Programme: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)

In this project we will develop building blocks of a fully deterministic quantum photonics framework in the microwave frequency domain. By exploiting the unique properties of superconducting circuits, we focus on the realization of (i) deterministic photon-photon entangling gates , (ii) sources of cluster states, and (iii)  quantum memories to absorb, store and relieve photons with a controllable time delay. Furthermore, we will advance the development of microwave single photon detectors. The realization of each of these elements addresses fundamental aspects of quantum optics, in particular the interaction, detection and entanglement between individual propagating photons. Furthermore, we expect networks of these elements to enable the generation of two-dimensional cluster states -- a genuine resource for universal quantum computation. As such, the developed experimental framework opens a path towards the exploration of various concepts of quantum information processing, including one-way quantum computing, error correction, quantum repeaters, boson sampling, time-delayed feedback and variational quantum algorithms based on tensor network states.