Researchers develop tiny on-chip circuit to power next generation quantum, AI technologies

Researchers have developed a nanoscale circuit that can generate, direct, and read light-based information, all on a single chip. 

The new technology, developed by scientists in the Monash University School of Physics and Astronomy, comes with cutting-edge materials and nanotechnology to overcome a long-standing challenge in “valleytronics,” an emerging field that could underpin faster, more energy-efficient computing and quantum technologies. 

For the first time, the team has demonstrated a fully integrated system that can generate special light signals, guide them in precise directions, and convert them into electrical signals, all within a compact, chip-based device. 

These light signals carry information using a property known as the “valley degree of freedom,” a quantum characteristic of materials that can be harnessed to encode and process data in entirely new ways. Solving a long-standing bottleneck. 

Lead author of the study published in Nature Photonics, Dr. Chi Li said the breakthrough solves a key bottleneck that has limited the field for years. 

“Until now, we could generate or detect these signals, but not do everything in one integrated device. “What we’ve built is a complete on-chip system that can create, route, and read this information with very high precision,” Dr. Li said. 

The device works by using ultra-thin materials, just a few atoms thick, combined with specially designed nanostructures that control how light behaves at extremely small scales. 

Co-first author and Research Fellow at Monash University, Dr. Xing said: “We employ a straightforward stacking approach to integrate ultrathin materials with metasurfaces, overcoming the technical challenges of direct material growth on photonic structures and enabling further advances in valleytronics.” 

Ready for real-world applications Importantly, the system operates at room temperature, making it far more practical for real-world applications than many quantum technologies that require extreme cooling. 

Senior author, Dr. Haoran Ren, ARC Future Fellow and leader of Monash NanoMeta Group, said the work opens the door to a new class of compact, programmable photonic devices.