Quantum on tour: Cutting-edge light source arrives in Cork

by Jenny Darmody

25 Oct 2024

From left: Niels Timmerman, University of Cambridge and Armando Trapala, Tyndall National Institute. Image: Tyndall National Institute.

Over the course of 12 months, an outreach initiative will see a quantum light source travel to 12 top European labs, including the Tyndall Institute in Cork.

In order to shed light on the role of quantum physics, the unique project, entitled QuanTour, will see the light source – which produces single photons, the smallest quantity of light – travel around the continent.

The QuanTour project comes from the German Physical Society (DPG) and is organised by Dr Doris Reiter of TU Dortmund University and Dr Tobias Heindel of TU Berlin University.

The outreach initiative is in anticipation of the UNESCO International Year of Quantum Science and Technology 2025 and aims to engage the public in the possibilities around quantum communication.

The light source began its journey six months ago in Berlin and has since travelled to Linz, Rome, Basel, Madrid, Paris and Cambridge.

Now, it has landed at Tyndall National Institute, based at University College Cork (UCC). Tyndall is a deep-tech research centre in integrated ICT materials, devices, circuits and systems.

Dr Emanuele Pelucchi, head of epitaxy and physics of nanostructures at Tyndall, said he is proud to be part of the initiative. “QuanTour highlights the relevance that quantum technologies bear to our future, and 100 years of endeavours and successes,” he said.

“At Tyndall we are doing our part developing unique site-controlled photon sources which are relevantly contributing to the challenges quantum technologies present.”

The QuanTour project illustrates the role quantum communication will play in securing future global data networks. While today’s fibre-optic communications rely on traditional data transmission methods, quantum communication uses photons to transmit information securely, based on the principles of quantum physics.

The initiative also underlines the relevance of exploiting single photonic technologies for achieving computational advantage with quantum computers over traditional computation with classical chips.

Tyndall’s participation in QuanTour highlights its strong reputation as a key player in quantum technologies.

Last year, it joined the Quantum Flagship Initiative, which was launched by the EU in 2018 to expand European excellence in quantum technologies and tackle the quantum ‘bottleneck’.

Some of its researchers also joined a collaborative €2.6m project to address key challenges on the road to quantum computers, teaming up with academics in the UK.

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Related: Europe, Tyndall National Institute, photonics, Cork, quantum computing

Jenny Darmody is the editor of Silicon Republic

[email protected]

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Quantum on tour: Cutting-edge light source arrives in Cork