event
Friday 24 Oct 2014: Adaptive Quantum Optics
Prof. Pepijn W. H. Pinkse - University of Twente
Newman Red 12:00-13:00
Quantum optics has given us groundbreaking insights in the most fundamental nature of light. In the flourishing field of nanophotonics, intricate nanostructures are being employed to control light in all its aspects. Currently, however, progress in this promising field is hindered by unavoidable disorder in nanostructures. Disorder leads to random light scattering and scrambling of optical phases for which quantum states are particularly vulnerable. Introducing "Adaptive Quantum Optics", I will show that advanced optical methods can counteract disorder even at the level of single quantum particles. Even better, by exploiting disorder, photonic networks can be built. These networks consist e.g., of random photonic media in combination with wavefront modulators. Together they allow control of the path of single photons and photon pairs through the disordered nanophotonic system. These disordered systems have intriguing and unexpected applications: they can be used as unclonable authentication keys that can be read out in a quantum-secure manner. This is tentatively called the "Quantum Credit Card".
