The Delft University of Technology and the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft, has been awarded a substantial $5M (€4.6M) grant from The Kavli Foundation.
The funds will facilitate a collaborative approach towards developing the quantum equivalent of telecommunications systems.
The project assembles a team of 14 quantum physicists and biophysicists to find a missing link between quantum computing, sensing, and communication: a transduction system capable of transmitting and receiving quantum information across a broad array of frequencies.
This transduction system would enable a standardised method of interconnecting quantum devices and exchanging information among each other, comparable to the worldwide telecommunications network.
The need for “Broadband Quantum Transduction”
Quantum computers can solve complex problems in seconds, unlike traditional computers which would take years.
Everything shared online consists of bits, including WhatsApp messages, pictures, and TikTok videos.
Quantum computers use qubits instead of bits, which have a greater number of possible states. It enables faster and more intricate information processing.
Nevertheless, it remains challenging to share the data stored in quantum computers and devices.
Grant coordinator Mazhar Ali says, “We have no general bridge to transfer quantum information from qubits or quantum sensors to the telecommunication fabric that is surrounding the planet. This bridge is called quantum transduction; converting quantum information into an electromagnetic signal suitable for telecommunication and back again.”
“Broadband transduction, converting this information across a wide frequency range, is critical to our society. It allows us to connect, talk to each other, and use all our devices in coordination,” he adds.
TU Delft & Kavli’s Collab: Finding the missing link in quantum communication
To find a solution, quantum physicists and biophysicists from Delft University of Technology, QuTech, and the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft have joined forces to look for broadband quantum transduction.
“Current computers generate information at a frequency of a few gigahertz, while telecom signals are vibrating a thousand times faster; at hundreds of terahertz. However, qubits, for example, operate at relatively specific frequencies of five to ten gigahertz. That means we need to find a bridge from the qubit range of a few gigahertz up to the telecom range of hundreds of gigahertz,” says Ali.
“But unlike connecting today’s computer data to a satellite, there is the additional challenge of preserving quantum mechanical information while sharing the signal. What we’d love to do is use the same forms of communication that we have while preserving quantum particle and phase information for a broad range of frequencies,” explains Ali.
Graphene, superconductors to Nanobiology
Quantum physicists and biophysicists are considering quantum materials such as graphene and superconductors as the key to quantum transduction since their behaviour is determined by quantum processes
“There are many different types of quantum transitions that quantum materials have in the correct energy ranges we need to connect quantum devices to telecom frequencies,” says Ali.
Besides quantum materials, the team is also looking for inspiration from nanobiology.
Ali cites the contributions of researchers Marie-Eve Aubin-Tam and Dimphna Meijer from the Bionanoscience department, who have educated him about the constant transduction processes within our bodies.
“One example is the eye: various molecules inside the eye kink when light hits the eye. The kink causes a little chemical change, which causes an electrical spike going up to the brain. Because visible light is in the terahertz range, it turns out that these molecules are already antennas for terahertz signals,” explain Ali.
The researchers are intrigued by the possibility of integrating these molecules with quantum materials to serve as sensors.
This integration could potentially trigger the required transitions in the material, facilitating the transmission of quantum information.
In five years, the scientists hope to be able to demonstrate at least one form of broadband quantum transduction.
“This research is taking a high risk at attacking a grand challenge in physics, but with the high reward of impacting fields from quantum information science to medical imaging. Quantum transduction is a surprising kind of missing link that the broader scientific community is starting to think about, and TU Delft and the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft is the perfect place to work on it,” he concludes.
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