SBIR-STTR Award

To support ultrasensitive detection and measurement in NASA aerospace applications, the development of quantum sensing and measurement (QSM) plays the key role, which involves a wide range of technologies and instruments whose performance is not constrained by the boundaries of classical physics. Single-photon counting has become one of the core techniques in remote sensing, measurement, and optical communications. Thorough characterization of the detection capability of a single-photon detector is required for accurate QSM applications. Compared to the conventional radiant-power-measurement-based method, the photon-pair-based correlated approach, in which the detection of one photon heralds the other photon of the pair with certainty, is well suited for straightforward photon counting calibration. So far, the most widely used ‘workhorse’ for generating photon pairs have been dominated by parametric down-conversion, which, however is intrinsically probabilistic. Aiming at on-demand generation of photon pairs for correlated calibration of SPDs, Nanohmics, Inc. and Prof. Anton Malko’s research group at the University of Texas at Dallas, in collaboration with Dr. Jennifer A. Hollingsworth at Los Alamos National Laboratory, propose to develop high-brightness single-photon pair sources based on biexciton cascade of single colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals. Potential NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) The proposed on-demand high-brightness single-photon pair sources will provide a critical component for straightforward correlated calibration of single-photon counting detectors on the ground and aboard space instruments in NASA missions. The proposed development has the potential to increase the measurement precision and reliability of the detection efficiency of single-photon detectors without any ties to externally calibrated standards. Potential Non-NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) Potential non-NASA applications will include the use of the developed technology for calibration of single-photon counting detectors for a broad range of conventional optical applications. The proposed effort will also produce a hybrid exciton-plasmon structure that could be further engineered and optimized for the generation of entangled photon pairs for various quantum information applications.

Single-photon counting techniques using single-photon detectors (SPDs) are needed in a variety of emerging quantum measurement and communication applications. To meet these needs, the development of ultrasensitive, high precision quantum sensing and measurement devices (i.e. not obtainable with classical methods) will play a key role in future NASA, commercial and other government communication and analysis systems. Nanohmics, Inc. and Prof. Anton Malko’s research group at the University of Texas at Dallas is to develop a laser-pump on-demand single-photon pair source based on biexciton cascade emission in semiconductor quantum dots for correlated calibration of SPDs. Relative to the approach of spontaneous parametric down-conversion in generating single-photon pairs, the proposed technology has advantages of on-demand photon pair generation, high efficiency, low-cost, and scalability. During Phase I, we demonstrated high biexciton cascade emission efficiency in single colloidal QDs nanocrystals and fabricated bullseye antenna to enhance photon emission of single QDs. During Phase II, we will integrate commercially available off-the-shelf optics and electronics and incorporate QD-bullseye hybrid structures to construct a prototype optical system to generate single-photon pairs and demonstrate correlated calibration of SPDs. Potential NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) The development of an integrated nanocrystal-based photon pair calibration source that is capable of direct correlated calibration of single-photon detectors has immediate applications in NASA’s ground- and space-based receiver, detection, and analysis systems using single-photon counting detectors such as the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) on the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), Deep-Space Optical Communications (DSOC), and Space Communications and Navigation (SCAN). Potential Non-NASA Applications (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words) The primary commercial sector customer base will be single-photon detector manufacturers for use in calibration systems. Key detector manufacturers include ID Quantique, Excelitas, Bruker Optics, Single Quantum, and Thorlabs. With a rise in new applications of single-photon detectors in quantum sensing, communication, and computing, unmet needs in the market are increasing new solution demand.