Communications of the ACM
niversity of Calgary Physicists Create Nano-Sized Device With Huge Potential in Field of Quantum Computing
Researchers in the University of Calgarys Institute for Quantum Science and Technology and the National Institute of Nanotechnology have made the first nano-sized optical resonator (or optical cavity) from a single crystal of diamond that is also a mecha
Credit: University of Calgary
University of Calgary researchers say they have made the first-ever nano-sized optical resonator, or optical cavity, from a single crystal of diamond that is also a mechanical resonator.
The researchers say the technology could lead to huge advances in computing, telecommunications, and other fields.
They say the microdisk looks like a microscopic hockey puck supported by a very tiny hourglass-shaped pillar in the center.
Professor Paul Barclay and colleagues fabricated the microdisk from commercially available synthetic, single-crystal diamond chips. The group used light to vibrate the disk to a gigahertz frequency.
The team also designed and built the system to measure the device's optical and mechanical properties.
"The ability to trap light in nanoscale volumes in an optical cavity creates high electromagnetic intensity from tiny amounts of light, and amplifies light-matter interactions that are typically nearly impossible to study," Barclay says.
He notes diamond optomechanical devices hold great promise for realizing an on-chip platform to control the interaction of light, vibrations, and electrons.
Barclay says such devices have potential applications in state-of-the-art sensing, quantum information, and computing technologies.
From University of Calgary
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