Alexander Gumennik (PI, ISE), Phillip Richerme (co-PI, Physics), and Babak Seradjeh (co-PI, Physics) where granted NSF EAGER award to develop an integration of trapped-ion quantum processors on fibers. EAGER stands for EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research and funds high risk high reward, potentially transformative research.
FAMES Lab will develop the precision manufacturing of fiber optic cables housing integrated quantum ionic processors for future applications in a scalable network. To create such a network, existing state-of-the-art information-processing quantum hardware, such as ionic processors, must be accompanied by developing adequate interconnects to allow the scalable integration of multiple processors as nodes in the more extensive cooperative network. For this integration, fiber optics, the workhorse of digital communication, needs to undergo a quantum-enabling transformation. We will manufacture a custom fiber that is capable of lossless translation of quantum-coherent information from the stationary form encoded on the ionic qubit processor into the flying qubits transmitted by photons through the communication links and vice versa.
EAGER award will enable us to deliver the optimized design for scalable manufacturing of a new class of fibers, in which linear ion arrays are integral sections of the fiber light-guiding core. Such a contiguous integration of the stationary-qubit processors into the optical path of the flying-qubit streamline will enable the unification of isolated processors into a synchronized network capable of performing information processing tasks of a respectively scaled-up complexity.