Devon Biggerstaff

Devon Biggerstaff

U.S. Fulbright Postgraduate Scholar

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“Applications of peculiar quantum properties promise unprecedented capabilities in communication and information processing, specifically in the use of quantum entanglement for complete secure messaging or for exponentially-fast ‘quantum computation'.”

Devon Biggerstaff is one of fourteen Americans to be granted a Fulbright Postgraduate Award in 2006. Devon will undertake research at the University of Queensland implementing and characterising novel methods for creating entangled photons for use in experimental quantum optics and quantum computing.

Devon graduated from the University of Puget Sound with majors in physics and ‘science, technology and society'. In Australia, he will be based at the University of Queensland's Centre for Quantum Computing Technology. Working under Professor Andrew White, Devon will undertake a study into the use of novel crystals with strong accessible optical nonlinearities for creating highly stable and efficient sources of entangled photons, or particles of light whose properties exhibit strong non-classical correlations.

The field of quantum optics, or the study of the quantum nature of light, has proven especially well suited to certain applications and studies in quantum information because entanglement between pairs of photons is relatively easy to produce and robust when compared to other quantum systems.

“The Australian government has adopted a policy of emphasising small-scale research such as quantum optics as opposed to ‘big science areas' like particle accelerators. The generous funding into research of quantum information and support of institutions such as the Centre for Quantum Computing Technology has ensured that Australia is an international powerhouse in the fields of quantum optics and quantum information physics,” Devon stated.

Quantum information processing and optical quantum computing holds great technological promise. According to Professor White, “…the key physical technological advances of this century will be due to quantum technologies. Quantum technologies will perform tasks that are impossible with classical technology, such as absolutely secure messaging, exponentially fast computation, super-resolution sensing, exponentially large capacity communication, and minimal disturbance measurement.”

Devon hopes that the results of his research into highly-stable and highly-efficient means of producing entangled photons will prove useful to researchers in optical quantum computation.