Showing posts with the label TechnologyShow all
Super AMOLED Display: Features, Benefits & Everything Explained
Technology

Super AMOLED Display: Features, Benefits & Everything Explained

What is a Super AMOLED Display? Everything You Need to Know When shopping for smartphones, smartwatches, or even mode…

LiveAlert HQ August 25, 2025
Read more
Harvard Just Collapsed a Quantum Computer Onto a Chip By Anne J. Manning, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied SciencesJuly 30, 2025No Comments5 Mins Read Metasurface Quantum Graphs Artistic representation of metasurface quantum graphs. Credit: Joshua Mornhinweg Harvard engineers have built a chip-thin metasurface that replaces entire quantum optical setups. New research reveals that metasurfaces can act as powerful building blocks for quantum optical networks This breakthrough could replace bulky components like waveguides, mirrors, and beam splitters with a single flat device Researchers used graph theory to design and control the complex quantum behaviors directly on the metasurface Photon Power: The Quest for Scalable Quantum Devices As researchers work to make quantum computers and networks more practical, photons—the basic particles that make up light—are emerging as promising candidates for moving information quickly, even at room temperature. Typically, guiding photons into the right quantum states involves complex arrangements of waveguides on large microchips, or clunky setups built with lenses, mirrors, and beam splitters. These components allow photons to become entangled, a key quantum process that lets them carry and process information in parallel. However, building and maintaining such intricate systems is challenging because they rely on large numbers of delicate parts, making it hard to scale. What if all those components could be replaced by a single, ultra-thin surface that manipulates light in exactly the same way—while using far fewer fabricated elements? Harvard’s Breakthrough in Flat Quantum Optics A research team at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) achieved just that. Led by Federico Capasso, the Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering, the group developed specialized metasurfaces. These flat devices are engraved with nanoscale patterns that control light and serve as compact replacements for traditional quantum-optical hardware. The study was published in Science and received funding support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). Scaling Quantum Systems with Simplicity The team demonstrated that a metasurface can generate entangled photon states and perform complex quantum operations—just like larger optical systems that use many separate components. “We’re introducing a major technological advantage when it comes to solving the scalability problem,” said graduate student and first author Kerolos M.A. Yousef. “Now we can miniaturize an entire optical setup into a single metasurface that is very stable and robust.” Federico Capasso and Kerolos Yousef Federico Capasso and Kerolos M. A. Yousef with their experimental setup. Credit: Capasso Lab / Harvard SEAS Why Metasurfaces Are a Game-Changer Their results hint at the possibility of paradigm-shifting optical quantum devices based not on conventional, difficult-to-scale components like waveguides and beam splitters, or even extended optical microchips, but instead on error-resistant metasurfaces that offer a host of advantages: designs that don’t require intricate alignments, robustness to perturbations, cost-effectiveness, simplicity of fabrication, and low optical loss. Broadly speaking, the work embodies metasurface-based quantum optics, which, beyond carving a path toward room-temperature quantum computers and networks, could also benefit quantum sensing or offer “lab-on-a-chip” capabilities for fundamental science Designing a single metasurface that can finely control properties like brightness, phase, and polarization presented unique challenges because of the mathematical complexity that arises once the number of photons and, therefore, the number of qubits begins to increase. Every additional photon introduces many new interference pathways, which in a conventional setup would require a rapidly growing number of beam splitters and output ports. Graph Theory: The Secret Weapon To bring order to the complexity, the researchers leaned on a branch of mathematics called graph theory, which uses points and lines to represent connections and relationships. By representing entangled photon states as many connected lines and points, they were able to visually determine how photons interfere with each other, and to predict their effects in experiments. Graph theory is also used in certain types of quantum computing and quantum error correction, but is not typically considered in the context of metasurfaces, including their design and operation. Unified Design for Light and Logic The resulting paper was a collaboration with the lab of Marko Lončar, whose team specializes in quantum optics and integrated photonics and provided needed expertise and equipment. “I’m excited about this approach, because it could efficiently scale optical quantum computers and networks — which has long been their biggest challenge compared to other platforms like superconductors or atoms,” said research scientist Neal Sinclair. “It also offers fresh insight into the understanding, design, and application of metasurfaces, especially for generating and controlling quantum light. With the graph approach, in a way, metasurface design and the optical quantum state become two sides of the same coin.” Reference: “Metasurface quantum graphs for generalized Hong-Ou-Mandel interference” by Kerolos M. A. Yousef, Marco D’Alessandro, Matthew Yeh, Neil Sinclair, Marko Loncar and Federico Capasso, 24 July 2025, Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.adw8404 The research received support from federal sources including the AFOSR under award No. FA9550-21-1-0312. The work was performed at the Harvard University Center for Nanoscale Systems, which is supported under National Science Foundation award No. ECCS-2025158. Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter. Harvard University Metamaterials Photonics Quantum Computing Quantum Information Science Quantum Optics Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Email Reddit Related Articles Compact Quantum Light Processing: Time-Bending Optical Computing Breakthrough The Future of Quantum Computing: Harvard Team Achieves Major Error Correction Milestone Quantum Networks Transformed: Nanometric Optomechanical Cavities Unlock New Realms The New Building Blocks of Quantum Tech: Quantum Dots and Twisted Light Innovative Atomic Device Enables a Simpler Way To Connect Quantum Computers Shifting Colors for On-Chip Photonics To Power Next Generation Quantum Computers and Networks Photonic Chip Breakthrough Opens a Path Toward Quantum Computing in Real-World Conditions Super-Fast Quantum Light Detector Paves Way for Higher Performance Quantum Computers Generating Photons for Communication Between Processors in a Quantum Computing System Leave A Reply Your Comment Name Email Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Don't Miss a Discovery Subscribe for the Latest in Science & Tech! Name: Email: We respect your email privacy Trending News 545-Million-Year-Old Footprints Rewrite the Origin Story of Complex Life A Hidden Heat Source on Uranus Just Changed What We Know About Planets Methane on a 3000°C Planet? Webb Just Shattered Expectations Scientists Develop “Lung-on-a-Chip” That Could Help Stop the Next Pandemic A Pill That Makes Your Blood Deadly to Mosquitoes? It’s Real – And It Works Can’t Hit 10,000 Steps? Turns Out You Don’t Need To Scientists Warn: Tintina Fault Could Unleash Major Earthquake Study Overturns Decades-Old Dogma: Scientists Discover “Hidden Organization” in Gene Regulation Follow SciTechDaily Facebook Twitter YouTube Pinterest Newsletter RSS SciTech News Biology News Chemistry News Earth News Health News Physics News Science News Space News Technology News Recent Posts Harvard Just Collapsed a Quantum Computer Onto a Chip Fake Videos Just Got Scarier. Luckily, This AI Can Spot Them All Aquariids May Be More Sprinkle Than Sparkle on July 30 Peak Astronomers Finally Crack the Mystery of Cosmic X-Ray Blasts NISAR Blasts Into Orbit: World’s Most Advanced Radar Satellite to Scan Earth’s Surface Every 12 Days Copyright © 1998 - 2025 SciTechDaily. All Rights Reserved. Science News About Contact Editorial Board Privacy Policy Terms of Use notification icon
Technology

Harvard Just Collapsed a Quantum Computer Onto a Chip By Anne J. Manning, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied SciencesJuly 30, 2025No Comments5 Mins Read Metasurface Quantum Graphs Artistic representation of metasurface quantum graphs. Credit: Joshua Mornhinweg Harvard engineers have built a chip-thin metasurface that replaces entire quantum optical setups. New research reveals that metasurfaces can act as powerful building blocks for quantum optical networks This breakthrough could replace bulky components like waveguides, mirrors, and beam splitters with a single flat device Researchers used graph theory to design and control the complex quantum behaviors directly on the metasurface Photon Power: The Quest for Scalable Quantum Devices As researchers work to make quantum computers and networks more practical, photons—the basic particles that make up light—are emerging as promising candidates for moving information quickly, even at room temperature. Typically, guiding photons into the right quantum states involves complex arrangements of waveguides on large microchips, or clunky setups built with lenses, mirrors, and beam splitters. These components allow photons to become entangled, a key quantum process that lets them carry and process information in parallel. However, building and maintaining such intricate systems is challenging because they rely on large numbers of delicate parts, making it hard to scale. What if all those components could be replaced by a single, ultra-thin surface that manipulates light in exactly the same way—while using far fewer fabricated elements? Harvard’s Breakthrough in Flat Quantum Optics A research team at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) achieved just that. Led by Federico Capasso, the Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering, the group developed specialized metasurfaces. These flat devices are engraved with nanoscale patterns that control light and serve as compact replacements for traditional quantum-optical hardware. The study was published in Science and received funding support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). Scaling Quantum Systems with Simplicity The team demonstrated that a metasurface can generate entangled photon states and perform complex quantum operations—just like larger optical systems that use many separate components. “We’re introducing a major technological advantage when it comes to solving the scalability problem,” said graduate student and first author Kerolos M.A. Yousef. “Now we can miniaturize an entire optical setup into a single metasurface that is very stable and robust.” Federico Capasso and Kerolos Yousef Federico Capasso and Kerolos M. A. Yousef with their experimental setup. Credit: Capasso Lab / Harvard SEAS Why Metasurfaces Are a Game-Changer Their results hint at the possibility of paradigm-shifting optical quantum devices based not on conventional, difficult-to-scale components like waveguides and beam splitters, or even extended optical microchips, but instead on error-resistant metasurfaces that offer a host of advantages: designs that don’t require intricate alignments, robustness to perturbations, cost-effectiveness, simplicity of fabrication, and low optical loss. Broadly speaking, the work embodies metasurface-based quantum optics, which, beyond carving a path toward room-temperature quantum computers and networks, could also benefit quantum sensing or offer “lab-on-a-chip” capabilities for fundamental science Designing a single metasurface that can finely control properties like brightness, phase, and polarization presented unique challenges because of the mathematical complexity that arises once the number of photons and, therefore, the number of qubits begins to increase. Every additional photon introduces many new interference pathways, which in a conventional setup would require a rapidly growing number of beam splitters and output ports. Graph Theory: The Secret Weapon To bring order to the complexity, the researchers leaned on a branch of mathematics called graph theory, which uses points and lines to represent connections and relationships. By representing entangled photon states as many connected lines and points, they were able to visually determine how photons interfere with each other, and to predict their effects in experiments. Graph theory is also used in certain types of quantum computing and quantum error correction, but is not typically considered in the context of metasurfaces, including their design and operation. Unified Design for Light and Logic The resulting paper was a collaboration with the lab of Marko Lončar, whose team specializes in quantum optics and integrated photonics and provided needed expertise and equipment. “I’m excited about this approach, because it could efficiently scale optical quantum computers and networks — which has long been their biggest challenge compared to other platforms like superconductors or atoms,” said research scientist Neal Sinclair. “It also offers fresh insight into the understanding, design, and application of metasurfaces, especially for generating and controlling quantum light. With the graph approach, in a way, metasurface design and the optical quantum state become two sides of the same coin.” Reference: “Metasurface quantum graphs for generalized Hong-Ou-Mandel interference” by Kerolos M. A. Yousef, Marco D’Alessandro, Matthew Yeh, Neil Sinclair, Marko Loncar and Federico Capasso, 24 July 2025, Science. DOI: 10.1126/science.adw8404 The research received support from federal sources including the AFOSR under award No. FA9550-21-1-0312. The work was performed at the Harvard University Center for Nanoscale Systems, which is supported under National Science Foundation award No. ECCS-2025158. Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter. Harvard University Metamaterials Photonics Quantum Computing Quantum Information Science Quantum Optics Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Email Reddit Related Articles Compact Quantum Light Processing: Time-Bending Optical Computing Breakthrough The Future of Quantum Computing: Harvard Team Achieves Major Error Correction Milestone Quantum Networks Transformed: Nanometric Optomechanical Cavities Unlock New Realms The New Building Blocks of Quantum Tech: Quantum Dots and Twisted Light Innovative Atomic Device Enables a Simpler Way To Connect Quantum Computers Shifting Colors for On-Chip Photonics To Power Next Generation Quantum Computers and Networks Photonic Chip Breakthrough Opens a Path Toward Quantum Computing in Real-World Conditions Super-Fast Quantum Light Detector Paves Way for Higher Performance Quantum Computers Generating Photons for Communication Between Processors in a Quantum Computing System Leave A Reply Your Comment Name Email Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Don't Miss a Discovery Subscribe for the Latest in Science & Tech! Name: Email: We respect your email privacy Trending News 545-Million-Year-Old Footprints Rewrite the Origin Story of Complex Life A Hidden Heat Source on Uranus Just Changed What We Know About Planets Methane on a 3000°C Planet? Webb Just Shattered Expectations Scientists Develop “Lung-on-a-Chip” That Could Help Stop the Next Pandemic A Pill That Makes Your Blood Deadly to Mosquitoes? It’s Real – And It Works Can’t Hit 10,000 Steps? Turns Out You Don’t Need To Scientists Warn: Tintina Fault Could Unleash Major Earthquake Study Overturns Decades-Old Dogma: Scientists Discover “Hidden Organization” in Gene Regulation Follow SciTechDaily Facebook Twitter YouTube Pinterest Newsletter RSS SciTech News Biology News Chemistry News Earth News Health News Physics News Science News Space News Technology News Recent Posts Harvard Just Collapsed a Quantum Computer Onto a Chip Fake Videos Just Got Scarier. Luckily, This AI Can Spot Them All Aquariids May Be More Sprinkle Than Sparkle on July 30 Peak Astronomers Finally Crack the Mystery of Cosmic X-Ray Blasts NISAR Blasts Into Orbit: World’s Most Advanced Radar Satellite to Scan Earth’s Surface Every 12 Days Copyright © 1998 - 2025 SciTechDaily. All Rights Reserved. Science News About Contact Editorial Board Privacy Policy Terms of Use notification icon

Harvard engineers have built a chip-thin metasurface that replaces entire quantum optical setups. New research reveal…

LiveAlert HQ August 13, 2025
Read more
Acting NASA Administrator Honors Legacy of Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell
Technology

Acting NASA Administrator Honors Legacy of Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell

NASA Administrator Reflects on Legacy of Astronaut Jim Lovell August 8, 2025 – In the wake of the passing of legendar…

LiveAlert HQ August 09, 2025
Read more
Is Time Travel Possible? Science Explains Time Dilation, Wormholes & More
Technology

Is Time Travel Possible? Science Explains Time Dilation, Wormholes & More

Is Time Travel Possible? Here’s What Science Says Time travel has long captured the imagination of scientists, philos…

LiveAlert HQ August 02, 2025
Read more
Top 25 Emerging Technologies in 2025 | Future Tech Trends to Watch
Technology

Top 25 Emerging Technologies in 2025 | Future Tech Trends to Watch

🔝 Top 25 Emerging Technologies to Watch in 2025 Below are the key innovations primed to transform business and socie…

LiveAlert HQ August 01, 2025
Read more
Virtual Reality 2.0: The Future of Immersive Tech Is Here
Technology

Virtual Reality 2.0: The Future of Immersive Tech Is Here

🚀 Virtual Reality 2.0: The Next Leap in Immersive Tech What Is VR 2.0? VR 2.0 marks the transition from the bulky, …

LiveAlert HQ August 01, 2025
Read more
Load More That is All