We investigate the excitation of quantum plasmonic states of light in graphene using end-fire and prism coupling. In order to model the excitation process quantum mechanically, we quantize the transverse-electric and transverse-magnetic surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes in graphene. A selection of regimes are then studied that enable the excitation of SPPs by photons and we show that efficient coupling of photons to graphene SPPs is possible at the quantum level. Furthermore, we study the excitation of quantum states and their propagation under the effects of loss induced from the electronic degrees of freedom in the graphene. Here we investigate whether it is possible to protect quantum information using quantum-error correction techniques. We find that these techniques provide a robust-to-loss method for transferring quantum states of light in graphene over large distances.
We investigate the excitation of quantum plasmonic states of light in graphene using end-fire and prism coupling. In order to model the excitation process quantum mechanically, we quantize the transverse-electric and transverse-magnetic surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes in graphene. A selection of regimes are then studied that enable the excitation of SPPs by photons and we show that efficient coupling of photons to graphene SPPs is possible at the quantum level. Furthermore, we study the excitation of quantum states and their propagation under the effects of loss induced from the electronic degrees of freedom in the graphene. Here we investigate whether it is possible to protect quantum information using quantum-error correction techniques. We find that these techniques provide a robust-to-loss method for transferring quantum states of light in graphene over large distances.
We propose a scheme for achieving quantum entanglement between surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) modes in a hybrid plasmonic-graphene waveguide system. We then demonstrate that the entanglement of two SPP modes can serve as a useful resource for quantum communication of continuous-variable light signals over a long distance, mediated by concatenated swap operations. The teleportation fidelity of an unknown coherent state has strong robustness to loss and imperfect detection at relatively strong effective optical-microwave coupling. Our study opens the way for continuous-variable quantum communication and quantum information based on hybrid plasmonic-graphene systems.
In this paper, we review the theory of open quantum systems and macroscopic quantum electrodynamics, providing a self-contained account of many aspects of these two theories. The former is presented in the context of a qubit coupled to a electromagnetic thermal bath, the latter is presented in the context of a quantization scheme for surface-plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in graphene based on Langevin noise currents. This includes a calculation of the dyadic Green’s function (in the electrostatic limit) for a Graphene sheet between two semi-infinite linear dielectric media, and its subsequent application to the construction of SPP creation and annihilation operators. We then bring the two fields together and discuss the entanglement of two qubits in the vicinity of a graphene sheet which supports SPPs. The two qubits communicate with each other via the emission and absorption of SPPs. We find that a Schrödinger cat state involving the two qubits can be partially protected from decoherence by taking advantage of the dissipative dynamics in graphene. A comparison is also drawn between the dynamics at zero temperature, obtained via Schrödinger’s equation, and at finite temperature, obtained using the Lindblad equation.
Plasmonics offers sub-diffraction confinement of light, which affords enhanced coupling to emitter systems (e.g.quantum dots).This feature makes possible a range of on-chip quantum photonic components -most notably single-photon sources and switches.This potential use of plasmonics, along with the nonlinearity provided by emitter systems, opens up quantum plasmonics as a viable route to realising quantum information processing.In this setting, the excitation of single surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on waveguides via single photons and the confirmation of single-photon states upon output is an important goal.In the work reported here, plasmonic waveguides were experimentally probed with single photons.A measurement of the secondorder quantum coherence function yielded a value of g (2) (0) = 0.160 ± 0.002.A value less than 0.5 is indicative of single-excitation states.Furthermore, to confirm successful SPP excitation, the transverse-magnetic mode restriction and exponential decay of SPPs were verified.Having firmly established the ability to probe plasmonic waveguides in the classical and quantum regimes, quantum random number generation was implemented using a plasmonic beam splitter.The random bit sequences produced passed the NIST Statisitical Test Suite once post-processed to correct for a slightly asymmetric beamsplitter.
Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are collective excitations of free electrons propagating along a metal-dielectric interface. Although some basic quantum properties of SPPs, such as the preservation of entanglement, the wave-particle duality of a single plasmon, the quantum interference of two plasmons, and the verification of entanglement generation, have been shown, more advanced quantum information protocols have yet to be demonstrated with SPPs. Here, we experimentally realize quantum state teleportation between single photons and SPPs. To achieve this, we use polarization-entangled photon pairs, coherent photon-plasmon-photon conversion on a metallic subwavelength hole array, complete Bell-state measurements and an active feed-forward technique. The results of both quantum state and quantum process tomography confirm the quantum nature of the SPP mediated teleportation. An average state fidelity of [Formula: see text] and a process fidelity of [Formula: see text], which are well above the classical limit, are achieved. Our work shows that SPPs may be useful for realizing complex quantum protocols in a photonic-plasmonic hybrid quantum network.
We propose a novel approach for microwave and optical fields entanglement using an electrical capacitor loaded with graphene plasmonic waveguide. In the proposed scheme, a quantum microwave signal of frequency ωmdrives the electrical capacitor, while an intensive optical field (optical pump) of frequency ω1is launched to the graphene waveguide as a surface plasmon polariton (i.e., SPP) mode. The two fields interact by the means of electrically modulating the graphene optical conductivity. It then follows that an upper and lower SPP sideband modes (of ω2= ω1+ ωmand ω3= ω1- ωmfrequencies, respectively) are generated. We show that the microwave signal and the lower sideband SPP mode are entangled, for a proper optical intensity. A quantum mechanics model is carried out to describe the fields evolution. Furthermore, novel iterative approach (based on combining the Duan criterion with the quantum regression theorem) is developed to assess the fields entanglement. Consequently, the entanglement of the two fields is evaluated versus several parameters including the waveguide length, the pump intensity, and the microwave frequency. We find that the two fields are entangled over a vast microwave frequency range. Moreover, our calculations show that a significant number of entangled photons are generated at the lower SPP sideband. The proposed scheme attains tunable mechanism for microwave-optical entanglement which paves the way for efficient quantum systems.
We develop a microscopic quantum theory of surface plasmon polaritons valid for arbitrary metal-dielectric geometries. Our framework is based on the Power-Zienau-Woolley representation of quantum electrodynamics, which provides an optimal separation between electronic and photonic degrees of freedom and is therefore particularly well suited for constructing quantum descriptions of polaritonic excitations in strongly dispersive media. Within this formulation, the fundamental electronic oscillator is identified as the bulk plasmon mode, which is nonperturbatively coupled to the radiative continuum of free photon modes. This coupling induces a geometry-dependent renormalization of the bulk plasma frequency, giving rise to confined plasmonic resonances. As specific applications, we recover the localized surface plasmon modes of metallic nanoparticles, including radiative frequency shifts and decay, as well as the exact dispersion relation of propagating surface plasmon polaritons at planar interfaces. Our quantum treatment further reveals that light-matter interactions at metal-dielectric interfaces are inherently in the ultrastrong coupling regime. As a result, in the quasistatic limit, the system exhibits unconventional ground-state quantum fluctuations that can be controlled through the refractive index. These results open new intriguing perspectives in the field of quantum plasmonics.