Nils Otterstrom, a physicist at Sandia specializing in integrated photonics, leads the effort to scale down optical systems to chip size, enhancing their performance and scalability for applications ranging from advanced computing to secure communications.
"Integrated photonics takes optical systems that are macroscale and makes them microscale," said Otterstrom, who earned his doctorate in applied physics from Yale and joined Sandia as a Harry S. Truman fellowship recipient. "What we do in integrated photonics is develop novel devices and explore device physics to provide all the functionalities that we need to do fundamental research and create next-generation quantum microsystems. The world-class fabrication capabilities and high degree of customizability we have here at Sandia in the Microsystems Engineering, Sciences and Applications complex, or MESA, uniquely position us to impact the most cutting-edge science and technology."
Otterstrom has been working closely with Joe Lukens, Senior Director of Quantum Networking at ASU, who is an expert in using the frequency of light to carry quantum information for quantum computing and networking systems.
Their collaboration has recently been formalized through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, funded by the Quantum Collaborative. This initiative unites academic and research institutions, including national labs, to advance quantum information and technology research, along with education and workforce development.
"The inspiration for the Quantum Collaborative is the recognition that the future is quantum. If we're going to be successful, it cannot be done by single investigators or even single institutions; it's just not going to be possible," Lukens said. "The collaborative is an intentional network of like-minded individuals who are interested in building up quantum information technology, and it's a way for us to connect and work together."
Funded by the state of Arizona and managed by ASU, the Quantum Collaborative is central to this partnership.
Before teaming up with Sandia, Lukens focused on fiber-optic systems for his work in frequency-bin quantum information processing. He explained that qubits, the fundamental units of quantum information, can exist on various platforms, including photonics.
"In the frequency approach, your qubit is a photon that can possess two different wavelengths, or colors of light simultaneously," Lukens said. "A zero corresponds to one color, and one corresponds to the other color. That encoding is advantageous for quantum communications. It's transmitted well in optical fiber."
Previously, this work relied on commercial light-wave components on optical tables. However, these bulky systems had high photon losses, were costly, and occupied significant space.
"We're using big bulky systems. They have high losses of photons, they are very expensive and they take a lot of space," Lukens said. "I think I've done all I can do with tabletop devices in frequency-bin encoding."
This is where Sandia's integrated photonics resources come into play. Sandia's MESA complex offers one of the world's most flexible foundries, specializing in both microelectronics and photonics, enabling the fabrication of small photonic integrated circuits that replicate the capabilities of large optical tables.
Spatial beam splitters, which direct photons in quantum photonics, are essential components in these systems. Sandia, in collaboration with Yale University's Peter Rakich, has developed novel phase modulator devices based on suspended silicon waveguides that convey light and gigahertz soundwaves, enabling advanced quantum information processing.
"The result is highly flexible optomechanical structures that acousto-optically split a photon into multiple frequencies. This allows you to do quantum information processing on a much higher dimensional space," Otterstrom said. "You can think about it as the light's color can actually carry the quantum information."
Looking ahead, Lukens aims to transition from proof-of-concept experiments to practical quantum networks, requiring systems with lower loss and reduced costs, which can be achieved by integrating these capabilities onto chips.
Otterstrom has been assisting Lukens in acquiring the necessary components to implement Sandia-built photonic integrated circuits in a testbed at ASU's lab.
The collaboration's success is highlighted by Sandia's Laboratory Directed Research program awarding $17 million to advance work in frequency-based quantum photonics through a Grand Challenge program named Error-Corrected Photonic Integrated Qubits (EPIQ).
"Without the partnership between Sandia and Arizona State University, we would probably not have the EPIQ Grand Challenge in its current shape and form," said Paul Davids, the principal investigator on the project. "Nils' outreach to Joe Lukens began our first foray into the ideas around frequency-encoded photonic qubits. His thoughtful leadership in this area and Joe Lukens' prior work and expertise are central to the EPIQ Grand Challenge."
Otterstrom added that the funding will support large-scale implementation and integration of the device physics explored in the early collaboration with ASU to create a functional photonic qubit that can be error-corrected.
Beyond the Quantum Collaborative, Sandia also contributes to the Southwest Advanced Prototyping Hub (SWAP Hub) as a core partner, offering the MESA complex's microelectronics prototyping capabilities. SWAP Hub, led by ASU, is one of eight Microelectronics Commons Hubs across the U.S., funded by the CHIPS and Science Act to boost American competitiveness in the semiconductor industry and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.
Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Sandia Labs has major research and development responsibilities in nuclear deterrence, global security, defense, energy technologies, and economic competitiveness, with main facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California.
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