Semiconductor quantum photonics chips at room temperature – SemiQuantRoom

Information, communication and sensing lies at the heart of the social and economic dynamics; in this context, quantum physics has recently offered radically new avenues to treat and transmit information in a more secure and efficient way than what we can do with classical systems (exchange of sensitive data, enhancement of computing capabilities, increased precision in measurements).
In parallel with fundamental researches aiming to test the foundations and limits of quantum information science, we are witnessing today to the maturation of quantum information technologies among which photonics is playing a central role. Currently, one of the main technological challenge towards large-scale applications is the miniaturization of different building blocks on a single chip operating at room temperature. In this respect, semiconductor materials are ideal to achieve extremely compact and massively parallel devices.
This project is focused on the demonstration of electrically driven integrated quantum photonic circuits including photon pair generation and manipulation, working at room temperature and telecom wavelength. The starting point is contituted by two III-V semiconductor sources of nonclassical states of light recently demonstrated within the consortium: an electrically injected source of photon pairs (F. Boitier et al. to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett. Issue of May 9 2014), and a ridge microcavity emitting counterpropagating entangled photons (A. Orieux et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 160502 (2013). SemiQuantRoom will have 3 main objectives: the optimization of these sources, the characterization of the original quantum properties of the emitted bi-photon states and the monolithic or hybrid (III-V/Si) integration of these devices with quantum photonic circuits.
This choice combines the advantages of two material platforms. On one hand, III-V semiconductors do afford excellent optical properties and, thanks to their direct bandgap, present en evident interest for electrically driven devices. Recent achievements in Si photonics has shown that SOS and SOI circuits are promising platforms for optical components offering the added value of compatibility with the mature and high-quality CMOS technology.
The project will benefit of the complementary and renowned expertise of the three partners:
The Laboratory Quantum Phenomena and Materials (LMPQ) will contribute with its know-how in design, fabrication and characterization of III-V quantum photonic devices and quantum optics theory (notably characterization and manipulation of entanglement).
The Laboratory of Photonics and Nanostructures is a node of the National Network of Nanotechnology Facilities. It will contribute with its expertise in high quality GaAs/AlAs microcavities growth by molecular beam epitaxy, in dielectric multilayer deposition for high anti-reflective coatings and adhesive bonding of III-V nanolasers onto a silicon waveguide circuitry.
The ultrafast quantum optics and optical metrology group from Oxford University has broad expertise concerning the generation and manipulation of pulsed quantum light and its application to quantum information science. The group is one of the world leaders in the development of integrated photonic technologies for scalable quantum networks and will provide expertise for designing and implementing quantum protocols - in particular, primitives for information processing such as quantum teleportation and quantum gates, as well as novel sensors based on quantum-enhanced phase measurements.
The expected results of SemiQuantRoom have the potential to become a new generation of devices for quantum information, communication and metrology and open the way towards complete quantum optics lab on a chip, where lasers, linear and nonlinear elements as well as detectors can all be built in one package.