UNIQORN Quantum Flagship Project to Advance Next Generation Communications Technologies
Researchers, scientists and engineers at VPIphotonics and allied EU-based organizations have moved to initial development stages supporting the EU-funded UNIQORN quantum communications program in efforts to bring revolutionary new systems into the global marketplace.
The multidisciplinary project UNIQORN kicked-off in late 2018 and will develop through the participation of VPIphotonics and other consortium members under the coordinator of the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT). Simply stated, the EU-funded project’s goal is to provide quantum-based communications technology for mass markets.
Quantum communications systems today are mostly found in research laboratories; one of the UNIQORN project’s key goals is to reduce the size of these experimental systems so they can fit into small and reliable photonic integrated circuits (PICs). By carefully laying out each element along the development chain from fabrication to application, the Horizon 2020 project will not only reduce size and cost, but will also bring improvements in terms of robustness and reproducibility.
Quantum communication is recognised as one of the pillars for the second quantum revolution thanks to its unique potential for information-theoretical data security. The so-called ‘first quantum revolution’ provided new rules that govern and seek to explain physical realities—one widely recognized product arising from this knowledge and awareness was the development of a US National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) atomic clock leveraging first-revolution principles. The second quantum revolution is expected to focus on controlling individual quantum systems (such as charged molecules,) to an even greater extent and to enable even more powerful applications of quantum information. Turning this promise (or potential) into tangible assets, however, depends on the availability of high-performance, compact and cost-effective modules for practical implementations.
The Horizon-2020 project “UNIQORN – Affordable Quantum Communication for Everyone: Revolutionizing the Quantum Ecosystem from Fabrication to Application” was selected for funding by the European Commission within the first call of the H2020 Quantum Flagship program. UNIQORN’s goal is to link innovative yet user-oriented research on the quantum frontier with near-future exploitation of early prototype components and system-on-chip implementations in a growing market with vast potential. Project kick-off activities took place in October 2018.
UNIQORN’s mission is to provide the enabling photonic technology to accommodate quantum communications by integrating complex systems and reducing their scale. Quantum-based communications in the lab today are found on meter-sized ‘breadboards’ – the goal is to bring these systems down into millimeter-size chips. Practical research and its implementation will not only reduce size and cost, but will also bring improvements in terms of robustness and reproducibility.
UNIQORN will be coordinated by Hannes Hübel, scientist and quantum expert at AIT—the Austrian Institute of Technology. “There is no doubt that this project will help to bridge the Quantum Divide,” he says. “By offering cost-optimized quantum technology that follows a similar success story to microelectronics, not only governments and big organisations but also the general public will benefit from the offerings of the Quantum Age.”
As a 3-year project, UNIQORN is expected to develop the key components for quantum communication systems such as true random number generation and secure-key distribution. This includes specialized optical sources and detector technology, which will be realized on mainstream fabrication platforms – similar to those used for the mass fabrication of microelectronics. System-on-a-chip integration will be an essential part of the research work and is expected to lead to highly miniaturized quantumoptic systems that are expected to unleash the potential of quantum mechanical features and the behaviors of quantum particles such as entanglement and light squeezing. The opto-electronic technology and assembly processes involved have been carefully selected in terms of cost efficiency to deliver ultimate performance for the practical deployment of quantum technology in the near future.
UNIQORN project participants expect to make the ambitious leap from quantum “fabrication” to quantum “application” as program participants evaluate its cutting-edge technology in novel protocols such as one-time programs or oblivious transfer. It is expected that these efforts will one day enable a wider range of end-users to exploit the power of quantum computing. Experimental activities will include real-world testing in smart-city environments in tandem with a wide range of telecommunications applications.
The UNIQORN consortium has 17 partners from 9 European countries that will address the multi-disciplinary research agenda led by AIT as the project coordinator; the Institute of Computer and Communication Systems (Athens, Greece) is the technical manager. Further partners include research & technology organizations including Fraunhofer HHI and imec, which bring extensive experience in turning basic science into applicable assets. These organizations will work together with quantum engineers with strong roots in theory and experimentation from the University of Vienna; Paderborn University; the University of Innsbruck and the Technical University of Denmark.
Photonic and electronic design, integration and packaging activities will be supported by experts in the field including the Eindhoven University of Technology; Micro-Photon-Devices; Politecnico Milano, SMART Photonics; VPIphotonics, and Cordon Electronics. The industrial end-user perspective will be provided through a system vendor, Mellanox, and an operator, Cosmote, whilst field evaluation activities will be conducted in the live smart-city test-bed run by the University of Bristol.
About the Quantum Flagship
The Quantum Flagship was launched in 2018 as one of the largest and most ambitious research initiatives ever attempted by the European Union. With a budget of €1 billion over 10 years, the flagship project brings together research institutions, academia, industry, enterprises, and policy makers in a joint and collaborative initiative taking place on an unprecedented scale. The main objective of the Flagship program is to consolidate and expand European scientific leadership and excellence in this research area as well as to transfer quantum physics research from the lab to the market by means of commercial applications and disruptive technologies. With over 5,000 researchers from academia and industry involved in this initiative throughout its lifetime, the program aims to create the next generation of disruptive technologies that will impact European society as a whole, enabling the region to become a worldwide knowledge-based industrial and technological leader in the field of quantum physics and engineering programs and products based on the new knowledge.
About VPIphotonics
VPIphotonics sets the industry standard for end-to-end photonic design automation comprising design, analysis and optimization of components, systems and networks.
The organization provides professional simulation software addressing demands in integrated photonics and fiber optics, optical transmission links and networks.
Its team of experts performs design services addressing customer-specific requirements, and delivers training courses on adequate modeling techniques and advanced software capabilities. VPIphotonics’ award-winning off-the-shelf and customized solutions are used extensively in research and development as well as by product design and marketing teams at hundreds of corporations worldwide. Over 160 academic institutions joined our University Program enabling students, educators and researchers to enjoy easy access to VPIphotonics’ latest modeling and design innovations.
