European InteQuant project launched to create next-gen quantum photonic hardware
Reliable generation, transmission, and detection of entangled photons is one of the most important technological challenges in the creation of an application-oriented quantum internet. Despite advances in quantum communication technologies, quantum-key transfer rates achieved so far are still far too low for most practical applications.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering (IOF; Jena, Germany) and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI; Vienna, Austria) are cooperating on a project called "InteQuant—Joint Initiative for Advanced Integrated Devices for Quantum Information Processing," with the goal of developing the missing hardware to make quantum communications ready for practical use. For a quantum internet with new applications, transmission rates for quantum-key exchange must be substantially increased and the photonic structures miniaturized.
With integrated waveguide photonic devices and systems, high-dimensional entangled photon states are to be generated; these will be suitable for scalable manufacturing processes as well as for efficient pairing, engineering, and analysis of quantum states. Fraunhofer IOF brings its expertise in the field of photonics integration to the miniaturization of sources, transmission systems, and state decoders, while the IQOQI has brings its fundamental knowledge in the field of applied quantum information processing. To check the research results and test them in continuous operation, IQOQI's access to a cross-border fiber network will be used.
The “InteQuant” project is part of the Fraunhofer internal ICON funding program "International Cooperation and Networking," which aims to initiate strategic cooperation with top-level foreign research institutions. "InteQuant" thus serves as a long-term cooperation between the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), which is supported by the Fraunhofer IOF in Jena and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Vienna.
Funding level for InteQuant is 2.3 million euros (Fraunhofer 1.3 million euros / ÖAW 1.0 million euros), while the term of the project is three years.
Source: https://www.iof.fraunhofer.de/de/presse-medien/pressemitteilungen/2020/intequant.html
John Wallace | Senior Technical Editor (1998-2022)
John Wallace was with Laser Focus World for nearly 25 years, retiring in late June 2022. He obtained a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and physics at Rutgers University and a master's in optical engineering at the University of Rochester. Before becoming an editor, John worked as an engineer at RCA, Exxon, Eastman Kodak, and GCA Corporation.