来自德国和西班牙联合研究团队成功地以极高的精度控制了单个光量子。研究人员在Nature Communications杂志报告了他们如何通过声波以千兆赫频率在两个输出之间来回切换芯片上的单个光子。首次展示的这种方法可用于声量子技术或复杂的集成光子网络。

The joint research team from Germany and Spain successfully controlled a single quantum of light with extremely high accuracy. Researchers reported in the journal Nature Communications on how they used sound waves to switch individual photons on a chip back and forth between two outputs at a gigahertz frequency. This method, shown for the first time, can be used for acoustic quantum technology or complex integrated photonic networks.

光波和声波构成了现代通信的技术支柱。虽然带有激光的玻璃纤维构成了万维网，但芯片上的纳米级声波以千兆赫频率处理信号，以便在智能手机、平板电脑或笔记本电脑之间进行无线传输。未来最紧迫的问题之一是如何将这些技术扩展到量子系统，以建立安全（即免窃听）的量子通信网络。

Light and sound waves constitute the technical backbone of modern communication. Although glass fibers with lasers make up the World Wide Web, nanoscale sound waves on chips process signals at gigahertz frequencies for wireless transmission between smartphones, tablets, or laptops. One of the most urgent issues in the future is how to extend these technologies to quantum systems to establish secure (i.e., eavesdropping free) quantum communication networks.

研究人员称，光量子或光子在量子技术的发展中起着非常重要的作用。研究团队已成功地在拇指指甲大小的芯片上生成单个光子，然后以前所未有的精度控制它们，通过声波精确计时。

Researchers say that photons or photons play a very important role in the development of quantum technology. The research team has successfully generated individual photons on a chip the size of a thumbnail, then controlled them with unprecedented accuracy, using acoustic waves to accurately time them.

在他们的研究中，研究人员制造了一种芯片，该芯片配备了用于光量子的微小“传导路径”，即所谓的波导，它们仅为人的头发丝的1/30。此外，该芯片还包含量子光源（即量子点）。这些量子点只有几纳米大小，是波导内的岛屿，它们以单个光子的形式发射光。量子点包含在芯片中，因此不必使用复杂的方法通过其他来源生成单个光子。

In their research, the researchers created a chip equipped with tiny "conduction paths" for photons, known as waveguides, that are only 1/30 of a person's hair. In addition, the chip also contains a quantum light source (i.e., quantum dots). These quantum dots, which are only a few nanometers in size, are islands within a waveguide that emit light in the form of a single photon. Quantum dots are contained within the chip, so there is no need to use complex methods to generate individual photons from other sources.

研究人员称，通过使用纳米级声波，他们能在波导中以前所未有的速度直接在芯片上的两个输出之间来回切换光子。研究人员认为该成果是混合量子技术道路上的一个里程碑，因为他们结合了3种不同的量子系统：量子点形式的量子光源、产生的光量子以及声子（声波中的量子粒子）。

Researchers say that by using nanoscale sound waves, they can switch photons back and forth directly between two outputs on the chip in waveguides at unprecedented speeds. Researchers believe that this achievement is a milestone on the path of hybrid quantum technology, as they combine three different quantum systems: quantum light sources in the form of quantum dots, light quanta produced, and phonons (quantum particles in sound waves).