Quantum optics/sensing

Quantum sensing uses quantum phenomena to achieve measurement precision beyond the limits of classical sensors. Photonic technology is a significant part of recent advancements, with ongoing research focused on integrating it into compact systems. Thanks to its wide transparency, high nonlinearity, electro-optic properties, and enhanced efficiency in thin-film platforms, lithium niobate plays a crucial role in quantum photonics. Researchers are currently demonstrating entangled photon generation and precise light control, positioning these technologies to impact areas like precision metrology.

Our group has developed periodic poling capabilities for our thin-film lithium niobate devices, which is a component used to achieve quasi-phase matching needed for efficient nonlinear processes, and opens up the possibilities to explore various quantum applications. We are currently working on the generation of squeezed light on-chip – a quantum type of light where the uncertainty (or noise) in one property, such as amplitude or phase, is reduced below the quantum limit, while causing increased uncertainty of the complementary property. Squeezed light enables precision measurements surpassing classical sensor capabilities, and one of the most notable applications of it is in gravitational wave observation, in which reduced phase noise can be used to improve detection.

Our work in this area is supported by DARPA Intensity-Squeezed Photonic Integration of Revolutionary Detectors (INSPIRED).