Laboratory of Photonics and Quantum Measurements

The Laboratory of Photonics and Quantum Measurements works broadly defined, in the field of Cross-Quantum Technology, i.e. it uses quantum mechanical processes such as parametric frequency conversion or radiation pressure quantum effects in both emerging classical applications in technology, as well as fundamental quantum science and technology experiments.

We do fancy Physics

Research

Chipscale frequency combs

The development of optical frequency combs, and notably self-referencing, has revolutionized precision measurements over the past decade, and enabled counting of the cycles of light. Frequency combs, for which Hall and Haensch shared the Physics Nobel Prize in 2005 has enabled dramatic advances in timekeeping, metrology and spectroscopy. In 2007, research on microresonators resulted in the discovery of a novel method to generate optical frequency combs using parametric frequency conversion in optical microresonators.

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Cavity Quantum Optomechanics

Although mechanical oscillator are ubiquitous in our modern information technology, and used in time-keeping, MEMS accelerometers or in radio frequency filters in cell-phones, yet their quantum control had remained an outstanding challenge. The ability to achieve such quantum control has been a longstanding challenge. Over the past decade, this has become a reality: Following quantum control of individual isolated quantum systems, the latter has now been extended to macroscopic, engineered mechanical oscillators, owing to the advances in the field of cavity optomechanics.

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Superconducting Circuit Quantum Optomechanics

The theme of this project is the investigation of optomechanics – light coupled to mechanical motion at the microscale – using superconducting circuits in the microwave domain. The idea is to create an inductor-capacitor circuit made out of a thin film superconductor where the capacitor is mechanically compliant, i.e. one of its electrodes is a suspended membrane. As this membrane vibrates, it modulates the capacitance and, in turn, the resonance frequency of the microwave cavity

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News

A cryogenic dilution refrigerator. The base temperature is 10 milliKelvin. Credit: Andrea Bancora, Amir Youssefi

Light meets superconducting circuits

— EPFL researchers have developed a light-based approach to read out superconducting circuits, overcoming the scaling-up limitations of quantum computing systems.

Integrated silicon nitride photonic chips with meter-long spiral waveguides. Credit: Jijun He and Junqiu Liu (EPFL).

New tech builds ultralow-loss integrated photonic circuits

— EPFL scientists have developed ultralow-loss silicon nitride integrated circuits that are central for many photonic devices, such as chip-scale frequency combs, narrow-linewidth lasers, coherent LiDAR, and neuromorphic computing.

Schematic representation of a processor for matrix multiplications that runs on light. Credit: University of Oxford

Light-based processors boost machine-learning processing

— An international team of scientists have developed a photonic processor that uses rays of light inside silicon chips to process information much faster than conventional electronic chips. Published in Nature, the breakthrough study was carried out by scientists from EPFL, the Universities of Oxford, Münster, Exeter, Pittsburgh, and IBM Research – Zurich.

Key Publications

Optomechanics

Elastic strain engineering for ultralow mechanical dissipation
Science (2018)
A dissipative quantum reservoir for microwave light using a mechanical oscillator
Nature Physics (2017)
Measurement and control of a mechanical oscillator at its thermal decoherence rate
Nature (2015)
Cavity optomechanics
Review of Modern Physics (2014)
Quantum-coherent coupling of a mechanical oscillator to an optical cavity mode
Nature (2012)
Optomechanically induced transparency
Science (2010)
Cavity Optomechanics: Back-Action at the Mesoscale
Science (2008)

Frequency combs

Massively parallel coherent laser ranging using a soliton microcomb
Nature (2020)
Dissipative Kerr solitons in optical microresonators
Science (2018)
Microresonator-Based Optical Frequency Combs
Science (2011)
Microresonator-based solitons for massively parallel coherent optical communications
Nature (2017)
Photonic chip-based optical frequency comb using soliton Cherenkov radiation
Science (2015)
Temporal solitons in optical microresonators
Nature Photonics (2014)
Optical frequency comb generation from a monolithic microresonator
Nature (2007)

Contact

Tobias J. Kippenberg
Full Professor, Laboratory of Photonics and Quantum Measurements (STI/SB)

Mail: [email protected]

Phone: +41 21 693 44 28

Address: EPFL SB IPHYS LPQM1
PH D3 355 (Bâtiment PH)
CH-1015 Lausanne