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arXiv:1706.07499 · Physical Review A

Generation of frequency sidebands on single photons with indistinguishability from quantum dots

Uttam Paudel, A. P. Burgers, Duncan G. Steel, Michael K. Yakes, Allan S. Bracker, D. Gammon

Published Jul 10, 2018• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Generation and manipulation of the quantum state of a single photon is at the heart of many quantum information protocols. There has been growing interest in using phase modulators as quantum optics devices that preserve coherence. In this Rapid Communication, we have used an electro-optic phase modulator to shape the state vector of single photons emitted by a quantum dot to generate new frequency components (modes) and explicitly demonstrate that the phase modulation process agrees with the theoretical prediction at a single-photon level. Through two-photon interference measurements we show that for an output consisting of three modes (the original mode and two sidebands), the indistinguishability of the mode engineered photon, measured through the second-order intensity correlation $[{g}^{2}(0)]$ is preserved. This work demonstrates a robust means to generate a photonic qubit or more complex state (e.g., a qutrit) for quantum communication applications by encoding information in the sidebands without the loss of coherence.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.98.011802

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Generation and manipulation of the quantum state of a single photon is at the heart of many quantum information protocols. There has been growing interest in using phase modulators as quantum optics devices that preserve coherence. In this Rapid Communication, we have used an electro-optic phase modulator to shape the state vector of single photons emitted by a quantum dot to generate new frequency components (modes) and explicitly demonstrate that the phase modulation process agrees with the theoretical prediction at a single-photon level. Through two-photon interference measurements we show that for an output consisting of three modes (the original mode and two sidebands), the indistinguishability of the mode engineered photon, measured through the second-order intensity correlation [g2(0)][{g}^{2}(0)][g2(0)] is preserved. This work demonstrates a robust means to generate a photonic qubit or more complex state (e.g., a qutrit) for quantum communication applications by encoding information in the sidebands without the loss of coherence.
Generation and manipulation of the quantum state of a single photon is at the heart of many quantum information protocols. It has been experimentally shown that the temporal profile of a single photon can be post-modified through time-gated modulation techniques. Similarly, the frequency of a single photon can be changed with parametric processes. In this paper, we have used an electro-optic phase modulator to arbitrarily dress the spectrum of a single photon packet emitted by a quantum dot and to generate new frequency components (modes) where the new modes have well-defined phases relative to the central mode. Through two-photon interference measurements, we show that for an output consisting of three modes (the original mode and two side bands on either side) the second-order coherence of the single photon is well-preserved. The sideband generation technique can be employed to generate a frequency qubit or qutrit out of a single photon and also for encoding information in the frequency sidebands for quantum cryptography.
We introduce our recent photonic quantum information processing experiments using the high-speed electro-optic modulator (EOM) based on a lithium niobate waveguides. First, we demonstrated the frequency shifter for single photons by using an optical single sideband (OSSB) modulator, which is based on the nested configuration of four phase modulators (PMs). By properly setting the RF modulation signal and the bias voltage to each PM, we can suppress unwanted sidebands to realize a frequency shifter that can tune the frequency of single photons with accuracy of an RF synthesizer. Using the OSSB modulator, we eliminated the frequency distinguishability between two single photons whose frequencies were different by 25 GHz, and as a result observed a Hong-Ou- Mandel interference with a visibility exceeding 90%. We also proposed and demonstrated a two-qubit controlled logic gate for time-bin qubits using a two-input, two-output optical switch. The switch enables us to individually perform different functions for two temporal bases as a time-dependent beam splitter, so that we can realize controlled-phase (C-Phase) gate for a time-bin qubit. We showed that the states of two separable single photons were entangled as a result of the C-Phase gate operation. We performed the quantum state tomography to obtain density matrices of the output states from the C-Phase gate for some specific input states, and confirmed that the averaged state fidelity to the pure states was 85%. These results indicate that the EOMs will be a useful tool for realizing advanced photonic quantum communication systems.
Creating and controlling well-defined single-photon states is important for many quantum enhanced technologies. Information can be encoded in any degree of freedom associated with a single-photon field excitation, for example in the polarization or transverse spatial mode structure. The ability to encode multiple qubits in these states is desirable for high data transmission rates and increased information processing capacity. The spectral-temporal domain offers a large Hilbert space for encoding information, well suited to integrated optical architectures owing to the low cross-talk between channels. Indeed, time-frequency encoding is an integral component of existing information technologies infrastructure. Thus, complete, coherent control of the spectral-temporal mode structure of light is essential to advancing optical quantum technologies. Arbitrary control of single-photon states has been demonstrated in the polarization and spatial-momentum degrees of freedom however, is yet to be established in the spectral-temporal domain. Recently it was shown that spectral-temporal pulse shaping is experimentally feasible using nonlinear optical methods. However, such techniques can introduce noise photons, are challenging to implement deterministically and require specially prepared auxiliary pump pulses. Furthermore, they are typically only possible at relatively low repetition rates to avoid damage of nonlinear optical materials. Here, we demonstrate deterministic pulse shaping of single-photon wave packets by introducing a time-varying phase. Applying linear or quadratic phase to the wave packet introduces a spectral shift or spectral broadening, respectively. Achieving significant spectral manipulation requires temporal-phase modulation on the order of π. The phase must also vary on the same time scale as the optical pulses, approximately 1 ps in duration here. This relatively rapid phase variation is achieved using a fast electro-optic phase modulator. The modulator is driven by a time-varying voltage that is synchronized with a pulse train of single-photon wave packets for accurate temporal phase control. In this thesis, we experimentally demonstrate control of the spectral-temporal state of single-photon wave packets using this method. Heralded single-photon wave packets are generated by spontaneous parametric down conversion pumped by a frequency-doubled Titanium-Sapphire laser oscillator with 80 MHz repetition rate. To achieve significant modulation of single-photon pulses a 10 V peak-to-peak radio-frequency signal of 40 GHz drives the phase modulator, which requires approximately 3.6 V to achieve a π phase shift. The signal is synchronized with the oscillator pulse train using custom designed electronics. Details of these electronics are presented, resulting in a robust phase and amplitude controllable 40 GHz voltage source, phase locked to the single-photon pulse train. To demonstrate the utility of this pulse-shaping method we experimentally show spectral shearing of almost 1 nm for single-photon wave packets with 830 nm central wavelength and 1 nm bandwidth. Measurement of the second-order intensity correlation before and after the wave-packet manipulation remains constant within uncertainty of the measurement, showing that the quantum nature of the single-photon source is not deteriorated by the modulator. Preservation of the wave-packet coherence is verified by two-photon interference between spectrally sheared and non-modulated single-photons.
In this work, we demonstrate reconfigurable frequency manipulation of quantum states of light in the telecom C-band. Triggered single photons are encoded in a superposition state of three channels using sidebands up to 53 GHz created by an off-the-shelf phase modulator. The single photons are emitted by an InAs/GaAs quantum dot grown by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy within the transparency window of the backbone fiber optical network. A cross-correlation measurement of the sidebands demonstrates the preservation of the single photon nature; an important prerequisite for future quantum technology applications using the existing telecommunication fiber network.