QuigaByte-Gigahertz-clocked telecom cluster states for next generation quantum photonics
Lead Research Organisation:
Heriot-Watt University
Department Name: Sch of Engineering and Physical Science
Abstract
Quantum technology enables tasks that aren't possible with classical methods, promising advances in a variety of scientific fields impacting our everyday lives: biology, medicine, material, and physical sciences. Photons are a particularly suitable carrier for quantum information because they can be used for virtually all quantum information tasks, and they are comparatively simple to create, manipulate and detect.
In this fellowship I will speed up current state-of-the art quantum photonics by 4 orders of magnitude, to deliver gigahertz clocked photonic "quantum bytes"-8-photon cluster states in the telecommunications regime. This improvement will be achieved by combining recent advances in quantum photon source engineering with cutting edge ultra-fast laser technology and superconducting photon detectors. In collaboration with the two recently funded EPSRC Quantum Technology hubs in Quantum Communication and Quantum Enhanced Imaging, I will apply these photonic qubytes to a range of quantum tasks: secure quantum encryption with trusted devices, quantum-enhanced imaging, and all-optical quantum networking protocols.
In this fellowship I will speed up current state-of-the art quantum photonics by 4 orders of magnitude, to deliver gigahertz clocked photonic "quantum bytes"-8-photon cluster states in the telecommunications regime. This improvement will be achieved by combining recent advances in quantum photon source engineering with cutting edge ultra-fast laser technology and superconducting photon detectors. In collaboration with the two recently funded EPSRC Quantum Technology hubs in Quantum Communication and Quantum Enhanced Imaging, I will apply these photonic qubytes to a range of quantum tasks: secure quantum encryption with trusted devices, quantum-enhanced imaging, and all-optical quantum networking protocols.
Planned Impact
The expected results from this fellowship will benefit:
1. The public, for which we will deliver more secure communication pathways and improved medical imaging tools.
2. Our industrial partners, for which we will open up new applications in quantum research and thus commercial benefits.
Society impact:
Quantum information processing is regarded as one of the disruptive technologies of the 21st century, and with this fellowship I will be able to significantly advance technology to deliver long-term benefits to society.
Some immediate benefits will be delivered through two aspects of my proposal that tie in with the EPSRC Quantum Communications and Quantum Enhanced Imaging hubs: secure communication and quantum enhanced imaging.
Cyber-security in particular is receiving major attention from governments due to drastic increases in cyber-theft, which are expected to damage the global economy to the tune of half a trillion dollars annually, http://reut.rs/1nu2guN. Quantum cryptography provides an answer to that problem, and is at the same time the quantum technology closest to mass-market commercialization. In tight collaboration with the Quantum Communication hub that involves Toshiba Inc., I will deliver quantum encryption protocols with trusted devices, and protocols for all-optical quantum networking which have the potential to significantly strengthen online security.
The potential societal impact that quantum-enhanced imaging promises through life-science applications such as improved medical imaging of live tissue is less immediate. However, the tie-in of this Fellowship with the Quantum Enhanced Imaging hub will maximize the potential for impact through its strong suite of industrial and commercial partners.
Economic and industrial impact:
The main industrial beneficiaries of this project are our commercial partners-LaserQuantum UK, PhotonSpot, US, and Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Austria. These companies will have premium access to the quantum photonics community through this fellowship; enhancing their exposure and enabling them to tailor their products market needs. AIT in particular strongly supports my fellowship and will through their successful track record of commercializing university-grade research into marketable products in quantum communication deliver immense mutual benefit.
1. The public, for which we will deliver more secure communication pathways and improved medical imaging tools.
2. Our industrial partners, for which we will open up new applications in quantum research and thus commercial benefits.
Society impact:
Quantum information processing is regarded as one of the disruptive technologies of the 21st century, and with this fellowship I will be able to significantly advance technology to deliver long-term benefits to society.
Some immediate benefits will be delivered through two aspects of my proposal that tie in with the EPSRC Quantum Communications and Quantum Enhanced Imaging hubs: secure communication and quantum enhanced imaging.
Cyber-security in particular is receiving major attention from governments due to drastic increases in cyber-theft, which are expected to damage the global economy to the tune of half a trillion dollars annually, http://reut.rs/1nu2guN. Quantum cryptography provides an answer to that problem, and is at the same time the quantum technology closest to mass-market commercialization. In tight collaboration with the Quantum Communication hub that involves Toshiba Inc., I will deliver quantum encryption protocols with trusted devices, and protocols for all-optical quantum networking which have the potential to significantly strengthen online security.
The potential societal impact that quantum-enhanced imaging promises through life-science applications such as improved medical imaging of live tissue is less immediate. However, the tie-in of this Fellowship with the Quantum Enhanced Imaging hub will maximize the potential for impact through its strong suite of industrial and commercial partners.
Economic and industrial impact:
The main industrial beneficiaries of this project are our commercial partners-LaserQuantum UK, PhotonSpot, US, and Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), Austria. These companies will have premium access to the quantum photonics community through this fellowship; enhancing their exposure and enabling them to tailor their products market needs. AIT in particular strongly supports my fellowship and will through their successful track record of commercializing university-grade research into marketable products in quantum communication deliver immense mutual benefit.
Publications
Morrison C
(2021)
A bright source of telecom single photons based on quantum frequency conversion
in Applied Physics Letters
Ringbauer M
(2018)
Certification and Quantification of Multilevel Quantum Coherence
in Physical Review X
Graffitti F
(2018)
Design considerations for high-purity heralded single-photon sources
in Physical Review A
Graffitti F
(2020)
Direct Generation of Tailored Pulse-Mode Entanglement.
in Physical review letters
Proietti M
(2019)
Enhanced Multiqubit Phase Estimation in Noisy Environments by Local Encoding.
in Physical review letters
Ho J
(2022)
Entanglement-based quantum communication complexity beyond Bell nonlocality
in npj Quantum Information
Proietti M
(2021)
Experimental quantum conference key agreement.
in Science advances
Proietti M
(2019)
Experimental test of local observer independence.
in Science advances
Boccolini A
(2019)
Ghost imaging with the human eye.
in Optics express
Graffitti F
(2020)
Hyperentanglement in structured quantum light
in Physical Review Research
| Description | We have developed sources of multi-photonic entanglement with world-leading benchmarks. These allow us to implement small-scale quantum applications in metrology, imaging, communication, and computing, with previously unprecedented quality for photonic systems. |
| Exploitation Route | We developed nonlinear optical crystal engineering methods that enable almost arbitrary shaping of photonic joint spectra in the so-called downconversion process, which is currently the leading approach to creating high-quality single photons and entangled photons. In particular, our methods allow straightforward access to the increasingly important frequency degree of freedom for photonic quantum technology. We are in early talks with commercial crystal suppliers to license our method. |
| Sectors | Other |
| Description | Thanks to this award we have made significant progress in tailoring the nonlinearity profiles optical crystals used for entangled photon pair creation via parametric downconversion. This has sparked interest in the commercial sector - thanks in part to our pioneering work and the resulting research outputs, crystals with tailored nonlinearities can now be commercially procured by our long-term supplier Raicol Ltd in Israel. The main application is for crystals with Gaussian nonlinearity profiles, which allow for the creation of very high quality, spectrally `pure' photon pairs. However, also some of our more specialist designs are now available from this supplier, and we've been providing support to a number of research groups (e.g. at the University of Innsbruck, and the University of Oregon) in optimising and sourcing these designs. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | 3QN: Towards A New UK Industry for Novel Quantum Receivers in Nascent Satellite QKD Global Markets |
| Amount | £4,200,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 104616 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2018 |
| End | 03/2021 |
| Description | TrakM8 KTP |
| Amount | £600,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | KTP 11320 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2019 |
| End | 03/2022 |