Two CQE researchers have been awarded NSF CAREER awards. The CAREER award “supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.” Each recipient of this prestigious award receives five years of support from the program.
Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Simeon Bogdanov received the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award for his proposal, “Ultrafast Quantum Networks: Pushing the Limits of Photon Production.”
The goal of Bogdanov’s proposed research is to explore the limits of rates at which single photons can be generated. Quantum networks rely on single photons to carry information, enabling a new generation of systems for secure communication, quantum computing, and high-precision sensing. The problem, however, is that successfully processing one quantum bit requires the generation of many single photons. As a result, the current “quantum” bitrates in long distance network are in the kilohertz range or below. Bogdanov says, “We hope to help solve one big problem, which is that the quantum network bitrates are too low right now for practical purposes.” With this research, he hopes to increase the quantum rates by several orders.
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UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering Assistant Professor Hannes Bernien was also awarded the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award for his proposal to construct and connect quantum network nodes through a phenomenon called quantum entanglement.
Building a quantum version of the internet would bring about a new paradigm in information processing, including un-hackable communication, networked sensing with unparalleled sensitivity, and scalable, distributed quantum computing.
“I am greatly honored to receive this award,” Bernien, assistant professor of molecular engineering. “This will enable us to tackle some of the biggest challenges in quantum science, as well as help us engage more of our community on what quantum means for the future.”