Researchers at the University of Bristol have achieved a major breakthrough in quantum scaling technologies by integrating the world’s smallest quantum light detector into a silicon chip. The article “Quantum light detector with Bi-CMOS electronic photonic integrated circuit” has been published Science Developments.

The critical moment in unlocking the information age was when scientists and engineers were first able to miniaturize transistors in inexpensive chips in the 1960s.

Now, scientists at the University of Bristol have demonstrated for the first time that a quantum light detector smaller than a human hair has been integrated into a silicon chip, bringing us one step closer to the era of light-based quantum technology.

Large-scale production of high-performance electronics and photonics forms the basis for the realization of the next generation of advanced information technologies. The search for how to create quantum technologies in existing commercial facilities is an ongoing international effort led by university researchers and companies around the world.

This could be crucial for quantum computing to be able to create highly efficient quantum hardware, due to the large number of components expected to make up even a single machine. To achieve this goal, researchers at the University of Bristol have demonstrated a type of quantum light detector implemented on a chip with a circuit measuring 80 micrometers x 220 micrometers.

The critically small size means the quantum light detector can be fast; This is the key to unlocking high-speed quantum communications and enabling high-speed operation of optical quantum computers. The use of established and commercially available manufacturing methods encourages prospects for early incorporation into other technologies such as sensing and communications.

“Such detectors are called homodyne detectors and are ubiquitous in applications of quantum optics,” explains Professor Jonathan Matthews, who led the research and is director of the Quantum Engineering Technology Laboratory.

“They operate at room temperature, and you can use them for quantum communication in incredibly sensitive sensors like state-of-the-art gravitational wave detectors, and there are quantum computer projects using these detectors.”

In 2021, a team from Bristol showed how combining a photonic chip with a separate electronic chip could increase the speed of quantum light detectors. Now, with a single electron-photonics integrated chip, the team has increased the speed by a factor of 10, while also increasing the speed by a factor of 10. footprint. 50 times. Although these detectors are fast and small, they are also sensitive.

Author Dr. “The key to measuring quantum light is sensitivity to quantum noise,” explains Giacomo Ferranti.

“Quantum mechanics is responsible for the small, fundamental level of noise in all optical systems. The behavior of this noise reveals information about what quantum light is emitted in the system, which can determine how sensitive an optical sensor can be, and which can be used to mathematically reconstruct the quantum states of the detector in our study.” “It was important to show that reducing its size and speed did not hinder its accuracy in measuring quantum states.”

The authors note that there is more exciting research ahead on integrating other revolutionary quantum technology hardware at the chip scale. Efficiency should increase with the new detector and work is being done to test the detector in many different applications.

Professor Matthews added: “We fabricated the detector using a commercially available foundry to make application more accessible. While we are incredibly excited about the implications of a range of quantum technologies, it is critical that we as a community continue to meet the challenge of making quantum technology scalable.”

“Unless truly scalable production of quantum hardware is demonstrated, the impact and benefits of quantum technology will be delayed and limited.”