Home > Press > Photons on a chip set new paths for secure communications
![]() |
Researchers pioneered a new approach to create photon pairs that fit on a computer chip.
CREDIT: RMIT University |
Abstract:
Researchers from RMIT University in Melbourne have helped crack the code to ultra-secure telecommunications of the future in an international research project that could also expedite the advent of quantum computing.
A team co-led by RMIT MicroNano Research Facility Director Professor David Moss has added a new twist to create photon pairs that fit on a tiny computer chip.
The breakthrough, published in Nature Communications, heralds the next-generation of integrated quantum optical technology, being compatible with current technology and secure communications.
The team pioneered a new approach based on a micro-ring resonator - a tiny optical cavity - in which energy conservation constraints can be exploited to suppress classical effects while amplifying quantum processes.
They used laser beams at different wavelengths and then had to overcome the risk of the two pump beams being able to destroy the photons' fragile quantum state.
"One of the properties of light exploited within quantum optics is 'photon polarization', which is essentially the direction in which the electric field associated with the photon oscillates,'' Moss said.
"Processes used to generate single photons or photon pairs on a chip allow the generation of photons with the same polarization as the laser beam, forcing us to find a way to directly mix, or cross-polarize, the photons via a nonlinear optical process on a chip for the first time.''
Moss worked with Professor Roberto Morandotti at the INRS-EMT in Canada and researchers from the University of Sussex and Herriot Watt University, City University of Hong Kong, and the Xi'an Institute in Chin, on the research.
"While a similar suppression of classical effects has been observed in gas vapours and complex micro-structured fibres, this is the first time it has been reported on a chip, opening a route for building scalable integrated devices that exploit the mixing of polarization on a single photon level,'' he said.
"It also has the advantage that the fabrication process of the chip is compatible with that currently used for electronic chips which not only allows the exploitation of the huge global infrastructure of CMOS foundries, but will ultimately offer the potential to integrate electronic devices on the same chip.
"Both of these are fundamental requirements for the ultimate widespread adoption of optical quantum technologies.''
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Greg Thom
Copyright © Rmit University
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related News Press |
News and information
Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025
Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025
Lab-on-a-chip
Micro-scale opto-thermo-mechanical actuation in the dry adhesive regime Peer-Reviewed Publication September 24th, 2021
Silicon-graphene hybrid plasmonic waveguide photodetectors beyond 1.55 μm March 13th, 2020
Possible Futures
Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025
Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025
Chip Technology
New ocelot chip makes strides in quantum computing: Based on "cat qubits," the technology provides a new way to reduce quantum errors February 28th, 2025
Enhancing transverse thermoelectric conversion performance in magnetic materials with tilted structural design: A new approach to developing practical thermoelectric technologies December 13th, 2024
Bringing the power of tabletop precision lasers for quantum science to the chip scale December 13th, 2024
Optical computing/Photonic computing
Groundbreaking research unveils unified theory for optical singularities in photonic microstructures December 13th, 2024
Groundbreaking precision in single-molecule optoelectronics August 16th, 2024
Discoveries
Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025
Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025
Announcements
Closing the gaps — MXene-coating filters can enhance performance and reusability February 28th, 2025
Rice researchers harness gravity to create low-cost device for rapid cell analysis February 28th, 2025
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters
Leading the charge to better batteries February 28th, 2025
Quantum interference in molecule-surface collisions February 28th, 2025
New ocelot chip makes strides in quantum computing: Based on "cat qubits," the technology provides a new way to reduce quantum errors February 28th, 2025
Photonics/Optics/Lasers
Bringing the power of tabletop precision lasers for quantum science to the chip scale December 13th, 2024
Researchers succeed in controlling quantum states in a new energy range December 13th, 2024
Groundbreaking research unveils unified theory for optical singularities in photonic microstructures December 13th, 2024
Quantum nanoscience
Researchers succeed in controlling quantum states in a new energy range December 13th, 2024
![]() |
||
![]() |
||
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
![]() |
![]() |
||
Premium Products | ||
![]() |
||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
![]() |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||
![]() |