PAQNet - Packaging Advancements for Quantum Networks

A new consortium is building a standardised, plug-and-play packaging system for quantum photonic chips, aiming to turn fragile lab prototypes into reliable, mass-producible components. Quantum photonic integrated circuits (QPICs) process single particles of light to perform tasks like secure communication and computation. But these chips are notoriously difficult to connect to optical fibres and other hardware—current packaging is hand-assembled, lossy, and inconsistent. This project brings together six partners from industry and academia to solve that bottleneck. They will develop a repeatable, low-loss packaging service that includes custom components, design templates, and improved coupling processes. If successful, the work will directly accelerate two key quantum technologies: quantum key distribution (QKD) for unhackable communications, and entanglement distribution for future quantum networks. Today, these systems are bulky and expensive. Reliable packaging could shrink them to plug-in modules, making secure quantum links practical for data centres, financial networks, and government infrastructure. The project does not aim to discover new quantum phenomena—it solves the engineering challenge of getting quantum light out of the chip and into the real world.