First electronic-photonic quantum chip manufactured in commercial foundry

Summary

For the first time, scientists at Northwestern University, Boston University (BU) and University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) have built a tiny photonic quantum system into a traditional electronic chip. The first-of-its-kind silicon chip combines both the quantum light-generating components (photonics) with classical electronic control circuits — all packed into an area measuring just one millimeter by one millimeter. So, not only does the chip generate quantum light, but it also has its own built-in smart electronic system to keep that light perfectly stable. This photonic-electronic integration enables the single chip to reliably produce a stream of photon pairs — basic units that encode quantum information — required for light-based quantum communication, sensing and processing. A commercial semiconductor foundry fabricated the chip, demonstrating its ability to be manufactured for large-scale production. The study was published in the journal Nature Electronics. “Quantum experiments in the lab usually need big, bulky equipment, which requires pristine, clean conditions,” said Northwestern’s Anirudh Ramesh, who led the quantum measurements. “We took many of those electronics and shrunk them down onto one chip. So, now we have a chip with built-in electronic control — stabilizing a quantum process in real time. This is a key step toward scalable quantum photonic systems.” This is a big deal because it’s not easy to mix electronics and photonics.” Prem Kumar of the Center for Photonic Communication and Computing “For the first time, we have achieved monolithic electronic, photonic and quantum integration,” said Northwestern’s Prem Kumar, one of the study’s senior authors. “This is a big deal because it’s not easy to mix electronics and photonics. It was a heroic effort that combined expertise from an interdisciplinary, collaborative team of physicists, electrical engineers, computer scientists, materials scientists and manufacturing experts. Our chip coul...