A device smaller than a grain of dust may help unlock the kind of quantum computers people have only dreamed about. Built on a standard microchip and almost 100 times thinner than a human hair, this new component gives scientists precise control over laser light using a fraction of the power older tools need. The work comes from a team led by Jake Freedman, an incoming PhD student in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, professor Matt Eichenfield, the Karl Gustafson Endowed Chair in Quantum Engineering, and collaborators at Sandia National Laboratories, including co-senior author Nils Otterstrom. Together, they designed an optical phase modulator that is not just tiny, but practical to manufacture at scale. Instead of building a delicate, custom device in a specialized lab, they used the same industrial process that makes chips for laptops, phones, cars and even home appliances. That choice turns an advanced research idea into something that could one day be produced by the millions. Design of the CMOS-fabricated, resonantly enhanced acousto-optic modulator. (CREDIT: Nature Communications) Why …