Programmable Interactions between Optical Fields and Atom-like Systems in Integrated Circuits

Abstract

Photons can interact with a wide variety of quantum systems and their ability to more easily preserve their coherence makes them ideal candidates for transmitting information between remote quantum information processors. Photonic integrated circuits (PICs), which can be manufactured with modern semiconductor fabrication, provide a platform in which such interactions can occur at scale. Implementing integrated devices enabling these interactions within programmable and scalable settings while preserving a sufficient amount of strength continues to be a general goal in quantum photonics. Here, we implement device designs and architectures that improve current limits on the programmability and scalability of three types of optical interactions. More specifically, we explore the use of programmable multimode interference as a means for unitary transformations onto a set of optical spatial modes, optical resonators for high-extinction coherent modulators driven by RF signals, and large-scale silicon photonics for interacting with hybrid integrated quantum dot emitters.