News

Rebecka Sax has received her PhD for work related to Quantum Key Distribution Systems. Thesis Title: Fast and Practical Integrated Quantum Communication Systems

A new paper on our state-of-the-art 14-pixel single photon detector with photon number resolution is now out in Nano Letters! Our novel design uses 14 independent pixels in an interleaved geometry, allowing the device to deliver high performance single-photon detection, whilst also being able to resolve the number of photons incident on the detector. These types of devices could find immediate application in linear optic quantum computing.

Patrik Caspar has received his PhD for work related to Heralded Single Photon Sources. Thesis Title: Photonic Entanglement Certification and Distribution Based on Single Photons

Two recent articles from our group demonstrate a novel photon-number-resolving (PNR) detector, based on a high-efficiency parallel SNSPD (P-SNSPD), and its application in quantum optics experiments! The results are out now in Physical Review Applied and Quantum Science and Technology. The novel architecture P-SNSPD design prevents electrical and thermal crosstalk. The development of the P-SNSPD allowed a significant improvement to be made to one of our existing heralded single photon sources.

Brand new results from our QKD work is out now in Photonics Research! Our researchers have developed a novel integrated Quantum Key Distribution system which transmits secret keys at extremely high speeds. These experiments are a crucial step towards implementing such ultra-secure communication in real-world scenarios, bringing us closer to a quantum-based future.

Rob Thew and Hugo Zbinden have been awarded the Quantum Transitional Measures Grant from the SNF! This four-year funding is intended to allow the group to continue its cutting-edge research into quantum communication and quantum technologies.

A new publication from our work with integrated micro-ring resonators is now out in Physical Review A! This work demonstrates a novel, fast, frequency-tunable narrow bandwidth photon-pair source. This is an important step towards interfacing our integrated technologies with quantum memories based on atomic systems, for realisation of quantum networks.

How can we ensure our data is secure when carrying out day-to-day transactions? Quantum physics has the answer! By using photons, a secret key can be securely transmitted between two users, so allowing them to privately communicate. But up to now, the efficiency with which the photons were detected has restricted more widespread use of this technology. Our team has broken the record for secret key rate transmission by a factor of 6! The results are out now in Nature Photonics.

More great news from our ETPA research! A new paper by the group gives a theoretical analysis of ETPA to better understand how its cross-section in chromophores (the part of a molecule responsible for its colour) varies, depending on the coherence time of the incident entangled photon-pair and the excited states of the chromophore. The team found a periodic dependence on the coherence time, with the predictions confirmed by molecular quantum mechanical calculations for several chromophores.

A new paper from our quantum sensing efforts is out! We studied five chemical compounds (chlorins) from Pacific brittle stars, which can be used in anticancer therapies where light is exploited to destroy cancer cells. By measuring the phosphorescence of singlet oxygen produced by the chlorins, we discovered they made a large quantum yield when illuminated. These studies identify an arsenal of brittle star chlorins with great potential for application in photodynamic anticancer therapies.