Silverstone group (Big Photon Lab)
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Dr Joshua Silverstone
UKRI Future leaders Fellow
Research interests and activities
Large-scale quantum devices—quantum computers and simulators, sensing and communication networks—need a large variety of new optical technology. The Big Photon Lab, within Bristol’s QET Labs, is working to develop this underpinning technology and overcome barriers to building big quantum photonics. Our approach uses mass-manufacturable, miniature, and reliable silicon waveguides, carrying low-loss mid-infrared light (big photons), and integrates these with bespoke electronic control. Our work spans from the development of quantum computer architectures to the microscopic details of photonic and transistor design.
We develop components and integrate them into systems:
- Photon-pair sources
- Electro-optic modulators
- Single-photon detectors
- Large interferometers
- Electronic control systems
We design architecture that puts our components to use, and which helps us understand where the weakest building blocks lie.
Major research topics
- Quantum Photonics
- Nonlinear Optics
- Mid-infrared Optics
- Quantum Computer Architecture
- Silicon Photonics
Current postdocs and research fellows
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Dr Jeremy Adcock
Senior Research Associate
Current PhD students
- Samuel Gears
- Marija Radulovic
- Aidan Higgins
- Dario Quintero Dominguez
Previous PhD students
- Jake Biele
- Lawrence Rosenfeld
- Ben Sayers
- Sebastian Currie
- Quinn Palmer
Grants
- 2020-24: UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship
- 2018-20: Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship
- 2017: JSPS Short Term Fellowship
Recent publications
- L.M. Rosenfeld, D.A. Sulway, G.F. Sinclair, V. Anant, M.G. Thompson, J.G. Rarity, and J.W. Silverstone, "Mid-infrared quantum optics in silicon", Opt. Express 28, 37092-37102 (2020)
- J.W. Silverstone, D. Bonneau, J.L. O’Brien, and M.G. Thompson, “Silicon Quantum Photonics”, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 22, 6, 390 - 402 (2016)
- J.C. Adcock, C. Vigliar, R. Santagati, J.W. Silverstone, M.J. Thompson, “Programmable four-photon graph states on a silicon chip”, Nat. Commun. 10, 3528 (2019)
- J.C. Adcock, S. Morley-Short, J.W. Silverstone, M.G. Thompson, “Hard limits on the postselectability of optical graph states”, Quantum Sci. Technol. 4, 015010 (2019)
Contact me
The Big Photon Lab is always on the look out for motivated, out-of-the-box thinkers. Get in touch for PhD and postdoc opportunities with us.