Phys.org September 18, 2019
Researchers at the Stevens Institute of Technology have coaxed photons into interacting by firing a laser beam into a racetrack-shaped microcavity carved into a sliver of crystal. As the laser light bounces around the racetrack, its confined photons interact with one another, producing a harmonic resonance that causes some of the circulating light to change wavelength. They boosted its efficiency by using a chip made from lithium niobate on insulator. They used an ion-milling tool to etch a tiny racetrack. The team has already identified ways to increase their Q-factor by a factor of at least 10, but each level up makes the system more sensitive to imperceptible temperature fluctuations. The technique would allow the creation of many powerful quantum computing components such as photonics logic gates and entanglement sources allowing calculations that could take years to be solved in seconds…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE