
Schematic of a nanoscale structure called a ‘photonic crystal waveguide’ that contains quantum dots that can interact with one another when they are tuned to the same wavelength. (Image credit: Chul Soo Kim, US Naval Research Laboratory)
Researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) developed a new technique that could enable future advancements in quantum technology.
The technique squeezes quantum dots, tiny particles made of thousands of atoms, to emit single photons (individual particles of light) with precisely the same color and with positions that can be less than a millionth of a meter apart.
“This breakthrough could accelerate the development of quantum information technologies and brain-inspired computing,” said Allan Bracker, a chemist at NRL and one of the researchers on the project.
In order for quantum dots to “communicate” (interact), they have to emit light at the same wavelength. The size of a quantum dot determines this emission wavelength. However, just as no two snowflakes are alike, no two quantum dots have exactly the same size and shape — at least when they’re initially created.
This natural variability makes it impossible for researchers to create quantum dots that emit light at precisely the same wavelength [color], said NRL physicist Joel Grim, the lead researcher on the project.
“Instead of making quantum dots perfectly identical to begin with, we change their wavelength afterwards by shrink-wrapping them with laser-crystallized hafnium oxide,” Grim said. “The shrink wrap squeezes the quantum dots, which shifts their wavelength in a very controllable way.”
While other scientists have demonstrated “tuning” of quantum dot wavelengths in the past, this is the first time researchers have achieved it precisely in both wavelength and position.
“This means that we can do it not just for two or three, but for many quantum dots in an integrated circuit, which could be used for optical, rather than electrical computing,” Bracker said.
The wide breadth of researcher expertise and science assets at NRL allowed the team to test various approaches to making this quantum dot breakthrough in a relatively short amount of time.
“NRL has in-house facilities for crystal growth, device fabrication, and quantum optical measurements,” Grim said. “This means that we could immediately coordinate our efforts to focus on rapidly improving the material properties.”
According to Grim and Bracker, this milestone in the manipulation of quantum dots could lay the groundwork for future strides in a number of areas.
“NRL’s new method for tuning the wavelength of quantum dots could enable new technologies that use the strange properties of quantum physics for computing, communication and sensing,” Bracker said. “It may also lead to ‘neuromorphic’ or brain-inspired computing based on a network of tiny lasers.”
Applications in which space and power-efficiency are limiting factors may also benefit from this breakthrough approach, researchers said.
Learn more: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory ‘connects the dots’ for quantum networks
The Latest on: Quantum networks
[google_news title=”” keyword=”quantum networks” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Quantum networks
- Expected surge in virus that can paralyze kids didn’t happen, baffling expertson January 4, 2023 at 3:28 pm
Scientists have found the strongest evidence yet that a virus is to blame for a mysterious and rare illness, called acute flaccid myelitis or AFM, that can start like the sniffles but quickly ...
- These microbes could be the first lifeforms to munch on infectious viruseson January 4, 2023 at 11:15 am
By Laura Baisas | Published Jan 4, 2023 12:00 PM The world is entering yet another year of a global pandemic caused by a virus—but COVID-19 is hardly the only virus out there. While some viruses ...
- Beijing threatens response to 'unacceptable' virus measureson January 3, 2023 at 7:50 pm
Starting Wednesday, anyone flying from China to France will have to present a negative virus test taken within the previous 48 hours and be subject to random testing on arrival. “We are in our ...
- Covid virus could be cut to pieces by molecular 'scissors' put in drugs to protect uson January 3, 2023 at 8:10 am
And I am sure you’ll be amazed by Cambridge scientists who’ve devised “programmable molecular scissors” that could help fight Covid-19 by chopping the virus to pieces. They could even be ...
- Kerry Katona says 'nasty' virus has 'ruined everything' as she gives fans health updateon January 2, 2023 at 2:12 am
Kerry Katona has issued an update on her health, saying that she's been suffering from a "nasty" virus which has "ruined everything," particularly her panto experience. The reality TV star ...
- How our pandemic toolkit fought the many viruses of 2022on December 31, 2022 at 6:55 pm
Monitoring mutations is a virus-fighting tool that had been employed early in the pandemic, because it’d been proven to help many times before. Since 2008, researchers sequencing all types of ...
- Scientists Discover the First Virus-Eating Organismon December 30, 2022 at 4:19 pm
A research team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has identified the first known “virovore,” or virus-eating organism. Biologist John DeLong was leading his colleagues in the search for ...
- Autopsies show COVID-19 virus in brain, elsewhere in bodyon December 30, 2022 at 6:05 am
An analysis of tissue samples from the autopsies of 44 people who died with COVID-19 shows that SAR-CoV-2 virus spread throughout the body—including into the brain—and that it lingered for ...
- Can Food Spread Covid? Study Reveals Virus May Live For Days On These Foodson December 29, 2022 at 8:20 pm
Covid-19 is in news again because of detection of a new variant. A new study shared if food can be carry the virus. The research studied the time virus can live on different foods. The fear of ...
- Caring With Covid: Infected Doctors Battle China Virus Surgeon December 28, 2022 at 2:54 am
Many Chinese were jubilant after Beijing announced the end of mandatory quarantines this week, effectively drawing the curtain on years of hardline virus controls that had isolated the world's ...
via Bing News