Foundation of quantum networks being laid with efficient multi-directional light generation 12/06/2013 - 00:00 The Information Age will get a major upgrade with the arrival of quantum processors many times faster and more powerful than today’s supercomputers. For the benefits of this new Information Age 2.0 to be fully realized, however, quantum computers will need fast and efficient multi-directional light sources. While quantum technologies remain grist for science fiction, a team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have taken an important step towards efficient light generation, the foundation for future quantum networks.In a study led by Xiang Zhang, a faculty scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division, the research team used a unique optical metamaterial with a refractive index of zero to generate “phase mismatch–free nonlinear light,” meaning the generated light waves move through the material gaining strength in all directions. This phase mismatch-free quality holds promise for quantum computing and networking, and future light sources based on nonlinear optics – the phenomena that occur when interactions with light modify a material’s properties.
