Certifying the Presence of a Photonic Qubit by Splitting It in Two
Evan Meyer-Scott, Daniel J. McCloskey, Klaudia Gołos, Jeff Z. Salvail, Kent Bonsma-Fisher, Deny R. Hamel, Adán Cabello, Kevin J. Resch, Thomas D. Jennewein
We present an implementation of photonic qubit precertification that performs the delicate task of detecting the presence of a flying photon without destroying its qubit state, allowing loss-sensitive quantum cryptography and tests of nonlocality even over long distance. By splitting an incoming single photon in two via parametric down-conversion, we herald the photon's arrival from an independent photon source while preserving its quantum information with up to (92.3±0.6)% fidelity. With reduced detector dark counts, precertification will be immediately useful in quantum communication.
We present an implementation of photonic qubit precertification that performs the delicate task of detecting the presence of a flying photon without destroying its qubit state, allowing loss-sensitive quantum cryptography and tests of nonlocality even over long distance. By splitting an incoming single photon in two via parametric down-conversion, we herald the photon's arrival from an independent photon source while preserving its quantum information with up to (92.3±0.6)% fidelity. With reduced detector dark counts, precertification will be immediately useful in quantum communication.
Quantum communication attempts to harness the unique rules of quantum mechanics to perform communication tasks that are difficult or impossible using classical rules. To realize these benefits, information must be carried on quantum systems. Photons make excellent carriers because they interact very little with the environment, move quickly, and can naturally store quantum information in their polarization. However, it is notoriously difficult to detect a single photon without destroying it. Standard detectors simply absorb the photon, losing the quantum information. This is a critical outstanding problem in quantum communication, as advanced protocols need to know exactly when a photon has arrived at a receiver after transmission through the atmosphere or an optical fibre before performing further quantum-information-processing tasks. Certifying a photon’s presence is of particular interest in tests of Bell’s inequalities, which have only recently been performed without loopholes arising from photon loss, and in device-independent quantum cryptography, which relies on such Bell tests for security. \n \nIn this thesis, I first present work on directly reducing losses in a successful loophole-free Bell test. This is an extremely difficult task that cannot be extended for long-distance communication. Therefore I then focus on ways to circumvent loss by detecting photons without destroying them while preserving their quantum information. First I analyze theoretically a way to herald photons using only linear-optical elements (beam splitters and phase shifters) and extra ancilla photons. Similar but older methods have been demonstrated experimentally by other groups, and my improvements will help future advanced quantum communication protocols. \n \nThe main experiment in this thesis certifies the presence of a photon in a rather simple way: split the photon into two using a nonlinear optical crystal, then detect one of the pair to herald the other. I show in this first proof-of-principle experiment that photonic qubit precertification indeed preserves qubit states, with up to (92.3 ± 0.6)% fidelity and rates of 1100 events per hour. With reductions in detector dark counts, precertification could outperform direct transmission, even with extremely lossy fibre links. \n \nFinally, I present two sources of photons based on nonlinearities in optical fibres. One of the limitations of the photon splitting scheme for heralding is the low success probability due to the very low likelihood of splitting a photon in two. In these fibre photon sources I investigate increasing the splitting likelihood in four-wave mixing through advanced materials and fibre designs. I use polarization-maintaining fibres to generate entangled photon pairs as a prerequisite to precertification, with (92.2 ± 0.2)% fidelity to a maximally-entangled state. Then I show that one type of highly nonlinear chalcogenide glass, never before used for photon pair generation, could outperform standard nonlinear crystals by two orders of magnitude, with calculated conversion efficiency up to 10^-3. To approach the single photon regime, I generate photon pairs in chalcogenide microwires with pump powers as low as 480 nW and verify their timing correlations. \n \nThese advances demonstrate the capability of nondestructive precertification of photons to allow advanced quantum communications protocols even over long distance, and could lead to the first implementations of fully device-independent quantum cryptography.
Abstract One of the biggest challenges in experimental quantum information is to sustain the fragile superposition state of a qubit1. Long lifetimes can be achieved for material qubit carriers as memories2, at least in principle, but not for propagating photons that are rapidly lost by absorption, diffraction or scattering3. The loss problem can be mitigated with a nondestructive photonic qubit detector that heralds the photon without destroying the encoded qubit. Such a detector is envisioned to facilitate protocols in which distributed tasks depend on the successful dissemination of photonic qubits4,5, improve loss-sensitive qubit measurements6,7 and enable certain quantum key distribution attacks8. Here we demonstrate such a detector based on a single atom in two crossed fibre-based optical resonators, one for qubit-insensitive atom–photon coupling and the other for atomic-state detection9. We achieve a nondestructive detection efficiency upon qubit survival of 79 ± 3 per cent and a photon survival probability of 31 ± 1 per cent, and we preserve the qubit information with a fidelity of 96.2 ± 0.3 per cent. To illustrate the potential of our detector, we show that it can, with the current parameters, improve the rate and fidelity of long-distance entanglement and quantum state distribution compared to previous methods, provide resource optimization via qubit amplification and enable detection-loophole-free Bell tests.
Abstract One of the biggest challenges in experimental quantum information is to sustain the fragile superposition state of a qubit1. Long lifetimes can be achieved for material qubit carriers as memories2, at least in principle, but not for propagating photons that are rapidly lost by absorption, diffraction or scattering3. The loss problem can be mitigated with a nondestructive photonic qubit detector that heralds the photon without destroying the encoded qubit. Such a detector is envisioned to facilitate protocols in which distributed tasks depend on the successful dissemination of photonic qubits4, 5, improve loss-sensitive qubit measurements6, 7 and enable certain quantum key distribution attacks8. Here we demonstrate such a detector based on a single atom in two crossed fibre-based optical resonators, one for qubit-insensitive atom–photon coupling and the other for atomic-state detection9. We achieve a nondestructive detection efficiency upon qubit survival of 79 ± 3 per cent and a photon survival probability of 31 ± 1 per cent, and we preserve the qubit information with a fidelity of 96.2 ± 0.3 per cent. To illustrate the potential of our detector, we show that it can, with the current parameters, improve the rate and fidelity of long-distance entanglement and quantum state distribution compared to previous methods, provide resource optimization via qubit amplification and enable detection-loophole-free Bell tests.
We present two types of photon sources designed for secure quantum communication, e.g. for quantum cryptography. Both types are based on the creation of photon pairs by spontaneous parametric downconversion in nonlinear crystals. The first is a heralded single photon source and the second is a source of polarization-entangled photon pairs. For the heralded single photon source the detection of one of the photons of a downconversion pair is used as a trigger to announce the presence of the other: the single photon. The source is characterized by a highly sub-Poisson photon number statistics making it very suitable for use in quantum cryptography protocols using single photonic qubits to create correlated information between a sender and a receiver. The entanglement source instead uses the inherent non-classical correlations between entangled qubits. We also present a hybrid-encoding where the sender uses polarization to encode information while the receiver uses time-bins. Both sources create photons with highly non-degenerate wavelengths of 810 nm and 1550 nm, taking advantage of the efficient detectors at near-infrared and the low transmission loss of optical fibers at telecommunication wavelengths.
At the heart of quantum physics lies the principle of superposition, and at the heart of information theory lies the bit. Perhaps the most useful property of quantum systems is that they can be loaded with information bits, so-called qubits, that are indefinitely both 0 and 1 until a measurement is made. Another consequence is that several qubits can become entangled, which is manifested by the non-classical correlations between such quantum systems when measured in all possible bases. Within the rapidly progressing fields of quantum information and quantum communication these quantum effects are utilized to perform tasks such as quantum computing and quantum cryptography. In this thesis we present experimental and theoretical work using single photon sources to prepare ``flying'' photonic qubits. We describe work using mainly quasi-phase-matched nonlinear crystals to generate beams of entangled photon pairs, that are either encoded in polarization at near-visible wavelengths, or in time at optical fiber telecommunication wavelengths (1550 nm). The optical fiber is the medium used for transporting the qubits over a long distance, and it is therefore essential to couple the photons well into the fibers. By focusing the beams optimally, we have investigated how this problem can meet the requirement of creating photons of a narrow frequency bandwidth and a high photon flux. Furthermore, we have generated truly single photons that are heralded by an electrical signal. As a result of modifying the statistics of such sources we have been able to show the effect of photon antibunching. In two separate works, we have implemented a quantum key distribution system based on faint laser pulses at the telecom wavelength of 1550 nm, as well as protocols based on entanglement for performing authentication of key distribution in quantum cryptography.
For any communication, the conveyed information must be carried by some physical system. If this system is a quantum system rather than a classical one, its behavior will be governed by the laws of quantum mechanics. Hence, the properties of quantum mechanics, such as superpositions and entanglement, are accessible, opening up new possibilities for transferring information. The exploration of these possibilities constitutes the field of quantum communication. The key ingredient in quantum communication is the qubit, a bit that can be in any superposition of 0 and 1, and that is carried by a quantum state. One possible physical realization of these quantum states is to use single photons. Hence, to explore the possibilities of optical quantum communication, photonic quantum states must be generated, transmitted, characterized, and detected with high precision. This thesis begins with the first of these steps: the implementation of single-photon sources generating photonic qubits. The sources are based on photon-pair generation in nonlinear crystals, and designed to be compatible with fiber optical communication systems. To ensure such a compatibility and to create a high-quality source, a theoretical analysis is made, optimizing the coupling of the photons into optical fibers. Based on the theoretical analysis, a heralded single-photon source and a two-crystal source of entangled photons-pairs are experimentally implemented. The source of entangled photons is further developed into a compact source with a narrow bandwidth compatible with standard telecommunication wavelength-division multiplexers, and even further developed to a more stable one-crystal source. The sources are to be used for quantum communication in general and quantum cryptography in particular. Specifically, a heralded single-photon source is implemented and then used for a full test of a decoy-state quantum cryptography protocol.