2026 Winter Webinar: Integrated Photonics Platforms for Quantum Networks (Level 3)

Presenters: Marko Lončar and Guanhao Huang January 7, 2026 This course offered at level 3 provides a survey of the latest advances in several popular material platforms for integrated photonics with a focus on their relevance to the development of long-distance quantum networks. Platforms addressed in this course will include silicon, silicon nitride, aluminum nitride, lithium niobate, III-V semiconductors, etc. The course will highlight key performance metrics of components for photonic control that have been demonstrated on each platform. Additionally, the state of source and detector integration in each platform will also be addressed. Components of particular interest to quantum networking applications, such as single photon detectors and sources, will be discussed in detail. Time and interest permitting, instructors will discuss key existing challenges, such as material quality and fabrication limitations, for select platforms, and highlight opportunities for further development/work. Prerequisites: Exposure to undergraduate electromagnetism, semiconductor device physics, and quantum mechanics. Both sessions on Jan 5 (Raymer and Sansavini; Guha and Richardson) are recommended as a quantum optics review and for a big picture introduction to quantum networks. The afternoon session on Jan 8 (Jenkins and Wallis) is also recommended, since there will likely be some overlap with the network hardware components covered in that course.