Aeluma and Thorlabs announce breakthrough for quantum PICs
The companies have collaborated to demonstrate wafer-scale integration of aluminium gallium arsenide – a nonlinear optical material that enables entangled photon pair generation – onto 200 mm CMOS silicon photonics wafers
Aeluma, a semiconductor company focusing on high-performance, scalable technologies, together with Thorlabs, a vertically integrated photonics products manufacturer, has announced an advancement in silicon photonics that could accelerate adoption of quantum computing and communication at commercial scale.
According to Aeluma, its large-diameter wafer platform combines the performance of compound semiconductors with the scale of mainstream silicon manufacturing, enabling cost-effective solutions across high-growth markets including mobile, AI, defence and aerospace, automotive, and quantum computing.
Silicon photonics is a promising technology for quantum computing and communication. Aeluma says its ability to incorporate quantum dot sources and highly nonlinear electro-optic materials unlocks new high-performance functionality for this platform.
Collaborating with Thorlabs, and with support from the Office of Secretary of Defense, Aeluma has demonstrated wafer-scale integration of aluminium gallium arsenide, a nonlinear optical material, onto CMOS silicon photonics standard 200 mm diameter wafers, providing a potential path for scaling complex quantum photonic circuits.
The nonlinear optical material is designed to enable entangled photon pair generation and modulation, key building blocks for quantum photonic systems. Compared with other materials like silicon nitride or lithium niobate, Aeluma says that aluminium gallium arsenide offers significantly improved efficiency for next-generation quantum photonic circuits.
“Scalable photonic integration is essential to move quantum technologies out of the lab and into real-world systems,” said Matthew Dummer, director of technology at Aeluma. “By merging the performance of compound semiconductors with the scalability of silicon photonics, we are pushing the boundaries of what's possible in quantum and AI.”
This combination of advanced materials and CMOS silicon substrates, using manufacturing methods compatible with mainstream fabs, marks a step towards volume production, which could move quantum technologies out of research labs and into mass-market products, the company adds.
“This successful collaboration was enabled by the large-area epitaxial growth capabilities of Aeluma and the direct wafer bonding expertise at Thorlabs,” added Garrett Cole, manager of Thorlabs Crystalline Solutions. “The heterogeneous integration of compound semiconductor materials on silicon is broadly applicable and now shows significant promise for quantum photonics.”
Aeluma says the demonstration complements its work with quantum dot materials in 300 mm silicon photonics, aimed at optical interconnects for AI infrastructure and advanced sensing. It directly addresses a longstanding challenge in scaling quantum photonic systems and could provide a meaningful step forwards for quantum system integrators pursuing scalable, production-ready solutions.
