Chip-Based Source Creates Entangled Photons 100x More Efficiently

In pursuit of a fast and efficient source of entangled photon pairs necessary for quantum computing and ultrafast communications, researchers from Stevens Institute of Technology have developed a chip-based source capable of producing entangled photon pairs 100× more efficiently than previously possible. Traditional methods trap light in meticulously crafted nanoscale microcavities; light moving through the cavity causes individual photons to resonate and split into entangled pairs. The problem is that these systems are inefficient, requiring pulses of incoming laser light composed of hundreds of millions of photons before a single entangled pair is created. Yuping Huang and his colleagues at Stevens Institute of Technology...