New technology of quantum photodetector
The world’s smallest silicon chip quantum photodetector
Recently, a research team in the United Kingdom has made an important breakthrough in the miniaturization of quantum technology, they successfully integrated the world’s smallest quantum photodetector into a silicon chip. The work, titled “A Bi-CMOS electronic photonic integrated circuit quantum light detector,” is published in Science Advances. In the 1960s, scientists and engineers first miniaturized transistors onto cheap microchips, an innovation that ushered in the information age. Now, scientists have for the first time demonstrated the integration of quantum photodetectors thinner than a human hair onto a silicon chip, bringing us one step closer to an era of quantum technology that uses light. To realize the next generation of advanced information technology, large-scale manufacturing of high-performance electronic and photonic equipment is the foundation. Manufacturing quantum technology in existing commercial facilities is an ongoing challenge for university research and companies around the world. Being able to manufacture high-performance quantum hardware on a large scale is crucial for quantum computing, because even building a quantum computer requires a large number of components.
Researchers in the United Kingdom have demonstrated a quantum photodetector with an integrated circuit area of just 80 microns by 220 microns. Such a small size allows quantum photodetectors to be very fast, which is essential for unlocking high-speed quantum communication and enabling high-speed operation of optical quantum computers. Using established and commercially available manufacturing techniques facilitates early application to other technology areas such as sensing and communications. Such detectors are used in a wide variety of applications in quantum optics, can operate at room temperature, and are suitable for quantum communications, extremely sensitive sensors such as state-of-the-art gravitational wave detectors, and in the design of certain quantum computers.
Although these detectors are fast and small, they are also very sensitive. The key to measuring quantum light is the sensitivity to quantum noise. Quantum mechanics produces tiny, basic levels of noise in all optical systems. The behavior of this noise reveals information about the type of quantum light transmitted in the system, can determine the sensitivity of the optical sensor, and can be used to mathematically reconstruct the quantum state. The study showed that making the optical detector smaller and faster did not hinder its sensitivity to measuring quantum states. In the future, the researchers plan to integrate other disruptive quantum technology hardware to the chip scale, further improve the efficiency of the new optical detector, and test it in a variety of different applications. To make the detector more widely available, the research team manufactured it using commercially available fountainers. However, the team stresses that it is critical to continue to address the challenges of scalable manufacturing with quantum technology. Without demonstrating truly scalable quantum hardware manufacturing, the impact and benefits of quantum technology will be delayed and limited. This breakthrough marks an important step towards achieving large-scale applications of quantum technology, and the future of quantum computing and quantum communication is full of endless possibilities.
Figure 2: Schematic diagram of the device principle.
Post time: Dec-03-2024