This article was first published in the CNRS – La lettre Innovation in March 2018, under « Start-up ».
Based on a lithography technique developed at the Centre de nanosciences et de nanotechnologies, Quandela manufactures and delivers sources of light delivering a single photon at each pulse. Its products are of interest to academia and industry in the fields of quantum computation and cryptography, and more broadly for research in quantum physics.
For several years, researchers at the Centre de nanosciences et de nanotechnologies (Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology) – C2N1 have been developing a lithography technique that makes it possible to produce a quantum dot based emitter of single photons - a single photon per pulse. These sources of light, which operate at a cryogenic temperature, have the advantage of emitting single photons with very high efficiency and with identical characteristics, making them a tool of choice for researchers of quantum photonics in academia and industry. They are of interest for both the emerging field of quantum computers and the field of perfectly secure quantum telecommunications. The start-up Quandela, issued from the Centre de nanosciences et de nanotechnologies, was founded in June 2017 to provide sources of light for these applications and more broadly to develop the building blocks for quantum technologies.
A prematuration program, funded by the CNRS and Labex NanoSaclay, led to a robust and reproducible manufacturing process. The goal was also to work on the integration of the transmitter component on an optical fiber, which requires a precision of alignment to the tenth of a micron. These studies will create a next generation of "plug-and-play" sources: users will no longer need to mount a complex optical system to collect the emitted photons, which should help commercializing to a widespread these sources. "Thanks to this program, the founders2, researchers from the laboratory, were also able to follow HEC Challenge Plus classes to learn about entrepreneurship" says Valerian Giesz, CEO of Quandela. The start-up registered its first order at the end of 2017, from a research laboratory abroad.
Quandela manufactures its components and continues its development by renting premises and using equipment from the Centre de nanosciences et de nanotechnologies. The company plans eventually to invest in its own equipment, in order to increase its production and development capacity. It plans to open its capital at the end of 2018.
1 CNRS / Université Paris-Sud
2 Valerian Giesz, CEO of Quandela; Pascale Senellart, Scientific Advisor (Senior CNRS researcher at C2N) and Niccolo Somaschi, CTO of Quandela.
Contact : Valerian Giesz, Quandela / Pascale Senellart, CNRS
