April 14, 2026 -- Kejie Fang, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering, has received a 2 year, $2 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a wavelength-agile entangled photon source (WAEPS) using nonlinear photonic integrated circuits.

Awarded under the Heterogeneous Architectures for Quantum (HARQ) program, Fang’s project will combine a primary entangled photon source based on InGaP nanophotonic waveguides and a quantum frequency converter using periodically poled thin-film lithium niobate waveguides. This approach will enable high-performance quantum interconnects between a variety of quantum devices, including atomic quantum processors and quantum memories.

HARQ’s mission is to transform the way quantum computing systems are designed and scaled by establishing a new heterogeneous quantum computing paradigm that eliminates the constraints of homogeneous, single-qubit platforms. Fang’s project will support this initiative by overcoming current limitations to achieve high photon generation rates, high fidelity and flexible wavelength conversion.

“A quantum interconnect like this is crucial for memory-enhanced quantum information processing and is a fundamental building block in many quantum repeater architectures,” Fang said. “Our project will facilitate HARQ’s goal by providing entangled photon sources with flexible wavelengths to link heterogeneous quantum systems.”