Gurses Volkan, Davis Samantha I, Valivarthi Raju, Sinclair Neil, Spiropulu Maria, Hajimiri Ali
Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
Nat Commun. 2025 Jul 29;16(1):6849. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-61886-9.
Quantum science and technology can offer fundamental enhancements in sensing, communications and computing. The expansion from wired to wireless links is an exciting prospect for quantum technologies. For classical technologies, the advent of phased arrays enabled directional and adaptive wireless links by manipulating electromagnetic waves over free space. Here we demonstrate a phased array system on a chip that can receive, image and manipulate non-classical light over free space. We use an integrated photonic-electronic system with more than 1000 functional components on-chip to detect squeezed light. By integrating an array of 32 sub-wavelength engineered metamaterial antennas, we demonstrate a direct free-space-to-chip interface for reconfigurable quantum links. On the same chip, we implement a large-scale array of quantum-limited coherent receivers that can resolve non-classical signals simultaneously across 32 channels. With coherent readout and manipulation of these signals, we demonstrate 32-pixel imaging and spatially configurable reception of squeezed light over free space. Our work advances wireless quantum technologies that could enable practical applications in quantum communications and sensing.
量子科学技术能够在传感、通信和计算方面带来根本性的提升。从有线链路到无线链路的扩展对量子技术而言是一个令人兴奋的前景。对于经典技术来说，相控阵的出现通过在自由空间中操纵电磁波实现了定向和自适应无线链路。在此，我们展示了一种片上相控阵系统，它能够在自由空间中接收、成像并操纵非经典光。我们使用一个在芯片上集成了超过1000个功能组件的光子 - 电子集成系统来探测压缩光。通过集成一个由32个亚波长工程超材料天线组成的阵列，我们展示了用于可重构量子链路的直接自由空间到芯片的接口。在同一芯片上，我们实现了一个大规模的量子极限相干接收器阵列，该阵列能够同时解析32个通道上的非经典信号。通过对这些信号进行相干读出和操纵，我们展示了32像素成像以及在自由空间中对压缩光的空间可配置接收。我们的工作推动了无线量子技术的发展，这可能会在量子通信和传感领域实现实际应用。
