Bullseye! NIST Devises a Method to Accurately Center Quantum Dots Within Photonic Chips

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and colleagues from the Joint Quantum Institute, a research partnership between NIST and the University of Maryland, have developed standards and calibrations for optical microscopes that allow quantum dots to be aligned with the center of a photonic component to within an error of 10 to 20 nanometers. Such alignment is critical for chip-scale devices that employ the radiation emitted by quantum dots to store and transmit quantum information.