UofBristol Develops Near-Optimal Chip-Based Photon Source for Quantum Computing

(Optics.org) Researchers at the University of Bristol, UK, have developed a new CMOS-compatible silicon photonics photon source that satisfies all the requirements necessary for large-scale photonic quantum computing. The team says this achievement represents “a significant step toward mass-manufacturable ideal single photon sources.”
There is a widespread effort to develop chip-based quantum computers because the mature CMOS fabrication processes used to make today’s computer chips could significantly lower the cost of large-scale quantum information processing.
Stefano Paesani from the University of Bristol explained, “By demonstrating low-noise photon sources simultaneously meeting all requirements for large-scale photonic quantum computers, we have overcome a crucial challenge that had limited the scaling of quantum photonic technologies.”
“The techniques developed in this work could speed up the development of mass-manufacturable chip-scale quantum technologies by several years. Such technologies promise enormous computational quantum speed-ups, unconditionally secure communications, and quantum-enhanced sensors.”
The researchers say that the single-photon source could be further improved with a better pump laser and by using a more uniform fabrication process.