Creating the next generation of quantum photonics experts

The world of communication has evolved; we no longer have to send telegrams or call the switchboard to talk to someone, with mobile phones and the internet now allowing for instant conversation.

Photons, “particles” of light carry this information from device to device at rapid speeds, creating the foundation of an emerging technology; quantum photonics.

This subject has not been heavily studied in Australian schools and universities – until now.

Prof Jin Liu from Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU, China) and Prof Igor Aharonovich from UTS are using their research on quantum photonics to educate students in Australian high schools and universities.

“What's important is to provide training, educate students, and assure that the community and our society are interested in these emerging topics which are not taught at a school level. We are happy to dissect this, and provide training to high school students, as they will become the future engineers and founders of new technologies. That's where I think the impact is,” Prof Igor Aharonovich said.

They are not alone in their pursuit. Recently it was announced that four leading universities, including UTS, have founded the Sydney Quantum Academy. The Academy aims to promote Sydney as a global leader in quantum computing, improve undergraduate degrees in quantum-related topics and create the jobs of the future.

The research that the two academics are conducting is to make mobile phone use safer and more efficient. They are making devices out of atomically thin materials such as hexagonal boron nitride, a periodic honeycomb lattice with alternating boron and nitrogen atoms. This lattice sometimes has defects that are then harnessed to produce single photons that carry information. The benefit of having single photons is that information cannot be cloned, thus providing absolute privacy and making it difficult for third parties to eaves drop into conversations.

“Harnessing quantum effects in atomically thin materials is the cutting edge of the current scientific and technological aspects and it is fascinating to work on this topic,” Prof Igor Aharonovich said.

They are also changing the way that communication devices are manufactured. Instead of making mobile phones out of a “big chunk of silicon chiseled down to a smaller scale”, the two collaborating academics are working from the bottom up - layering tiny slices of the material piece-by-piece. In only selecting layers of boron nitride that have the desired defects, the academics can scale down the size of the communication device.

“So instead of etching down from bulk, we're just growing them, and then we have very small, thin devices,” Prof Igor Aharonovich said.

Quantum Physics and Optical Physics at UTS rates well above world standard in the 2018 Australian Research Council’s Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) evaluation. This is due to an increase in quantum research outputs and growing collaborations such as the international research conducted by UTS Faculty of Science Prof Aharonovich and Key Technology Partner Prof Liu.

The two academics are excited to bring their quality research into the classroom, in Australia and China, to train the future experts of quantum photonics.

“When we teach undergraduate subjects, we try to bring these kind of advanced and new topics into the classroom to really make sure that the students are exposed to the current state of research. When we go and give public lectures and school visits, we try to teach it,” Prof Igor Aharonovich said.

The collaboration was made possible by the Key Technology Partnerships Visiting Fellow program. Since Prof Jin Liu has returned to SYSU in China, the two academics are in close contact and are working on applying their research to 2D materials.