Quantum communication systems ‘come alive,’ thanks in part to Los Alamos advances

-

-

An illustration of a novel hybrid metal-dielectric bullseye antenna developed by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Los Alamos researchers used a direct-write nanolithography method known as dip-pen nanolithography to place individual quantum dots into the holes of the bullseye structures. Not only is this method amenable to scaling but in previous work it demonstrated a 25% success rate for depositing either a single quantum dot or a small cluster in standard bullseye antennas. Credit: Nano Letters 2024, 24, 2, 640-648

-

Los Alamos researchers at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) helped a team overcome two major challenges to pave the way for high-efficient quantum communication systems.

Read more

Why this matters: Solid-state-based single-photon sources (SPS) are vital to a host of quantum technologies. This unique design is an important step toward future fiber-coupled on-chip room-temperature SPS systems, which are needed for envisioned compact, networked secure, highly efficient quantum communication systems.

What’s new: In an advance that overcomes two major challenges for the “on-chip” integration of SPS devices at room temperature, a team at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem developed a platform that avoids the need for the single photons and the excitation laser to share the same optical path or fiber.

• To make the design come alive, sources of single photons must be integrated into the antennas. For this, the advance relied, in part, on the expertise of CINT in ultra stable and bright quantum dots and precision nano integration.
• Using a technique called dip-pen nanolithography, the team delivered individual “giant” (non-blinking) quantum dots into the holes at the center of the bullseye antennas. Placed with nanoscale precision, the quantum dots serve as single-photon sources for the antenna, and the holes were a new addition by the team from Hebrew University that enabled the novel back excitation paired with front photon collection.

Funding: The Los Alamos portion of this work was funded by CINT, a DOE Office of Science user facility operated jointly by Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories; the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program at Los Alamos; and the DOE, Office of Science, Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Quantum Internet to Accelerate Scientific Discovery program.

Technical contact: Jennifer Hollingsworth (Materials Physics and Applications division)