Quantum Inspired Photonics

Quantum mechanics, dealing with atoms and electrons on a single-particle level, is the basis of modern technologies in computing and communication. While photonics is considered a completely different research subject, its intrinsic capability of creating non-Hermitian Hamiltonians by optical gain and loss makes it an ideal platform to explore various quantum symmetry paradigms that were deemed impossible in the past. In this seminar, I will present our recent efforts on the quantum inspired photonics where quantum symmetries (such as parity-time symmetry) guide the design of nanophotonics for unprecedented optical properties. Although it was widely believed that optical loss is detrimental in photonic applications, I will start from an opposite viewpoint and develop a new paradigm of positively manipulating optical losses, demonstrating unidirectional light-matter interaction tailored at a “quantum” exceptional point in the complex dielectric permittivity domain. Moreover, I will discuss harnessing optical losses for unique microlaser functionality. In particular, I will focus on an orbital angular momentum (OAM) microlaser that structures and twists the lasing radiation at the microscale, which is expected to address the growing demand for information capacity. These quantum explorations not only provide positive impacts on fundamental quantum physics but also facilitate technological breakthroughs in photonic materials. Hence, researches in quantum inspired photonics of such two-fold benefits are advancing both fields simultaneously.