The quantum revolution promises to transform the way we process, encode and transmit information, exploiting the strange properties of quantum mechanics to offer exciting opportunities in both computation and security.
Dr Mark Thompson and colleagues at the and the departments of Physics and Electrical and Electronic Engineering have recently secured a €2.2 million grant under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) and Future and Emerging Technologies (FET-Open) scheme to develop such technologies. This Bristol led consortium called QUANTIP (QUANTum Integrated Photonics) comprises six academic partners from the UK, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia, and brings together quantum photonics experts from the fields of physics and engineering.
"The project aims at developing the next generation of integrated quantum circuits," explains Dr Thompson. "These quantum micro-chips will harness the unique properties of quantum mechanics to process and transmit information, and will enable progress towards large-scale, integrated quantum photonic circuits. These components will be used for the development of advanced quantum systems for the purposes of quantum communications, information processing and metrology."
To find out more, please see the project web site.