ICT - Information and Communication Technology
Information and Communication technologies play a crucial role in the Framework Programs of European Union, under the nomenclature Information Society Technology (IST). It is an interdisciplinary field, comprising microelectronics, photonics, nanotechnologies, and develpments in quantum information. In the following a list and brief description is given on some of the different activities at the Department that are connected to this sector:
(a) All-optical switching in photonic nanostructures for information and signal processing.
This research employs photonic crystal waveguides and resonators for the realization of an all-optical
transistor, which will allow a faster and more efficient information processing with respect to nowadays
microelectronic processing. In particular, employing photonic nanocavities with large quality factor yields
all-optical switching with extremely low control powers. Development of single-photon sources and processes
for the quantum treatment of information. Collaborations are active with: CEA and CNRS Grenoble,
University of Glasgow.
(b) Development of Silicon-based light emitters. Silicon is the fundamental material for microelectronics, but
it not a good light emitter owing to its indirect band-gap.
Research is directed to the realization of Silicon-based nanostructures able to efficiently emit light
in the telecom band (around 1.5 microns in wavelength). In perspective, this will enable to unify both electrical and optical
functionalities on the same chip, which would have a tremendous impact over applications in this field. Partners of these
challenging goals are: MATIS-CNR Lab in Catania, ST Microelectronics, Universities of St. Andrews and York (U.K.), and CNRS Grenoble.
(c) Development of grating couplers for the coupling between a single-mode optical fiber and an integrated photonic waveguide in silicon. This is a crucial problem for the treatment of optical signals on a silicon chip. By using two-dimensional photonic crystals we design and realize grating couplers that operate for all polarizations of light, with high coupling efficiency. Collaboration with: UNIPV-Dept. of Industrial and Information Engineering, Polytechnic of Turin, CEA-Grenoble, Tyndall Institute-Cork.
(d) "Soft" technologies connected to the information and communication processing, both classical and quantum. The optimization
approaches employed for researches in quantum information are very similar to the ones currently used in electronic and
communication engineering, with various connections with statistical learning, neural networks, bayesian methods, and inverse
design problems in general (see also the quantum tomography and quantum states discrimination). Perspective applications range from cybernetics to artificial intelligence.
Staff: L.C. Andreani, M. Galli, D. Gerace, M. Liscidini (Photonics for ICT), G.M. D'Ariano, C. Macchiavello, L. Maccone, P. Perinotti, M. Sacchi (quantum info)