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arXiv:1905.07398 · Physical Review A

Compensation of polarization-dependent loss using noiseless amplification and attenuation

R. A. Brewster, Brian T. Kirby, J. D. Franson, Michael Brodsky

Published Sep 11, 2019• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Polarization-dependent loss (PDL) is a serious problem that hinders the transfer of polarization qubits through quantum networks. Recently it has been shown that the detrimental effects of PDL on qubit fidelity can be compensated for with the introduction of an additional passive PDL element that rebalances the polarization modes of the transmitted qubit. This procedure works extremely well when the output of the system is postselected on photon detection. However, in cases where the qubit might be needed for further analysis this procedure introduces unwanted vacuum terms into the state. Here we present procedures for the compensation of the effects of PDL using noiseless amplification and attenuation. Each of these techniques introduces a heralding signal into the correction procedure that significantly reduces the vacuum terms in the final state. When detector inefficiency and dark counts are included in the analysis noiseless amplification remains superior, in terms of the fidelity of the final state, to both noiseless attenuation and passive PDL compensation for detector efficiencies greater than 40%.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.100.033811

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Polarization-dependent loss (PDL) is a serious problem that hinders the transfer of polarization qubits through quantum networks. Recently it has been shown that the detrimental effects of PDL on qubit fidelity can be compensated for with the introduction of an additional passive PDL element that rebalances the polarization modes of the transmitted qubit. This procedure works extremely well when the output of the system is postselected on photon detection. However, in cases where the qubit might be needed for further analysis this procedure introduces unwanted vacuum terms into the state. Here we present procedures for the compensation of the effects of PDL using noiseless amplification and attenuation. Each of these techniques introduces a heralding signal into the correction procedure that significantly reduces the vacuum terms in the final state. When detector inefficiency and dark counts are included in the analysis noiseless amplification remains superior, in terms of the fidelity of the final state, to both noiseless attenuation and passive PDL compensation for detector efficiencies greater than 40%.
Quantum information is a field with many potential applications in future technology. One of the major challenges in the practical implementation of quantum information protocols is the difficulty in synthesizing and maintaining controllable quantum systems. One of the reasons for this is because quantum systems are susceptible to decoherence that reduces the quality of the quantum state of a system. There have been several advances toward mitigating this decoherence such as the design of codes to combat errors due to incoherent quantum evolution, known as quantum error correction, and the design of novel quantum states that are less susceptible to decoherence. In this dissertation, we provide a rigorous analysis of the mechanisms that introduce decoherence into select quantum states and propose methods to compensate for it. We find that squeezing a macroscopic quantum optical state known as a Schrödinger cat state can reduce the amount of decoherence introduced by optical parametric amplification. We also find that noiseless amplification can be used to compensate for decoherence due to polarization dependent loss in single-photonic polarization qubits. In the process of understanding decoherence and its compensation we also introduce new and exciting mathematical and physical concepts such as delta functions that admit complex arguments, known as the generalized delta function, and a noiseless attenuator made using an optical parametric amplifier.
Abstract Polarization‐dependent loss (PDL) poses a critical challenge in implementing free‐space quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. This study investigated the theoretical and experimental impact of PDL on polarization‐encoded qubits and experimentally demonstrated a method to mitigate these effects. The proposed compensation method could effectively restore the integrity of polarization states, enhancing the robustness and security of QKD systems. Specifically, a secret key rate of 94.01% could be recovered with 5 dB PDL. This study contributes to advancing scalable and secure quantum communication technologies by addressing the critical issue of PDL in QKD systems.
Quantum networking brings together several diverse research areas, such as fiber-optic communication, quantum optics, and quantum information, to achieve capabilities in security, secret sharing, and authentication which are unavailable classically. The development of practical fiber-based quantum networks requires an understanding of the reach, rates, and quality of the entanglement of distributed quantum states. Here, we present a theoretical model describing how the magnitude and orientation of polarization dependent loss (PDL), a common impairment in fiber-optic networks, affects the entanglement quality of distributed quantum states. Furthermore, we theoretically characterize how PDL in one fiber channel can be optimally applied in order to nonlocally compensate for the PDL present in another channel. We present experimental results that verify our theoretical model.
The losses in a bosonic channel are the primary source of errors in current optic quantum communications. Astonishingly, by combining the noiseless attenuation and noiseless linear amplification, Mi\ifmmode \check{c}\else \v{c}\fi{}uda et al. showed that the unavoidable losses in optic links can be compensated in a nondeterministically but heralded way (M. Micuda, I. Straka, M. Mikova, M. Dusek, N. J. Cerf, J. Fiurasek, and M. Jezek, arXiv:1206.2852). Here we analyze their noiseless loss suppression scheme in a more realistic scenario in which conventional on-off photon detectors as well as the heralded single photon are involved. We use the Wigner function method and investigate the performance of loss suppression in all Fock state space. The noiseless loss suppression for transmitting a weak coherent and single-mode squeezing state are investigated. All these results show that the noiseless attenuation and noiseless linear amplification, if combined, could help to eliminate the channel loss and could be beneficial in future quantum communication.
Recent work by Mi\ifmmode \check{c}\else \v{c}\fi{}uda et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 180503 (2012)] suggests that pairing noiseless amplification with noiseless attenuation can conditionally suppress loss terms in the direct transmission of quantum states. Here we extend this work to entangled states: First, we explore bipartite states, specifically the two-mode squeezed vacuum and NOON states, and, second, we examine MMM-partite states, concentrating on W and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states. In analogy with the original proposal, our results demonstrate that in each case under consideration, a correct combination of attenuation and amplification techniques before and after transmission through a pure loss channel can restore the initial quantum state. However, we find that for both W and NOON states, the noiseless attenuation is redundant and not required to achieve loss term suppression. This work clarifies the role of noiseless attenuation when paired with noiseless amplification for entanglement distribution and provides an operational example of how GHZ and W state entanglement differs.