Researchers have developed and demonstrated a new hybrid photonic platform that integrates quantum emitters with photonic devices, providing a way to reliably control the interaction between photons and quantum information carriers. The chip-based platform, which combines gallium phosphide (GaP) with a diamond substrate, could help make quantum networks more practical by providing a way to connect quantum devices over long distances.
Scaling up quantum technology to create communication networks requires connecting quantum memories, or qubits, over long distances. Although fiber-optic networks offer a promising way to do this using optical signals, a key challenge is reliably converting information stored in qubits into optical photons that can travel through the network.
"We show that our hybrid-integrated GaP-on-diamond nanophotonic platform can address this challenge by realizing reliably controlled interactions between photons and a type of qubit called a silicon-vacancy (SiV) center in diamond," said the paper's first author, Nicholas S. Yama from the University of Washington. "GaP also has strong nonlinear properties that enable optical frequency conversion, switching and modulation, all of which are needed for networking applications."
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