Researchers Pave Way for Controllable & Practical Quantum Photonic Devices

(Phys.org) Researchers at Columbia Engineering and Montana State University report today that they have found that placing sufficient strain in a 2-D material—tungsten diselenide (WSe2)—creates localized states that can yield single-photon emitters.
“Our discovery is very exciting, because it means we can now position a single-photon emitter wherever we want, and tune its properties, such as the color of the emitted photon, simply by bending or straining the material at a specific location,” says James Schuck, associate professor of mechanical engineering, who co-led the study published today by Nature Nanotechnology. “Knowing just where and how to tune the single-photon emitter is essential to creating quantum optical circuitry for use in quantum computers, or even in so-called ‘quantum’ simulators that mimic physical phenomena far too complex to model with today’s computers.”
“Our results mean that fully tunable, room-temperature single-photon emitters are now within our grasp, paving the way for controllable—and practical—quantum photonic devices,” Schuck observes. “These devices can be the foundation for quantum technologies that will profoundly change computing, sensing, and information technology as we know it.”