Quantum Processors in Silicon Photonics

Machines that can exploit their hardware to process quantum information can solve certain problems exponentially faster than purely classical (conventional) computers. To harness the potentially groundbreaking applications of quantum computers, these machines will be required to control and process quantum systems at a very large scale, potentially involving millions of high-quality quantum information carriers. While a number of challenges must be overcome before silicon photonics can support quantum computing at scale, the capabilities of mature semiconductor fabrication process to integrate large quantum photonic circuits on single devices, means this is a promising and emerging platform for quantum information processing. In this chapter, we will review recent results in developing key building blocks for chip-scale photonic quantum devices and discuss the progress towards useful large-scale quantum computers in the silicon quantum photonics platform.