Quantum photonics by serendipity
A photonic chip with no less than 128 tunable components proves to be a true computing "Swiss army knife" with a variety of applications. During her research on measuring light wavelengths using this photonic chip, Caterina Taballione of the University of Twente came across yet another application serendipitously—by sending single photons through the system instead of continuous light, the optical components can perform quantum operations, as well. The same chip works as a photonic quantum processor.
Manipulating light on a chip is now possible on a very advanced level, especially using combinations of materials. Researchers can build optical waveguides with very low losses using silicon nitride, or very narrow laser light sources using indium phosphide. The chip Caterina Taballione is presenting in her thesis contains many components that can either split or combine the light in and from separate channels, similar to a rail yard. It also has ring-shaped resonators that can work as a filter. The strength lies in the fact that the components can be controlled from the outside, making the chip flexible and programmable. It also has applications in quantum photonics.
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