Unveiling a New Quantum Frontier: Frequency-Domain Entanglement

Entanglement has paved the way for enriching our understanding of physics and implementing quantum information technology. Scientists at POSTECH introduce a new type of entanglement: Frequency-domain photon number-path entanglement. Utilizing a frequency beam splitter converting single-photon frequency with a 50% probability, they observe a two-fold enhanced resolution of interference pattern compared to the single-photon counterpart, with unprecedented stability.

New Type of Entanglement Lets Scientists ‘See’ Inside Nuclei

Nuclear physicists have found a new way to see inside nuclei by tracking interactions between particles of light and gluons. The method relies on harnessing a new type of quantum interference between two dissimilar particles. Tracking how these entangled particles emerge from the interactions lets scientists map out the arrangement of gluons. This approach is unusual for making use of entanglement between dissimilar particles—something rare in quantum studies.

Hitting Nuclei with Light May Create Fluid Primordial Matter

A new analysis supports the idea that photons colliding with heavy ions create a fluid of “strongly interacting” particles. The results indicate that photon-heavy ion collisions can create a strongly interacting fluid that responds to the initial collision geometry and that these collisions can form a quark-gluon plasma. These findings will help guide future experiments at the planned Electron-Ion Collider.

Entangled photons to take pictures in the dark

During photosynthesis, a chemical reaction jumpstarted by sunlight breaks down chemicals into the food plants need to repair themselves and to grow. But as researchers attempt to better understand photosynthesis, they have hit a roadblock when it comes to being able to see the fundamental structures and processes in a plant.

Through the quantum looking glass

An ultrathin invention could make future computing, sensing and encryption technologies remarkably smaller and more powerful by helping scientists control a strange but useful phenomenon of quantum mechanics, according to new research recently published in the journal Science.

‘Beam Me Up:’ Nation’s First Quantum Drone Provides Unrivaled Security

Researchers are developing the nation’s first drone-based, mobile quantum network for unhackable wireless communication. The network includes drones, a ground station, lasers and fiber optics. In war, these drones would provide one-time crypto-keys to exchange critical information, which spies and enemies would not be able to intercept. Quantum protects information using the laws of nature and not just by a clever manmade code.

Columbia Engineers First to Observe Avalanches in Nanoparticles

Columbia Engineering researchers report the first nanomaterial that demonstrates “photon avalanching,” a process that is unrivaled in its combination of extreme nonlinear optical behavior and efficiency. The realization of photon avalanching in nanoparticle form opens up a host of sought-after applications, from real-time super-resolution optical microscopy, precise temperature and environmental sensing, and infrared light detection, to optical analog-to-digital conversion and quantum sensing.

Shine On: Avalanching Nanoparticles Break Barriers to Imaging Cells in Real Time

A team of researchers co-led by Berkeley Lab and Columbia University has developed a new material called avalanching nanoparticles that, when used as a microscopic probe, offers a simpler approach to taking high-resolution, real-time snapshots of a cell’s inner workings at the nanoscale.

Broadband Enhancement Relies on Precise Tilt

If a photon source could be placed on a single chip and made to produce photons at a high rate, this could enable high-speed quantum communication or information processing. In Applied Physics Reviews, a simple on-chip photon source using a hyperbolic metamaterial is proposed, and investigators carried out calculations to show that a prototype arranged in a precise way can overcome problems of low efficiency and allow for high repetition rates for on-chip photon sources.