Quantum and Integrated Photonic Technologies for Advanced Optical Sensing

Dear Colleagues,

The convergence of quantum and integrated photonic technologies is driving a new era in optical sensing, enabling unprecedented sensitivity, miniaturization, and compatibility with scalable manufacturing. Quantum photonics leverages nonclassical states of light, such as entangled photons and squeezed states, to surpass classical limits of measurement precision and detection bandwidth. When combined with silicon and heterogeneous photonic integration, these quantum-enhanced sensing capabilities can be realized in compact, robust devices suitable for real‑world deployment. Integrated photonics provides scalable platforms for manipulating and routing light on chip-scale circuits, integrating sources, detectors, and modulators with high stability and low power consumption. This synergy enables diverse sensing modalities, including interferometric, thermometric, and biochemical sensing, with improved signal-to-noise ratio and faster data processing. Advances in nanofabrication, low-loss waveguides, and on-chip quantum light sources are pushing toward chip-scale quantum sensors that operate at room temperature and can be mass-produced. The resulting sensors hold promise for environmental monitoring, healthcare diagnostics, industrial automation, and defense. As research progresses, challenges remain in system integration, noise management, and standardization, but the trajectory toward practical, high-performance quantum-integrated photonic sensors is clear and compelling.

Dr. Yuan Li
Guest Editor

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