photons tagged posts

This is a graphic that describes how the new interface acts as a quantum switch. Credit: S. Kelley/JQI

Single photons can quickly modify individual electrons embedded in a semiconductor chip and vice versa, an advance that could be a significant step toward establishing quantum networks in the future. Such networks would transmit qubits from place to place and would offer unbreakable security for the transmitted information. But researchers must first develop ways for qubits that are better at storing information to interact with photons that are better at transporting it, a task achieved in conventional networks by electro-optic modulators that use electronic signals to modulate properties of light.

A/Prof Edo Waks et al have struck upon an interface between photons and single electrons t...

This is the silicon based quantum optics lab-on-a-chip. Credit: University of Bristol

The microprocessor inside a computer is a single multipurpose chip that has revolutionized people’s life, allowing them to use one machine to surf the web, check emails and keep track of finances. Now, researchers have pulled off the same feat for light in the quantum world by developing an optical chip that can process photons in an infinite number of ways.

It’s a major step forward in creating a quantum computer to solve problems such as designing new drugs, superfast database searches, and performing otherwise intractable mathematics that aren’t possible for super computers...