- Tiny optical chip directs millions of laser points from a microscopic cantilever array
- MITER Research Shows New Path to Scaling Laser Control Using Quantum Computing
- Microscopic beam steering technology could reduce complexity of large optical systems
Quantum computing designs built around laser-controlled qubits face challenges as systems grow. Many approaches rely on separate lasers to control individual qubits, which becomes difficult once systems reach the millions often cited as necessary for practical use.
Scientists working on the MITER Quantum Moonshot project have created a microscopic optical chip capable of directing tens of millions of beams of light every second, meeting this challenge.
Instead of relying on one laser per task, this approach allows a smaller number of beams to be quickly redirected to many targets.
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MITER Quantum Moonshot
The MITER Quantum Moonshot project brings together researchers from MITER, MIT, the University of Colorado Boulder, and Sandia National Laboratories. Their common goal is to build scalable quantum systems combining light-based control with solid-state materials to manage large numbers of quantum bits.
According to IEEE Spectrumthe microscopic optical chip can project 68.6 million digitizable light spots every second. This is more than 50 times higher than previous micromirror-based beam scanners, helping to overcome one of the biggest practical hurdles to scaling quantum hardware.
The device measures about 1 square millimeter, about the size of a grain of salt, and contains an array of microscopic cantilevers that act like tiny light bars. Electrical voltage moves each cantilever slightly, guiding the beams across a two-dimensional surface with precise control.
Light passes through narrow paths called waveguides and exits at the end of each cantilever. A thin layer of aluminum nitride inside the structure expands or contracts under tension, allowing tiny mechanical parts to move and sweep beams across the target area.
“We have now created a digitizable pixel that is at the absolute limit of what diffraction allows,” says Henry Wen, a visiting scholar at MIT and a photonics engineer at QuEra Computing.
IEEE Spectrum reports that the team demonstrated the chip’s capabilities by projecting detailed images on a microscopic scale. One demonstration reproduced the Mona Lisa (see below) in an area smaller than two human eggs.
Synchronizing the movement across thousands of small structures proved more difficult than building the hardware itself.
The researchers had to carefully align the timing of the mechanical movement and the light output so that the colors and patterns appeared in the correct order.
Beyond quantum computing, the same scanning approach could accelerate laser manufacturing processes such as 3D printing. The technology could also extend to imaging and high-performance computing.
“I think now you can take a process that would have taken hours and maybe reduce it to minutes,” Wen says.
Researchers are also exploring new cantilever shapes that wrap around in spirals rather than simple arcs. These variations could support lab-on-a-chip systems used in biology, in which scanning light through cells helps trigger or measure chemical responses.
The same underlying ability to direct many beams from a single compact device is what makes the technology relevant beyond laboratory settings.
Although the technology remains experimental, its ability to direct large numbers of beams from a tiny surface area provides cost savings in large computing systems.
Systems that currently require large numbers of lasers and supporting hardware could be simplified, reducing equipment, energy demand and long-term operating costs.
If future computing systems rely more on optical technologies, reducing the number of light sources required could reduce infrastructure costs.
At the scale of modern data centers, even modest reductions in hardware and energy consumption could translate into very significant financial savings.
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