Single Photon Source for Quantum Computing and Simulation

The student will work on semiconductor quantum light sources. Light is an ideal carrier of quantum information as photons are fast, cheap and easy to encode with quantum-bits carried in their polarisation, phase, time or path degrees of freedom. This project will work with a light source based on a single Indium-Gallium-Arsenide semiconductor quantum dot, as these can offer > 99% spectrally pure photons at high efficiency.

The project is funded by the UK National Hub in Quantum Computing and Simulation (Hub-QCS). The source will be produced in Cardiff's Institute for Compound Semiconductors cleanroom and tested in our new optical labs.

The focus of year 1 will be increasing the efficiency and purity of the source through design and experiment. In Year 2 the student will collaborate with partners in the Hub-QCS to demonstrate re-routing of photons in prototype network. In Year 3 the student will build on previous research to demonstrate non-linear optical effects in the device.