For example,聽imagine 1,000 trucks need to arrive at 10,000 different locations,聽each,聽in different parts of the country.聽A traditional computation model would examine each of the聽10 million聽possible routes聽one by one聽to evaluate聽their聽efficacy,聽but a quantum model聽would be聽able to evaluate all聽those millions of different routes instantaneously.

At the same time, quantum sensing聽is opening new frontiers in precision measurement, enabling technologies such as ultra-sensitive medical imaging and navigation systems that can detect minute changes in gravity or magnetic fields, capabilities that could allow doctors to identify diseases earlier or help vehicles聽navigate without GPS.聽麻豆原创 researchers believe the science of light,聽photonics,聽may hold the key to unlocking quantum computing鈥檚 true potential.

鈥淭o produce truly useful quantum computers, we need complex, entangled states of light that are robust to imperfections,鈥澛爏ays聽Professor Andrea Blanco-Redondo.

Blanco-Redondo is the Florida Photonics Center of Excellence Endowed Professor of Optics and Photonics at CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics. She聽heads聽the Quantum Silicon Photonics (QSP) research group, which aims to better understand the fundamental聽classical and quantum聽properties of light聽鈥斅爇nowledge that will be critical to advance the field of quantum computing.

The team鈥檚 study on 鈥淗igh-dimensional聽Topological聽Photonic聽Entanglement鈥� is now published in聽Science,聽featuring聽Blanco-Redondo alongside CREOL doctoral student Javad Zakery and former聽research scientist聽Armando Perez-Leija聽(now at Saint聽Louis University)聽as the聽principal聽investigators.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been shown that entanglement entails advantages for both quantum computing and quantum sensing,鈥� Blanco-Redondo says. 鈥淚t is crucial to be able to generate these quantum-entangled states of light聽in a robust and scalable聽manner聽to facilitate those operations.鈥�

罢辞辫辞濒辞驳颈肠补濒听罢谤补苍蝉蹿辞谤尘补迟颈辞苍

Topological modes are聽special聽ways for light to propagate聽within a structure.聽They聽are聽immune to imperfections because聽their聽existence is protected by聽the聽system鈥檚聽overall聽(global聽rather than local)聽properties聽of the system. One example is superlattices, which have been known to generate these modes.

Blanco-Redondo sums up the breakthrough: 鈥淲e have figured out a way to entangle the聽topological protected modes of superlattices.鈥�

Any one photon can be in a聽complex聽superposition聽of聽multiple states at once. When two such photons are entangled, Blanco-Redondo explains, measuring one of them will聽determine聽the mode of the other.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a quantum connection between them,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey share a single joint state, so measuring one immediately tells you what you鈥檒l find when you measure the other.鈥�

Entangling multiple topological聽states was the fundamental limit聽鈥斅爋r so聽scientists聽thought.

鈥淲e had聽shown聽the fundamental piece, but we didn鈥檛 know how to scale up,鈥� Blanco-Redondo says. 鈥淲hat we have shown with this new method is a scalable way to generate more and more complex entangled states, maintaining topological protection of those entangled states.鈥�

That means those entangled states will be, not only聽more robust to imperfections, but will have larger capacity for聽encoding quantum information,聽both聽critical qualities聽for a quantum system鈥檚 stability聽and thus to enable聽quantum information systems at scale.

Surfing the Waveguides

惭辞谤别听complex聽doesn鈥檛聽mean more 鈥渃omplicated鈥�.聽Blanco-Redondo鈥檚 team聽accomplished聽this scaling-up by rearranging the furniture in the聽room聽the light聽occupies, so to speak. The 鈥渇urniture鈥� in this case are silicon photonic waveguide arrays.

鈥淲e can do it in a way that doesn鈥檛 increase the complexity of the system,鈥� Blanco-Redondo says, 鈥淲e have figured out a way to displace the waveguides in a configuration which supports many co-localized聽protected聽modes instead of just one.鈥�

The end result, according to Blanco-Redondo聽is a聽larger capacity to encode quantum information聽resiliently.

Collaboration at聽CREOL

This marks the second time the QSP group has been featured in a major research journal in the past year, after their recent feature in聽Nature Materials聽in 2025. Their discoveries聽demonstrated聽the use of a platform to precisely control the dissipation, or loss, of states of light, which in turn leads to robust topological properties.

This comes at a time that the Florida Alliance for Quantum Technology (FAQT),聽of which CREOL is a part of,聽is accelerating its industry outreach efforts with the goal of making Florida a leading hub for quantum technology. FAQT took center stage during the聽, which brought together leaders across academia,聽industry聽and government.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great boost of motivation,鈥� Blanco-Redondo says about the聽Science聽publication, adding that the potential exposure to the broader quantum community could bring a consequential boost to their initiative,聽especially as the CREOL faculty build momentum.聽Blanco-Redondo also leads聽CREOL鈥檚聽, which is聽focused on building shared facilities and enabling聽a聽collaborative environment to secure CREOL鈥檚 pioneering position in quantum optical science and applications. She also聽co-leads聽the聽.

鈥淲e are at a point in which we are joining forces,鈥� Blanco-Redondo says, 鈥淎nd we are starting to collaborate very closely, combining our expertise in different areas to build聽 quantum聽infrastructure and capabilities, which聽leverage our聽leading聽position in optics and photonics and give us a distinctive advantage.鈥�

This research was conducted by faculty, students and staff at 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL), including the Quantum Silicon Photonics research group. The work was funded by the National Science Foundation under their NSF ExpandQISE program (award No. 2328993).聽