Imagine trying to send a secret message using a flashlight, but the flashlight is too bulky and inefficient to fit inside a computer chip. This project creates special molecular 'inks' that act as tiny, high-performance light bulbs capable of firing single particles of light. By shrinking these sources onto a chip, it makes quantum technology smaller, cheaper, and much easier to mass-produce.
Current quantum light sources rely on bulk inorganic crystals that are expensive, difficult to scale, and hard to integrate into compact electronic chips.
The project synthesized molecular materials for single photons and complexes for entangled photon pairs/triplets, combined with plasmonic cavities for optical enhancement.
If you are a QKD provider dealing with bulky, expensive inorganic crystal light sources — this project developed metallorganic molecular materials that enable on-chip integration. This allows for the creation of scalable, cost-effective secure communication hardware.
If you are a sensor manufacturer dealing with low-efficiency light-matter interaction in quantum sensing — this project developed plasmonic supernanostructured cavities. This increases optical enhancement for higher precision in sensing applications.
If you are a hardware vendor dealing with the lack of wavelength-tunable quantum sources — this project developed molecular materials with tailored emission wavelengths. This provides the flexibility needed to integrate quantum light sources into existing fiber-optic devices.
By replacing expensive bulk inorganic crystals with processable metallorganic molecular compounds, the project aims to create photon sources with competitive cost and scalability.
The project focuses on 'on-chip integrated' sources and 'processable' materials, which are designed to move quantum technologies out of the laboratory and into the real world.
Based on available project data, the project is in the research and synthesis phase; specific licensing terms or patents are not listed in the provided summary.
The molecular sources are designed for direct integration onto current devices, utilizing plasmonic cavities to enhance light-matter interactions.
The project period runs from 2023-10-01 to 2027-09-30, suggesting that the fundamental research and prototype development are ongoing until late 2027.
The consortium is heavily academic, consisting of 7 universities and 2 research organizations across 6 countries. With 0% industry representation and 0 SMEs, the project is currently driven by fundamental scientific discovery rather than immediate commercialization, indicating a high-risk, high-gain research profile.
Contact the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) in Italy.
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