COMPHORT

Quantum Communications with bright solid-state single-Photon emitters at Room Temperature

The “COMPHORT” project is like a sci-fi dream turning into reality in the world of advanced technology. Our big idea? To create a simple, easy-to-use device that works at room temperature to harness the power of quantum technology. This isn’t just cool science – it’s a game-changer that could make this deep tech easy for everyone to use, without needing expensive or very complicated equipment.

We’re at the edge of a quantum leap in technology. What’s “quantum technology”? It’s a smart way of doing things that could change how we communicate securely, measure things super precisely, and solve problems faster than ever. But there’s been a big catch: in general, quantum devices require to be cooled down to temperatures lower than the depths of space, and that’s tricky and expensive. That’s where COMPHORT comes in – we’re breaking down these icy barriers.

Here’s the nice part: our project will use “single photons”, these are individual light particles where a message can be safely encrypted, since a “single photon” cannot be divided in two photons or copied or cloned! These single photon will be generated by a ‘quantum emitter’ in a special material – think of it as a magic ingredient – that works just fine at room temperature. Our plan is to insert these quantum emitters in a “trap for light”, an optical cavity: you can think of it as two parallel mirrors, where photons bounce back and forth, interacting with the quantum emitter, making the single photon generation from the emitter way more efficient. This cavity-emitter device constitutes a super bright single photon source. We want this single photon device to be easy to use, this is why we plan to excite the quantum emitter with electric pulses, rather than with lasers (lasers are generally fragile, bulky, and expensive).

But wait, there’s more! COMPHORT isn’t just for scientists in labs. We want to show everyone how this can work in real life. One of our big goals is to test sending secure messages (encoded in the polarisation of the emitted single photons) through the air right in the middle of Berlin, Germany’s capital! Our aim is to create a strong, trustworthy, and effective communication system. We’re thinking big – like sending messages through space!

We’re not doing this alone. This project is a team effort, with some of the smartest minds from all over Europe coming together from Germany, Türkiye, Spain and UK. This teamwork is key to making Europe a leader in this new, exciting quantum communication world.

CONSORTIUM