Photonic Integration
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Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) are a key technology to enable the development of quantum communication systems of reduced size, cost and power consumption. Our goal is to realize high performance QKD systems based on quantum photonic chips. For this we develop high bit rate quantum random number generators, QKD transmitters and QKD receivers, all integrated onto small footprint PICs.
The optical components needed for QKD can be miniaturized and integrated onto millimeter scale semiconductor chips. Photonic integration enables volume production at low cost and high reproducibility, offering the prospect of wide scale deployment of quantum communication in the live.
Chip-based QKD system prototype
By using commercial fabrication techniques, we develop high performance photonic chips implementing the core QKD function. This is combined with drive electronics that allows the quantum transmitter and receiver chips to exchange photonic qubits in real time.
By integrating the QRNG and QKD transmitter and receiver chips, and their associated drive electronics, with digital control circuitry, we realised the first fully functional QKD system based on PICs. The excellence performance of this system validates our approach for enabling mass manufacture of QKD hardware.
Selected publications
A photonic integrated quantum secure communication system
T. K. Paraïso et al., Nature Photonics
21/10/2021
A modulator-free quantum key distribution transmitter chip
T.K. Paraïso et al., NPJ Quant. Inf.
23/05/2019
Real-time interferometric quantum random number generation on chip
T. K. Paraïso et al., Nature Photonics
01/03/2019
Quantum Information Group Latest Publications
Information contained in news and other announcements is current on the date of posting, but subject to change without notice.
Toshiba’s leading Cambridge Research Laboratory (CRL) doubles down on cutting edge embodied AI to bring AI into the real world.
Cambridge, United Kingdom – 17th June 2024
Davide G. Marangon, Peter R. Smith, Nathan Walk, Taofiq K. Paraïso, James F. Dynes, Victor Lovic, Mirko Sanzaro, Thomas Roger, Innocenzo De Marco, Marco Lucamarini, Zhiliang Yuan & Andrew J. Shields
C. Couteau UTR, S. Barz IFM, IQST, T. Durt IF, T. Gerrits NIST, J. Huwer T, R. Prevedel CBB, J. Rarity ERB, A. Shields T and G. Weihs IFE
Nature Reviews Physics 5, pp. 354–363 (26 May 2023)