Plasmonics for emerging quantum technologies

TL;DR

This paper discusses the role of plasmonics in advancing quantum technologies, emphasizing its potential for miniaturization, enhanced light-matter interactions, and enabling next-generation quantum computing and secure communications.

Contribution

It highlights the significance of quantum plasmonics as a fundamental research direction for ultra-miniaturized photonic components in quantum optics.

Findings

Quantum plasmonics enables extreme light-matter interaction limits.

Potential for miniaturizing quantum photonic devices.

Supports development of secure quantum communication.

Abstract

Expanding the frontiers of information processing technologies and, in particular, computing with ever increasing speed and capacity has long been recognized an important societal challenge, calling for the development of the next generation of quantum technologies. With its potential to exponentially increase computing power, quantum computing opens up possibilities to carry out calculations that ordinary computers could not finish in the lifetime of the Universe, while optical communications based on quantum cryptography become completely secure. At the same time, the emergence of Big Data and the ever increasing demands of miniaturization and energy saving technologies bring about additional fundamental problems and technological challenges to be addressed in scientific disciplines dealing with light-matter interactions. In this context, quantum plasmonics represents one of the most promising and fundamental research directions and, indeed, the only one that enables ultimate miniaturization of photonic components for quantum optics when being taken to extreme limits in light-matter interactions.