ASPEQT · Artificial atoms in Silicon Photonics for Error-corrected Quantum Technologies

Light is one of the most powerful tools we have to interrogate Nature and to develop new technologies. However, at its most fundamental level, light is extremely fragile: single photons can be easily lost and their state inevitably erased. Quantum error correction offers a solution to tolerate such noises by encoding quantum information in the entanglement between multiple photons, making quantum states of light resilient to noise. Successfully implementing this would enable advanced quantum applications, such as quantum computations beyond the reach of conventional computers and unconditionally secure quantum networks. However, challenges in generating robust entanglement with photons have so far posed severe limitations to demonstrating photonic quantum error correction. ASPEQT will develop a new generation of quantum photonic devices that can generate entanglement at the scale required to support quantum error correction. It will do so by advancing foundational hardware building blocks through the integration of emerging color centers in scalable silicon photonic circuits. The project will develop novel techniques for embedding and controlling color centers within silicon nanostructures, achieving highly coherent spin-photon interfaces in silicon—a transformative development for scalable photonic quantum technologies. The technology will be benchmarked by generating robust entanglement between multiple photons and spins, culminating in the experimental realization of quantum error correction of logical photonic qubits that can tolerate photon loss, the dominant noise mechanism for quantum light. This project represents a highly promising and innovative approach to scalable quantum hardware, building on the applicant's unique expertise in solid-state photonic devices and quantum error correction with photons. Success will unlock transformative possibilities for scaling quantum technologies, from robust quantum networks to photon-based quantum computers.