Multimode interferometry for entangling atoms in quantum networks
Thomas D. Barrett, Allison Rubenok, Dustin Stuart, Oliver Barter, Annemarie Holleczek, Jerome Dilley, Peter B. R. Nisbet-Jones, Konstantinos Poulios, Graham D Marshall, Jeremy L. O’Brien, Alberto Politi, Jonathan C F Matthews, Axel Kuhn
We bring together a cavity-enhanced light–matter interface with a multimode interferometer (MMI) integrated onto a photonic chip and demonstrate the potential of such hybrid systems to tailor distributed entanglement in a quantum network. The MMI is operated with pairs of narrowband photons produced a priori deterministically from a single 87 Rb atom strongly coupled to a high-finesse optical cavity. Non-classical coincidences between photon detection events show no loss of coherence when interfering pairs of these photons through the MMI in comparison to the two-photon visibility directly measured using Hong–Ou–Mandel interference on a beam splitter. This demonstrates the ability of integrated multimode circuits to mediate the entanglement of remote stationary nodes in a quantum network interlinked by photonic qubits.
We bring together a cavity-enhanced light–matter interface with a multimode interferometer (MMI) integrated onto a photonic chip and demonstrate the potential of such hybrid systems to tailor distributed entanglement in a quantum network. The MMI is operated with pairs of narrowband photons produced a priori deterministically from a single 87 Rb atom strongly coupled to a high-finesse optical cavity. Non-classical coincidences between photon detection events show no loss of coherence when interfering pairs of these photons through the MMI in comparison to the two-photon visibility directly measured using Hong–Ou–Mandel interference on a beam splitter. This demonstrates the ability of integrated multimode circuits to mediate the entanglement of remote stationary nodes in a quantum network interlinked by photonic qubits.
For quantum computation the efficient preparation and connection of multiple qubits must be addressed. This includes linear optical quantum computation and quantum networks of stationary nodes interlinked by flying qubits. A quantum emitter coupled to a single mode of the electric field is a versatile tool, with the potential to provide the on-demand generation of single photons or a matter-light interface in a quantum network. This thesis presents the construction and characterisation of an \emph{a priori} deterministic single-photon source using single 87Rb atoms coupled to a high finesse optical cavity. These photons show a high degree of indistinguishability and long coherence times with a two-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel visibility of (70.8±4.6)% over the entire interaction time of 300ns long photons, further increasing to ≥97.8% by post-selecting only detection events within 23ns of each other. No degradation of performance is observed when interfering these pairs through a 4x4 multimode interferometer integrated onto a photonic chip with non-classical correlations measured between photon detections orders of magnitude further separated in time than the propagation time through the chip. The production scheme for polarised single photons is considered in detail. Cavity birefringence is found to alter the polarisation state of the emitted photons and a novel model to incorporate this effect is presented. Further deviations from a simple coupling model are observed in the modified hyperfine atomic structure in the intermediate strength magnetic fields required for polarised photon emission. The behaviour in this regime is modelled and shown to explain previously unresolved observations of the asymmetric production efficiencies of orthogonally polarised photons.
We demonstrate quantum logic using narrow linewidth photons that are produced with an a priori nonprobabilistic scheme from a single ^{87}Rb atom strongly coupled to a high-finesse cavity. We use a controlled-not gate integrated into a photonic chip to entangle these photons, and we observe nonclassical correlations between photon detection events separated by periods exceeding the travel time across the chip by 3 orders of magnitude. This enables quantum technology that will use the properties of both narrow-band single photon sources and integrated quantum photonics.
The prospect of a universal quantum computer is alluring, yet formidable. Smaller scale quantum information processing, however, has been demonstrated. Quantum networks, interlinking flying and stationary qubits, and linear optical quantum computing (LOQC) are both good candidates for scaling up such computations. A strongly coupled atom-cavity system is a promising approach for applications in these fields, both as a node in a quantum network, and as a source of photons for LOQC. This thesis demonstrates the versatile capabilities of an atom-cavity system comprising a single 87Rb atom within a macroscopic high-finesse Fabry-Pérot cavity. It operates intermittently for periods of up to 100 μs, with single-photon repetition rates of 1 MHz and an intra-cavity production efficiency of up to 85%. Exploiting the long coherence time of around 500 ns, the photons are subdivided into d time bins, with arbitrary amplitudes and phases, thus encoding arbitrary qudits. High fidelity quantum logic is shown, operating a controlled-NOT gate integrated into a photonic chip with a classical fidelity of 95.9+1.4-1.7 %. Additionally, the generation of entanglement is verified and non-classical correlations between events separated by periods exceeding the travel time across the chip by three orders of magnitude are observed. Photonic quantum simulation is performed, using temporally encoded qudits to mimic the correlation statistics of both fermions and anyons, in addition to bosons. Finally measurement-based quantum feedback is demonstrated and used to actively control the routing of temporal qubits.
Solid-state spin-photon interfaces promise to scale quantum networks through on-chip photonic integration and multiplexed entanglement generation. To date, remote entanglement between integrated emitters has been realized only in cavity-enhanced systems, where fabrication yield and spectral matching remain major obstacles. Here we demonstrate heralded remote entanglement between diamond tin-vacancy spin qubits embedded in separate on-chip waveguides. Combining intrinsically efficient photon emission with a broadband waveguide architecture provides high device yield and obviates the need for spectral matching to cavity modes. We realize coherent optical and spin control and achieve high-visibility two-photon interference. By combining photon-mediated entanglement generation with real-time feedforward, we produce a consistent entangled state independent of the heralding pattern. These results establish waveguide-integrated tin-vacancy centers as a compelling platform for scalable quantum network nodes.
Photonics is a leading approach in realizing future quantum technologies and recently, optical waveguide circuits on silicon chips have demonstrated high levels of miniaturization and performance. Multimode interference (MMI) devices promise a straightforward implementation of compact and robust multiport circuits. Here, we show quantum interference in a 2×2 MMI coupler with visibility of V=95.6±0.9%. We further demonstrate the operation of a 4×4 port MMI device with photon pairs, which exhibits complex quantum interference behaviour. We have developed a new technique to fully characterize such multiport devices, which removes the need for phase-sensitive measurements and may find applications for a wide range of photonic devices. Our results show that MMI devices can operate in the quantum regime with high fidelity and promise substantial simplification and concatenation of photonic quantum circuits. Multimode interference devices could allow the implementation of multiport circuits for quantum technologies. Here, quantum interference is demonstrated in 2×2 and 4×4 multimode interference devices, and a technique is reported to characterize such devices.
One of today’s challenges to realise computing based on quantum mechanics is to reliably and scalably encode information in quantum systems. Here, we present a photon source to on-demand deliver photonic quantum bits of information based on a strongly coupled atom-cavity system. The source operates intermittently for periods of up to 100 μs, with a single-photon repetition rate of 1 MHz, and an intra-cavity production efficiency of up to 85%. Our ability to arbitrarily control the photons’ wavepackets and phase profiles, together with long coherence times of 500 ns, allows to store time-bin encoded quantum information within a single photon. To do so, the spatio-temporal envelope of a single photon is sub-divided in d time bins which allows for the delivery of arbitrary qu-d-its. This is done with a fidelity of > 95% for qubits, and 94% for qutrits verified using a newly developed time-resolved quantum-homodyne measurement technique. Additionally, we combine two separate fields of quantum physics by using our deterministic single-photon source to seed linear optics quantum computing (LOQC) circuits. As a step towards quantum networking, it is shown that this photon source can be combined with quantum gates, namely a chip-integrated beam splitter, a controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate as well as a CNOT4 gate. We use this CNOT4 gate to entangle photons deterministically emitted from our source and observe non-classical correlations between events separated by periods exceeding the travel time across the chip by three orders of magnitude. Additionally, we use time-bin encoded qubits to systematically study the de- and re-phasing of quantum states as well as the the effects of time-varying internal phases in photonic quantum circuits.