Among the most promising developments in emerging quantum technologies are: quantum computers, which promise to solve problems that current computers cannot, high-precision measurements (quantum metrology), and quantum communications. For each of these technologies, shielding the quantum properties of light is crucial.
In order to solve this problem, a group from the Millennium Institute for Research in Optics (MIRO), the DFI-FCFM of the University of Chile, has just published an article in the journal Scientific Reports, from Nature.
“Protecting the quantum of light is essential to fully take advantage of the capabilities that quantum mechanics offers, especially in emerging technologies such as quantum and photonic computers,” explains Carla Hermann, associate researcher at MIRO and professor at the University of Chile.
An edge related to quantum computing is photonic circuits for computing, where light circulates instead of electricity.
“Light can be classical, which is known as simple photonic computing, or quantum, which would be quantum photonic computing,” adds Carla Hermann.
Quantum light at room temperature
The group investigated a system to control light based on topological photonic arrangements, that is, networks where light can be located and protected.
“In these types of optical circuits, with a particular geometry or design, it is possible to perform basic optical operations with light in a more robust and stable way to certain manufacturing errors. This is key to effectively use quantum light and generate quantum photonic computing,” says Gabriel O’Ryan, Master in Physics from the University of Chile and first author of this work.
For his part, postdoctoral researcher Diego Guzmán adds that “in this article we show that we can transport quantum light and make it interact in a system without losing the topology itself, which allows the consequence of this interaction and manipulation to be more robust against disorders. “All this is proposed at room temperature, which is undoubtedly interesting to explore, in economic terms, as a possible emerging and scalable technology.”
In the article “Non-classical light transport mediated by domain walls in an SSH photonic network” Gabriel O’Ryan worked, under the guidance of Professor Carla Hermann and Luis Foà, from the University of Chile, and the collaboration of Diego Guzmán, postdoc on Hermann’s team, and Joaquín Medina, doctoral student at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
-
To find out more about what is happening in the world of science and culture, join our Cultívate community, El Mostrador’s Newsletter on these topics. Sign up for free HERE.
