Tiny Device Enables New Record in Super-Fast Quantum Light Detection

(EurekaAlert) Researchers from the University of Bristol’s Quantum Engineering Technology Labs (QET Labs) and Université Côte d’Azur have made a new miniaturized light detector to measure quantum features of light in more detail than ever before. The device, made from two silicon chips working together, was used to measure the unique properties of “squeezed” quantum light at record high speeds.
“Squeezed light is a quantum effect that is very useful. It can be used in quantum communications and quantum computers and has already been used by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories to improve their sensitivity, helping to detect exotic astronomical events such as black hole mergers. So, improving the ways we can measure it can have a big impact,” said Joel Tasker, co-lead author.
Around the world, researchers have been exploring how to integrate quantum photonics onto a chip to demonstrate scalable manufacture.
“Much of the focus has been on the quantum part, but now we’ve begun integrating the interface between quantum photonics and electrical readout. This is needed for the whole quantum architecture to work efficiently. For homodyne detection, the chip-scale approach results in a device with a tiny footprint for mass-manufacture, and importantly it provides a boost in performance,” said Professor Jonathan Matthews, who directed the project.