Active Physics & Astronomy Chemistry

Heterogeneous Material Integrated MEMS/NEMS-Photonics Platform for Secure Communication (HetMEPS)

Funder UKRI
Recipient organisation University of Southampton
Funding £1.4M
Period Nov 2024 — Mar 2028

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

A Japanese and UK team will build a new type of optical chip that uses tiny moving mirrors and nanoscale patterns to scramble data, making it impossible for eavesdroppers to read. Today’s secure communications rely on mathematical encryption that could eventually be broken by powerful quantum computers. This project tackles that vulnerability by building security directly into the hardware. The researchers will combine silicon photonics—which moves data as light rather than electricity—with micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) that can physically reconfigure the chip’s optical circuits. They will also embed metasurfaces, ultra-thin patterned layers that manipulate light, to create an on-chip optical cryptography system that can be reprogrammed on demand. If successful, the platform could dramatically reduce the energy needed for secure data transmission while making it physically impossible to intercept. The same technology could also produce tunable single-photon sources, improving quantum random number generators—a key component for quantum-secure networks. The project uses an industrial 300-millimetre semiconductor production line, meaning any breakthroughs could be scaled to manufacturing quickly, potentially strengthening everything from financial transactions to national infrastructure against future cyber threats.

View original technical description
This Japan-UK collaboration will establish a novel heterogeneous material integrated MEMS/NEMS-Photonics platform for highly-secured ICT hardware, reducing energy consumption significantly. The lead applicant Tokyo Tech team have strong expertise on Si photonics and material integration technology, while Southampton can provide the state-of-the-art MEMS, NEMS and Metasurface technologies. Starting from the development of individual MEMS/NEMS-integrated photonics components, novel photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for secure communication will be demonstrated. The laboratory-level development will be combined with large-scale wafer process with industrial-level uniformity and spatial resolution by using the pilot 300-mm semiconductor process line available in collaboration with AIST. Metasurface-empowered optical cryptography scheme with reconfigurable functionality will be demonstrated for the first time on chip, taking semiconductor photonics technology to the next level. The project will also contribute to new development of tunable single photon source, leading to the improvement of quantum random number generators that is a key module for quantum secure communication. The ambition of the project is to initiate a new research field of on-chip optical secure communication and consequently take semiconductor research to the next level, with translation to industry in Japan and the UK.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Erisa Karafili (Co-Investigator)Jize Yan (Co-Investigator)Jun-Yu Ou (Co-Investigator)Yoshishige Tsuchiya (Principal Investigator)

Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

UK Silicon Photonics
Co-integration of microelectronics and integrated photonics for quantum technologies
Low noise, high-throughput, time-resolved single-photon sensor for quantum applications
An ultra-fast ultra-broadband photonic measurement facility
The Physics and Technology of Photonic Metadevices and Metasystems

Original classification

Research and Innovation

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.