biological imaging and precision sensing. |
Impact | Numerous publications based on results of Diamant with further research being performed on this area after its completion. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | DIAMANT |
Organisation | University of Stuttgart |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The discovery and development of diamond as a uniquely promising material system for solid-state molecular technologies. |
Collaborator Contribution | Development of Molecular sensors operating under ambient conditions promise to revolutionize the field of biological imaging and precision sensing. |
Impact | Numerous publications based on results of Diamant with further research being performed on this area after its completion. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | DIAMANT |
Organisation | University of Ulm |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The discovery and development of diamond as a uniquely promising material system for solid-state molecular technologies. |
Collaborator Contribution | Development of Molecular sensors operating under ambient conditions promise to revolutionize the field of biological imaging and precision sensing. |
Impact | Numerous publications based on results of Diamant with further research being performed on this area after its completion. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | DIAMANT |
Organisation | University of Vienna |
Country | Austria |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The discovery and development of diamond as a uniquely promising material system for solid-state molecular technologies. |
Collaborator Contribution | Development of Molecular sensors operating under ambient conditions promise to revolutionize the field of biological imaging and precision sensing. |
Impact | Numerous publications based on results of Diamant with further research being performed on this area after its completion. |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Future Digital Systems - Quantum Information Technologies Roadmap |
Organisation | Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | The set up and hosting of a Workshop for 90 delegates to discuss the roadmap of future quantum information technolgies. |
Collaborator Contribution | The support, advise and financial support for hosting the workshop. |
Impact | A clear overview of how to develop Quantum Technologies over the next few years. |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Photonic Quantum Characterisation, Verification and Validation |
Organisation | Imperial College London |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Project Lead on developing Photonic Quantum Characterisation |
Collaborator Contribution | Working with me as partners and contributing their own research in this area. |
Impact | Partnership is fairly recent but we have publications due for release. |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | Photonic Quantum Characterisation, Verification and Validation |
Organisation | US Army |
Department | US Army International Research Office |
Country | United States |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Project Lead on developing Photonic Quantum Characterisation |
Collaborator Contribution | Working with me as partners and contributing their own research in this area. |
Impact | Partnership is fairly recent but we have publications due for release. |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | Photonic Quantum Characterisation, Verification and Validation |
Organisation | University of Sydney |
Country | Australia |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Project Lead on developing Photonic Quantum Characterisation |
Collaborator Contribution | Working with me as partners and contributing their own research in this area. |
Impact | Partnership is fairly recent but we have publications due for release. |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | Photonic Quantum Characterisation, Verification and Validation |
Organisation | University of Ulm |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Project Lead on developing Photonic Quantum Characterisation |
Collaborator Contribution | Working with me as partners and contributing their own research in this area. |
Impact | Partnership is fairly recent but we have publications due for release. |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | Photonic Quantum Technologies |
Organisation | Hewlett Packard Ltd |
Department | Hewlett Packard Laboratories, Bristol |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Development of Photonic Quantum Technologies. |
Collaborator Contribution | Access to their Material and Data for purposes of our research |
Impact | Engineered groundbreaking quantum technologies based on diamond single photons sources, silica. Work found within numerous publications. |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | Photonic Quantum Technologies |
Organisation | Qinetiq |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Development of Photonic Quantum Technologies. |
Collaborator Contribution | Access to their Material and Data for purposes of our research |
Impact | Engineered groundbreaking quantum technologies based on diamond single photons sources, silica. Work found within numerous publications. |
Start Year | 2007 |
Title | OPTICAL SOURCE |
Description | An integrated optical device and method for generating photons by manipulating path entanglement is provided. An integrated optical splitter splits pump light between two interferometer arms wherein each arm comprises a substantially identical photon pair source configured to be able to convert at least one pump light photon into a signal and idler photon pair. An integrated optical combiner device in optical communication with a first and a second optical output path interferes light from the first and second arms and outputs the signal and idler photons by bunching the signal and idler photons together in one of the optical output paths, or anti-bunching the signal photon in one output path and the corresponding idler photon in the other optical output path. |
IP Reference | US2015261058 |
Protection | Patent application published |
Year Protection Granted | 2015 |
Licensed | Commercial In Confidence |
Impact | None to date. |
Title | Quantum Key Distribution |
Description | An apparatus including: an input optical interface configured to receive a series of optical input signals each including photons; an encoder configured to encode a quantum key for distribution by encoding each of the series of received optical input signals with a measurable state; an attenuator configured to attenuate each of the encoded optical input signals to create a series of quantum optical signals; and an output optical interface configured to send the series of quantum optical signals to the remote apparatus via a quantum communication channel. |
IP Reference | US2012195430 |
Protection | Patent application published |
Year Protection Granted | 2012 |
Licensed | Commercial In Confidence |
Impact | Developing relationships with industrial partners. |
Description | Article in Financial Times |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | A front page article in the Financial Times was published regarding the use of the integrated approach to realise a quantum walk of two correlated photons in a 21 waveguide array. Article published on the use of the integrated approach to realise a quantum walk of two correlated photons in a 21 waveguide array. - Increased awareness of physics and its impact to society by the general public. - An increase in the awareness of the Centre for Quantum Photonics |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
URL | http://www.bristol.ac.uk/physics/news/2012/92.html |
Description | British Science Association Media Fellowship |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | I used the skills I learnt on his Media Fellowship at the Irish Times to get the difficult subject of quantum photonics onto the front pages of the national newspapers. I obtained skills in how to translate research into news and pitch science stories to editors. Talks generated a lot of interest from the public and I formed a number of working relationships with science journalists as a result of this fellowship. The stories I wrote brought physics to millions of people, making the front page of the Financial Times in 2009. This was also covered in the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Nature as well as in the US and Australia. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
URL | http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/science-society/impacts |
Description | World Economic Forum (Davos, Switzerland) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters remains the foremost creative force for engaging the world's top leaders in collaborative activities focused on shaping the global, regional and industry agendas. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018 |
URL | http://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2018 |