Quantum Optics and Photonics

Quantum optics is concerned with understanding and manipulating interactions between light and matter in the regime where the description of light is necessarily quantum mechanical (at the single photon level). Typical systems requiring such a description occur when light is confined to an optical cavity, during the creation of entangled photon pairs in a nonlinear crystal, and the interaction of ultra-fast light pulses with matter, to name a few. Here at Michigan, we study these phenomena to develop quantum technologies, such as quantum communication networks and quantum sensors, that leverage the unique quantum behaviors of the system.

Integrating strongly interacting light-matter systems into a quantum photonic interface leverages the unique quantum properties of the system combined with the robustness of a photonic platform. This integrated system enables on-chip quantum devices and linkable quantum nodes for sensing and communication networks.