ECE Seminar: Joseph M. Lukens
Tuesday, November 7, 2023 — 2:00 p.m.
Joseph M. Lukens
Sr. Director of Quantum Networking & Research Professor
Joint Faculty Appointment (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Research Technology Office & Quantum Collaborative
Arizona State University
"Frequency Bins for Quantum Information: A Challenging Simplicity"
ECE 530 | Zoom link
Abstract
Sprinting at the speed limit of the universe and spanning ultrabroad bandwidths, photons underpin both modern lightwave communications and future quantum networks as true “flying qubits.” Of the many degrees of freedom available for photonic qubits, frequency bins provide intriguing simplicity through their ease of multiplexing, compatibility with efficient waveguide entangled-photon sources, and stability in optical fiber. Nevertheless, this stability presents critical practical challenges for their manipulation and control. In this talk, I will introduce the quantum frequency processor (QFP)—a concatenation of Fourier-transform pulse shapers and electro-optic phase modulators—as a solution for universal and scalable frequency-bin quantum information. Summarizing QFP experiments so far, with an emphasis on recent communications-focused demonstrations, I will then generalize to frequency-multiplexed flex-grid entanglement distribution, which has supported deployed quantum networking experiments inspired by classical elastic optical networks. In the process, it is my hope to show that the “challenging simplicity” of frequency-bin encoding need not be feared but embraced.
Biography
Joseph M. Lukens received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering and physics in 2011 from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, in 2015. Employed as a Wigner Fellow and research scientist in quantum information science at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) from 2015–2022, he now serves as senior director of quantum networking and research professor at Arizona State University, maintaining a joint faculty appointment at ORNL. His research interests encompass a variety of topics in photonic quantum information processing, optical networking, and Bayesian inference.