Programmable nanophotonics for quantum information processing and artificial intelligence

Abstract

Over the past decade, progress in digital electronic computing systems has slowed as traditional, transistor-based silicon technologies approach their scaling limits. Quantum computing and non-Von Neumann computing architectures have emerged as promising alternatives for continued computational advancement-garnering significant investment and public interest. As a hardware platform, silicon photonics may play an important role in enabling quantum and classical information processing architectures. Here, I will discuss my thesis work on developing a programmable nanophotonic processor in silicon, as well as applications of this processor within the fields of quantum simulation, quantum computing, and deep learning. I will also cover results on environment-assisted quantum transport, deep learning with coherent nanophotonics, heralded single-photon sources, and highly integrable superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors.