Photonics Are Bringing Computing and Communications into the Quantum Future: Advancements in Photonic Technology

The landscape of computing and communications is changing rapidly, with advances in AI and the looming threat of quantum decryption. Advanced photonics has the agility and performance to bring quantum-enabled solutions to these problems, without the need for room-sized systems or cryogenics. Analog quantum computers offer near-term solutions that have shown promise in rapid and accurate solutions of optimization problems, which touch many disciplines, including finance, defense operations, and bioengineering. Meanwhile, quantum communications are based on the inherent security of photonic qubits, which can transmit information rapidly and safely. Large financial institutions are already investigating its implementation alongside updates like post-quantum cryptography.

The backbone of all of this technology is high-performance photonic circuits fabricated from thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN). TFLN’s high nonlinearity provides the interaction between photons needed to enable quantum computing and the quantum processes that provide high-throughput entangled photons, truly random number generation, and everything else needed to revolutionize computing and communications for the quantum future.

About the presenter
Pouya Dianat, Ph.D., is the chief revenue officer at Quantum Computing Inc. (QCi), bringing over 18 years of experience in the photonics industry, with a strong focus on the commercialization of photonic technologies. His expertise spans more than a decade in advancing photonic solutions, underpinned by eight years of graduate research in the field.

Prior to his current role, Dianat served as director of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and foundry services at QCi, where he led the commercialization of the company’s thin-film lithium niobate technology beginning in July 2024. From 2018 to 2021, he was chief technology officer at Nanograss Solar LLC, a company specializing in high-speed photodetectors. Between 2021 and 2022, he served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Drexel University while working as a scientist at Princeton Infrared Technologies, which developed advanced infrared camera systems.

From March 2022 to July 2023, Dianat was a senior photonics engineer at Optogration, a Luminar Company, where he led business development, commercialization efforts, and scale-up of photonic detector chips for automotive LIDAR applications. Most recently, from 2023 to 2024, he was the market expert and director of PIC and quantum technologies at OPTICA, a leading global optics and photonics society.