Our work focuses on:
- tunable sources of single photons integrated to photonic circuits,
- integration of 2D materials into photonic circuits for new functionalities and efficiency gains,
- development of control electronics for programmable photonic circuits for quantum information,
- new architectures and algorithms for programmable photonic circuits with applications in quantum information and artificial intelligence.
National research institutes (INCTs)
What is an INCT? The National Institutes of Science and Technology (Institutos Nacionais de Ciência e Tecnologia, INCTs) are large research networks created by a national program launched in 2008 by the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and CNPq, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development. CAPES and state funding agencies later joined the program. An INCT is not a single building: it links a host institution with laboratories and groups at other universities and research centres around a strategic theme, and funds research, infrastructure, the training of students and young researchers, and international cooperation. INCTs are selected in competitive national calls; the most recent call, in 2024, approved 143 new institutes.
I take part in three INCTs as a member:
- INCT of Applied Quantum Computing (INCT-CQA), since 2026. A network that aims at achieving quantum advantage through artificial-intelligence methods. Among its goals are the development of a national photonic chip for processing machine-learning algorithms, classical or quantum, and the training of PhD, Master’s and undergraduate students in quantum computing and AI.
- Within INCT-CQA, our group leads a research project about recirculating programmable interferometers, together with other researchers from Unicamp, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, and University of Rochester.
- INCT of Quantum Devices (INCT-DQ), since 2026. A national institute dedicated to developing devices for quantum technologies.
- At INCT-DQ our objective is to advance the study of the properties of 2D materials which can contribute to a new generation of photonic devices for quantum information.
- INCT NAMITEC – Nano and Microelectronics for Enabling Technologies, since 2022. A broad collaboration network on micro- and nanofabrication for enabling technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and advanced materials. Its devices include integrated photonics and qubits, and it works with industry and with international centres such as IMEC, CEA/LETI and NXP Semiconductors.
- In this INCT our role is to advance studies about the heterogeneous integration of 2D materials to photonic devices for quantum and AI applications.
Past funded projects
- Development of a controller for photonic quantum information processors (2022–2026, CNPq; principal investigator). We built a prototype controller for programmable integrated interferometers, which can serve as photonic quantum information processors. It acts on the phase modulators that program the interferometer, and includes calibration routines and the conversion of the user’s program into the phase applied by each modulator.
- 2D heterostructures for integrated on-demand single-photon sources (2019–2023, US Air Force Office of Scientific Research; principal investigator). We aimed to fabricate single-photon sources integrated into planar photonic circuits, with photons emitted by 2D-material heterostructures and mechanical stress used to induce single-photon emitting regions.