![]() ![]() The hyperdimensional spin-orbit microlaser is an extension of the team’s previous work with vortex microlasers, which sensitively tune photon orbital angular momentum (OAM). Quantum superpositions, like a subatomic game of Statues, take on a single state as soon as they are observed, making it impossible to intercept or copy them without detection. Only the act of observation – detecting, looking, and measuring – causes a quantum system to acquire a fixed property. Quantum systems, in other words, are neither here nor there. When a quantum system – an atom, a particle, or a wave – is measured, these probabilities describe the likelihood that it will take on a single attribute. At the quantum level, properties such as location, momentum, polarization, and spin exist as multiplicities, each of which is governed by probabilities. Photons in tightly controlled states of superposition are used in quantum communication. Microlaser chip adds new dimensions to quantum communication ![]() Our goal was to achieve this on a single chip. We already knew how to generate these four-level systems, but it required a lab and many different optical tools to control all the parameters associated with the increase in dimension. “The biggest challenge,” says Zhang, “was the complexity and non-scalability of the standard setup. The device has four levels of superposition and allows for further dimension increases. The four-level qudits of the Feng Lab device enable significant advances in quantum cryptography, increasing the maximum secrete key rate for information exchange from one bit per pulse to two bits per pulse. Qubits have limited storage space and a low tolerance for interference because they only have two levels of superposition. Qubits, on the other hand, aren’t perfect. Unlike algorithmic encryption, which blocks hackers using complex math, quantum cryptography is a physical system that keeps information secure.” Superposition makes it so a quantum pulse cannot be copied. In quantum communications with qubits, the pulse can have any superposition state between 1 and 0. ![]() These pulses can easily be cloned by an interceptor looking to steal information and are therefore not very secure. “In classical communications,” says Feng, “a laser can emit a pulse coded as either 1 or 0. To signal these additional dimensions, a quantum bit in a state of superposition greater than two levels is referred to as a qudit. This state of simultaneity is known as “superposition” in quantum mechanics. Bits can be either 1s or 0s, whereas qubits are digital information units that can be both 1 and 0 at the same time. Non-quantum chips use bits to store, transmit, and compute data, whereas quantum devices use qubits. The biggest challenge was the complexity and non-scalability of the standard setup. The group worked in collaboration with scientists from the Polytechnic University of Milan, the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems, Duke University, and the City University of New York (CUNY). student Haoqi Zhao, debuted the technology in a recent study published in Nature. Liang Feng, Professor in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and Electrical Systems and Engineering (ESE), along with MSE postdoctoral fellow Zhifeng Zhang and ESE Ph.D. Their technology uses “qudits” to communicate, effectively doubling the quantum information space of any previous on-chip laser. Penn Engineering researchers have developed a chip that outperforms the security and robustness of existing quantum communications hardware. The increased dimension results in more robust quantum communication technology that is more suitable for real-world applications. The hyperdimensional microlaser developed by Engineering produces ‘qudits,’ photons with four simultaneous levels of information. The qubits used in today’s quantum communication technologies have limited storage space and low interference tolerance because they only have two levels of superposition. This can lead to more efficient and secure quantum communication networks for a variety of applications. By incorporating laser technology into quantum communication systems, the microlaser chip can add new dimensions and capabilities, such as increased speed and security. A microlaser chip is a small laser device that has the potential to enhance quantum communication. ![]()
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