Article in Nature

Aljaž Kavčič and doc. dr. Matjaž Humar from the Laboratory for biological and soft photonics, Department of Condensed Matter Physics, along with dr. Nerea Sebastian from the Department of Complex Matter at the “Jožef Stefan” Institute, in collaboration with colleagues from the “Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Light”, have published an article in Nature titled Tuneable entangled photon pair generation in a liquid crystal. In their work, they, for the first time, demonstrate the generation of entangled photons in liquid crystals and, with this, in any organic material. In addition to the fact that the efficiency of entangled photon generation in liquid crystals is comparable to the best existing sources, their main advantage lies in the tunability of the state of photon pairs. This tunability can be achieved by applying an electric field or by arranging the liquid crystal molecules into the appropriate configuration. The ability to tune the quantum state indicates significant practical potential for numerous quantum technologies. A summary of the research can also be viewed in a short video.