Quantum nanoscience

Nanoscale systems are ideally suited to study quantum mechanical effects and explore these as resources for emerging quantum technology such as quantum sensing, communication or computing.

Although quantum physics underpins the behaviour of nanoscale objects, its role in nanoscience has been mostly limited to determining the static, equilibrium properties of small systems. This Review describes seminal developments and new directions for the explicit exploitation of quantum coherence in nanoscale systems, a research area termed quantum-coherent nanoscience.

Quantum photonics offers a scalable approach to advanced quantum-information processing. Based on deterministic photon–emitter interfaces, this Review presents a road ahead for resource-efficient hardware architectures towards applications in quantum communication and quantum computing.

High-performance quantum light sources based on semiconductor quantum dots coupled to microcavities are showing their promise in long-distance solid-state quantum networks.

Silicon spin qubits have demonstrated some promising properties at the individual level, but the technology is beleaguered by a late start and high barriers to entry. To overcome these challenges, the quantum computing and electrical engineering communities will need to find novel ways to work together.

Mid-infrared pulses stimulate fast neutralization of photocharged colloidal nanocrystals, which suppresses blinking of a single nanocrystal’s photoluminescence.

Photoluminescence blinking is a ubiquitous phenomenon that detrimentally reduces emission stability and quantum yield. Now, an all-optical method, which employs ultrafast mid-infrared pulses, can effectively suppress the blinking of single CdSe/CdS core–shell quantum dots.