Silicon Light Machines and Infleqtion Aid Quantum Computer Performance The leading neutral atom-based quantum technology business Infleqtion announced a strategic agreement with Silicon Light Machines (SLM), a Silicon Valley pioneer in MEMS. Silicon Light Machines' MEMS Displacement Phase Modulator (DPM) technology will be combined with Infleqtion's neutral atom quantum computing devices. This integration should enable quantum computer scalability and unprecedented performance advancements.

Quantum Computing Accuracy and Speed Improvement

Collaboration centers on SLM's Displacement Phase Modulator (DPM) technology. A non-contact ribbon or piston guides and shapes laser beams in the DPM optical phase modulator.

SLM's DPM uses SiGe MEMS. Integrating high-speed, non-contact piston phase modulators onto CMOS drivers improves reliability and performance. These advances enable faster phase modulation for advanced quantum applications like individual qubit addressing, optical multiplexing, and scalable laser processing. DPM technology

Silicon Light Machines (SLM) designed the Displacement Phase Modulator (DPM) to modulate and regulate light phase utilizing a high-performance MEMS architecture. The DPM steers and shapes laser beams for industrial, medical, and consumer applications utilizing non-contact ribbon or piston optical phase modulators.

SLM's Light Valve devices use thin-film MEMS technology, which is ideal for ultra-fast phase modulators with high power handling. Phase modulation (Piston Method)

DPM uses piston phase modulation, a simple method.

Displacement: An applied voltage electrostatically activates the modulators' reflecting ribbons or faceplates. The reflective surface "displaces" with this voltage. Phase Delay: This displacement changes the incident light's trip distance compared to its quiescent state. Technology is used for analog phase modulation. Displacement directly affects phase modulation. Careful voltage regulation changes light phase. MEMS devices' inherent piston modulation allows analog phase modulation, with only the electronic driver's bit-depth limiting phase resolution.

Phase modulation at normal incidence requires a half-wavelength deflection. This maximum deflection enables “phase-wrap,” which provides total holographic control for most applications.

Deflection, wavelength, and incidence angle effect phase delay. If the angle of incidence is not normal, greater deflection is needed since the cosine diminishes axial phase modulation.

Present DPM devices support UV to green wavelengths. Red NIR devices up to 1550 nm are being developed. The simple piston technique can use many wavelengths, but only one at a time. Main Benefits The DPM design's speed, power management, and dependability make it suitable for demanding applications: High Speed: Due to their short stroke, high tension, and low mass, 1D phase micro-ribbons can switch in under 300 ns. One thousand times faster than liquid crystal spatial light modulators and more than 10 times faster than DMD tilt mirrors. Switching rates beyond 200 kHz are conceivable even with larger 2D piston pixels. The 1D phase modulator uses the same durable silicon-nitride as the Grating Light Valve, giving it unsurpassed power handling. GLVs are used in harsh industrial applications with incident powers of 80W per device and power densities of 10 kW/cm2. Non-contact Dependability: Non-contact ribbon and piston DPM devices do not require packaging lubrication. This feature boosts reliability, especially in high-fluence UV applications. Uses DPM is preferred in many technological fields due to its fast and accurate phase control. Quantum Computing: DPM technique for neutral atom quantum computers enables scalable, accurate, and fast optical control. It allows laser-based optical tweezers to manipulate hundreds of trapped atoms. Powerful features like error correction and mid-circuit testing require speed and accuracy. Wavefront control and beam shaping: DPM offers flexible modulation for accurate beam shaping. It can be used as a Fraunhofer or Fourier holographic projector or a 4F programmable filter. Due to technical advances, phase modulators like DPM are increasingly more popular in material processing, sensing, and medicine. DPMs are used in beamforming for LiFi and FSO networks.

Scaling Neutral Atom Systems

Infleqtion neutral atom quantum computers use laser-based optical tweezers to manipulate thousands of trapped atoms. High-fidelity, high-speed operations on large qubit devices are facilitated by this architecture. The device also enables dual-species arrays for low-overhead mid-circuit measurement and effective error correction for scalable, fault-tolerant computation. DPM technology integration is calculated to improve photonics elements needed to scale Infleqtion's neutral atom quantum computer.

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