Generating Single Photons
UofM joins others in the U.S. who have generated and detected a single photon
The Electronic and Photonic Nanomaterials Lab (Department of Physics and Materials Science) has demonstrated the ability to generate and detect individual photons in an ambient environment. This marks the first time such a capability has been demonstrated on the UofM campus, paving the way for groundbreaking research opportunities in the fields of quantum optics and quantum technology at our university.
A photon (smallest possible packet of light) has no mass, carries energy and travels in waves at the speed of light. It might seem simple to flip a light switch and produce trillions of photons, but generating and detecting a single photon at a time is far more challenging. There is a comparison that suggests generating and detecting a photon is as difficult as taking picture of a candle with a cell phone from 3 miles away.
In the Electronic and Photonic Nanomaterials Lab, Dr. Thang Hoang, associate professor in Physics and Materials Science, and his students utilize semiconductor quantum dots - nanostructures as small as a billionth of a meter - to generate individual photons, one at a time and separated by just a few nanoseconds. These photons can serve as quantum bits (qbits) for quantum information processing or quantum computing technologies. Hoang explains that this achievement represents a crucial first step toward his ultimate goal: developing an affordable and highly efficient method for generating and detecting pairs of entangled photons, the cornerstone for quantum technologies including quantum communication, computing, sensing and imaging.
For more information, contact Hoang at tbhoang@memphis.edu.