Abstract:
Information technology is entering an exciting era where counterintuitive quantum concepts could change the rules of computing, communications, and sensing. Yet, it is still unknown how quantum technology could become as omnipresent and versatile as its classical counterparts. For instance, quantum computers remain bulky, reminiscent of the vacuum-tube era before semiconductor integration and scaling started improving classical technologies exponentially for decades. I will overview the key integration and scaling challenges current quantum technologies must address to exit the ‘vacuum-tube-era’ and how this goal is intertwined with semiconductors becoming quantum ready. Especially, I will outline a semiconductor quantum-optics theory that could guide experiments to solve both of these grand challenges. I will then present several quantitative theory–experiment comparisons, revealing how quantum information is transferred from photons into semiconductors, how to apply lightwave electronics to flip a valleytronic qubit in less than 5 femtoseconds, and how crystal-momentum combs enable super-resolution imaging of operational quantum-material properties. These insights could enable ultrafast access and control of electronic quantum information in semiconductors, possibly at petahertz rates.