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Panoramic view on the North Campus © Jürgen Huhn​/​TU Dortmund
FUNDING FROM VOLKSWAGEN FOUNDATION

Molecular Phosphors for More Efficient Quantum Technologies

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Two red glowing spheres are connected by a red beam. © AdobeStock
Information entanglement of photons is a basis for quantum technologies such as quantum computers or ultra-secure data lines.
Photons serve as a basis for novel quantum technologies. However, the way they link information has so far been very complex. Professor Andreas Steffen from the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at TU Dortmund University aims to change this in the future. The Volkswagen Foundation is funding his project “Molecular Entangled 2-Photon Sources” with around €800,000 over the next four years, in which together with his team he plans to use molecular design to produce entangled 2-photon sources for quantum information technologies.

Through quantum mechanics, photons – i.e. light particles – can entangle, and they then behave like “twins” that share information. This information entanglement of two elementary particles is the basis for quantum technologies such as quantum computers or ultra-secure data lines. To date, such entangled photons are generated with solid-state phosphors. “But these are difficult to produce or process and often require extremely low temperatures, for example,” says Andreas Steffen, who has been Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at TU Dortmund University since 2018.

This is the starting point for his new project because molecular phosphors are easier to process, function at room temperature and are already used in organic light-emitting diodes and displays. “Here, however, light is generated according to the laws of nature through single-photon emission, while the 2-photon emission required for quantum technologies is unknown,” explains Professor Steffen. In his new project, he has come up with an idea of how to break with this dogma and how molecular design can be used in the future to obtain entangled 2-photon sources for quantum technologies.

“Molecular Entangled 2-Photon Sources” is what is known as a “high risk – high gain” project, meaning: “The idea is extremely unconventional and there is no guarantee of success. But if I and my team succeed in establishing molecules as entangled 2-photon sources, that would be a real breakthrough,” says Professor Steffen. This freedom is precisely what the funding from the Volkswagen Foundation within the Momentum initiative is now allowing him in his research.

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