Quantum Teleportation On A Chip

Researchers have built a chip capable of encoding quantum information in continuous variables that is 10,000 times smaller than existing technologies.

AsianScientist (May 11, 2015) – Researchers at the University of Tokyo have successfully integrated core circuits which generate and detect quantum entanglement into silica-optical-waveguide circuits on a silicon photonic chip measuring just 0.0001 square meters. Their results have been published in Nature Photonics.

While there has been significant progress in the technology of information processing, its performance is said to be reaching the fundamental limit of classical physics. On the other hand, application of the principles of quantum mechanics is predicted to enable high-capacity communication (quantum communication) and ultra-high-speed computers (quantum computers) exceeding the limits of current technologies.

One of the most important tasks for enabling such new applications is to establish the technology of quantum teleportation, which enables the transfer of quantum bits of information carried by photons from a sender to a receiver at a distance. However, conventional quantum teleportation devices require a large optical table with hundreds of optical instruments and had reached the limits of scalability.

The research group of Professor Akira Furusawa at the Graduate School of Engineering, working with Professor Jeremy O’Brien at the University of Bristol, Dr. Alberto Politi at the University of Southampton and NTT Device Technology Laboratories, have successfully integrated the heart of a quantum teleportation device that generates and detects quantum entanglement in a single integrated circuit.

The photonic chip contains an optical circuit microfabricated in glass on a silicon substrate measuring 26 millimeters by four millimeters, replacing the very large number of optical elements arranged over an area of about one square meters for the generation and detection of quantum entanglement. This is a reduction in size of over 10,000 times. This achievement resolves scalability issues in one fell swoop, enabling the realization of high-capacity quantum communication and ultra-high-speed quantum computers.

The article can be found at: Masada et al. (2015) Continuous-variable Entanglement On A Chip.

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Source: The University of Tokyo.
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