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Physics

World’s Largest Quantum Photonic Processor.

What is the quantum photonic processor?

A quantum photonic processor is a multimode, low-loss interferometer that can be reconfigured. In the classical or quantum realm, our processor allows the user to execute arbitrary, controlled interference between a number of optical channels.

What does a quantum processor do?

Quantum computers, in contrast to conventional computers, execute calculations based on the probability of an object’s state before it is measured, rather than only 1s or 0s, allowing them to process exponentially more data.

What is quantum computer and how does it work?

Quantum computers, as opposed to conventional computers, execute calculations based on the probability of an object’s condition before it is measured, rather of only 1s or 0s, allowing them to process exponentially more data.

Quantum computers have the potential to push computing far beyond what it is now, but this potential has yet to be fulfilled. Researchers working on the EU-funded PHOQUSING project are constructing a hybrid computer system based on cutting-edge integrated photonics that mixes classical and quantum processes in their quest to show quantum supremacy. The purpose of the project is to create a quantum sampling machine that will propel Europe to the forefront of photonic quantum computing. PHOQUSING project partner QuiX Quantum in the Netherlands has developed the world’s biggest quantum photonic processor compatible with quantum dots with this purpose in mind (nanometer-sized semiconductor crystals that emit light of various colors when illuminated by ultraviolet light). The processor is the heart of the quantum sampling machine, a quantum computing device that can demonstrate a quantum advantage in the near future.

Credit: ArtemisDiana, Shutterstock

According to a news item on the QuiX Quantum website, “quantum sampling devices based on light are regarded to be particularly promising for exhibiting a quantum advantage.” “By allowing light to propagate [sic] through such quantum sampling devices, the issue of taking samples from a probability distribution, which is theoretically too difficult for a conventional computer, may be readily handled. Large-scale linear optical interferometers, or photonic processors, are at the heart of quantum sampling machines.”

A look at the chip

The processor produced by the research team is a “record-size” 20-mode silicon nitride photonic chip that operates at a wavelength of 925 nanometers and is suited for usage in the near-infrared wavelength range. The 20 input modes, 190 unit cells, and 380 adjustable components, according to a webinar video introducing the processor, make it the most complicated photonic chip accessible today. The quantum photonic processor has a large number of modes, as well as low optical losses (2.9 decibels per mode) and great fidelity (99.5 percent for permutation matrices and 97.4 percent for Haar-random matrices). Quantum interference with excellent visibility is also possible with the turnkey processor (98 percent ).

“The existing high-performance photonic technology supplied by QuiX Quantum is vital for the project’s success as it fulfills the requirement for a science-to-technology transfer needed for establishing usable quantum computers,” says Prof. Fabio Sciarrino. The project brings together seven partners from France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal: five academic and research institutions, as well as two industry partners, all of which are European pioneers in quantum information processing and integrated photonics.

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