Trailblazing E‑Ph Quantum Chip Unveiled in Commercial Foundry

b>Revolutionary Photonic Chip Paves Way for Future Quantum Computing

Scientists from Northwestern University, Boston University and UC Berkeley have engineered a silicon chip that integrates quantum light generation with on‑chip electronic control. The miniature device—just one millimetre by one millimetre—can continuously produce entangled photon pairs, a foundational resource for quantum communication, sensing and processing.

b>Key Innovations

• Microring Resonators – Tiny, ring‑shaped channels etched into silicon generate photon pairs when illuminated by a laser.
• Built‑in Feedback Loop – Photocurrent sensors monitor the light source. If temperature fluctuations or manufacturing imperfections drift the system, a tiny heater automatically readjusts the resonator to its optimal state.
• Scalable CMOS Platform – The chip can be fabricated in high‑volume commercial semiconductor foundries, enabling mass production of quantum photonic systems.

b>Why This Matters

Conventional quantum experiments rely on bulky equipment and pristine, clean environments. By shrinking the necessary electronics onto a single chip, researchers have eliminated the need for large external stabilizers. The integrated feedback ensures the system behaves predictably across temperature changes and fabrication variations—an essential condition for scaling up quantum hardware.

b>Future Applications

The self‑stabilizing chip could become a building block for:

• Secure, light‑based communication networks.
• Advanced quantum sensing devices.
• Scalable architectures for photonic quantum computers.

b>Publication

The study, titled “Scalable feedback stabilization of quantum light sources on a CMOS chip,” appears in Nature Electronics.