Colloquium: Dr. Mohammed ElKabbash|MIT Quantum Photonics Lab

TITLE: Enabling quantum technologies through nanophotonics

ABSTRACT: The discovery and development of quantum mechanics created the technologies that define our modern world in what is now called the First Quantum Wave.  We are in the midst of the Second Quantum Wave where we engineer and control complex quantum systems and exploit the unique properties of quantum mechanics (superposition, Entanglement, Interference) to develop new technologies with applications in drug discovery, secure communications, sensing, metrology, man-made states of matter, and quantum computers.  On the other hand, nano-photonics enabled unprecedented control over light-matter interactions that can tackle major roadblocks facing quantum technologies. This talk will cover two research directions that highlight the synergies between nano-photonics and Quantum research. 

I will first discuss our efforts towards scalable control over quantum systems. All purpose quantum computing requires scalable control over millions of qubits at high speeds (1 MHz-1 GHz). Spatial Light Modulators (SLMs) are devices that provide spatiotemporal control over light beams. They have the potential to control millions of qubits, e.g., atoms and color centers, simultaneously. However, the framerate of state-of-the-art SLMs is < 1 KHz. I will present our efforts to realize a nanophotonic-based GHz speed and Megapixel SLM. Such devices will also find applications in holographic videos, imaging through scattering media, photonic accelerators and neural networks.

Alternatively, scalable control over qubits becomes trivial in the case of Linear Optical Quantum Computing [1]. However, this approach requires on-chip integration of on-demand single photon sources that are indistinguishable and bright. It was recently proposed that accelerating the emission rate of quantum emitters by five orders of magnitude using plasmonic nanocavities can overcome these challenges [2]. I will present our work on spontaneous emission rate acceleration of emitters using plasmonic nanocavities which led to the first observation of cooperative spontaneous emission in nano-photonics [3].

[1] J. L. O'Brien, Science, (2007).

[2] Bogdanov, et. al., Optica, (2020).

[3] M. ElKabbash*, et. al., Physical Review Letters, (2019).