Since linear-optical two-photon gates are inherently probabilistic, measurement-based implementations are particularly well suited for photonic platforms: a large highly-entangled photonic resource state, called a graph state, is consumed through measurements to perform a computation. The challenge is thus to produce these graph states. Several generation procedures, which use either interacting quantum emitters or efficient spin-photon interface, have been proposed to create these photonic graph states deterministically. Yet, these solutions are still out of reach experimentally since the state-of-the-art is the generation of a linear graph state. Here, we introduce near-deterministic solutions for the generation of graph states using the current quantum emitter capabilities. We propose hybridizing quantum-emitter-based graph state generation with all-photonic fusion gates to produce graph states of complex topology near-deterministically. Our results should pave the way towards the practical implementation of resource-efficient quantum information processing, including measurement-based quantum communication and quantum computing.
Since linear-optical two-photon gates are inherently probabilistic, measurement-based implementations are particularly well suited for photonic platforms: a large highly-entangled photonic resource state, called a graph state, is consumed through measurements to perform a computation. The challenge is thus to produce these graph states. Several generation procedures, which use either interacting quantum emitters or efficient spin-photon interface, have been proposed to create these photonic graph states deterministically. Yet, these solutions are still out of reach experimentally since the state-of-the-art is the generation of a linear graph state. Here, we introduce near-deterministic solutions for the generation of graph states using the current quantum emitter capabilities. We propose hybridizing quantum-emitter-based graph state generation with all-photonic fusion gates to produce graph states of complex topology near-deterministically. Our results should pave the way towards the practical implementation of resource-efficient quantum information processing, including measurement-based quantum communication and quantum computing.
Abstract Quantum emitter-based schemes for the generation of photonic graph states offer a promising, resource-efficient methodology for realizing distributed quantum computation and communication protocols on near-term hardware. We present a heralded scheme for making photonic graph states that is compatible with the typically poor photon collection from state-of-the-art coherent quantum emitters. We demonstrate that the construction time for large graph states can be polynomial in the photon collection efficiency, as compared to the exponential scaling of current emitter-based schemes, which assume deterministic photon collection. The additional overhead here consists of an extra spin qubit plus one additional spin-spin entangling gate per photon added to the graph. While the proposed scheme requires both non-demolition measurement and efficient storage of photons in order to generate graph states for arbitrary applications, we show that many useful tasks, including measurement-based quantum computation, can be implemented without these requirements. As a use case of our scheme, we construct a protocol for secure two-party computation that can be implemented efficiently on current hardware. Estimates of the fidelity to produce graph states used in the computation are given assuming current and near-term fidelities for highly coherent quantum emitters.
Entanglement in multiphoton graph states is an important resource with various applications, such as measurement-based quantum computing and memory-less quantum repeaters. While some primitive instances have been successfully prepared, scalable generation of large-scale graph states with programmable connections remains an outstanding challenge. Fusion provides a promising "divide-and-conquer" approach by linking smaller resource states into larger, more complex graphs. However, its practical scalability has been limited by the probabilistic nature of conventional fusion protocols, which necessitates extensive hardware overhead and feed-forward resources to achieve deterministic outcomes. Here, we introduce and experimentally demonstrate a deterministic fusion operation with built-in error mitigation, capable of connecting small time-bin-encoded cluster states--originally generated on-demand from a quantum emitter--into larger, reconfigurable photonic graph states of increased sizes. The fusion operation is realized by nondestructively projecting pairs of flying microwave photonic qubits into Bell states using superconducting circuits with in-situ programmability. Crucially, the protocol features active reset and reuse of matter qubits during graph state generation, thereby circumventing the coherence constraints of the quantum emitter and enabling the generation of genuine multipartite entanglement across 13 photonic qubits. Our results establish a scalable framework for photonic graph-state synthesis, paving the way for fault-tolerant measurement-based quantum computation and distributed quantum networks.
Highly entangled multiphoton graph states are a crucial resource in photonic quantum computation and communication. Yet, the lack of photon-photon interactions makes the construction of such graph states especially challenging. Typically, these states are produced through probabilistic single-photon sources and linear-optics entangling operations that require indistinguishable photons. The resulting inefficiency of these methods necessitates a large overhead in the number of sources and operations, creating a major bottleneck in the photonic approach. Here, we show how harnessing single-atom-based photonic operations can enable deterministic generation of photonic graph states, while also lifting the requirement for photon indistinguishability. To this end, we introduce a multigate quantum node comprising a single atom in a W -type level scheme coupled to an optical resonator. This configuration provides a versatile toolbox for generating graph states, allowing the operation of both the controlled- Z and photon-atom gates, as well as the deterministic generation of single photons. Furthermore, the ability to deterministically entangle photonic qubits enables the expansion of the generated state by stitching together graph states produced by different nodes. We investigate the implementation of this gate-based approach using 87 Rb atoms and evaluate its performance through numerical simulations.
Measurement-based quantum computing relies on the generation of large entangled cluster states that act as a universal resource on which logical circuits can be imprinted and executed through local measurements. A number of strategies for constructing sufficiently large photonic cluster states propose fusing many smaller resource states generated by a series of quantum emitters. However, the fusion process is inherently probabilistic with a 50% success probability in standard guise. A recent proposal has shown that, in the limit of low loss, the probability of achieving successful fusion may be boosted to near unity by redundantly encoding the vertices of linear graph states using Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states [Quantum 7, 992 (2023)]. Here we present a protocol for deterministically generating redundantly encoded photonic resource states using single quantum emitters, and study the impact of protocol errors and photonic losses on the generated resource states and type-II photonic fusion. Our work provides a route for efficiently constructing complex entangled photonic qubit states for photonic quantum computing and quantum repeaters.
Measurement-based quantum computing offers a promising route towards scalable, universal photonic quantum computation. This approach relies on the deterministic and efficient generation of photonic graph states in which many photons are mutually entangled with various topologies. Recently, deterministic sources of graph states have been demonstrated with quantum emitters in both the optical and microwave domains. In this work, we demonstrate deterministic and reconfigurable graph state generation with optical solid-state integrated quantum emitters. Specifically, we use a single semiconductor quantum dot in a cavity to generate caterpillar graph states, the most general type of graph state that can be produced with a single emitter. By using fast detuned optical pulses, we achieve full control over the spin state, enabling us to vary the entanglement topology at will. We perform quantum state tomography of two successive photons, measuring Bell state fidelities up to 0.80 ± 0.04 and concurrences up to 0.69 ± 0.09, while maintaining high photon indistinguishability. This simple optical scheme, compatible with commercially available quantum dot-based single photon sources, brings us a step closer to fault-tolerant quantum computing with spins and photons. Quantum emitters have recently been identified as efficient sources of graph states, which are entangled states crucial for photonic quantum computation. Here the authors demonstrate deterministic and reconfigurable generation of caterpillar graph states using a semiconductor quantum dot in a cavity.
Graph states are central resources for quantum information processing, supporting applications in computation, communication, and error correction. In photonic systems, they are typically assembled from smaller entangled states using probabilistic fusion gates, which demand many photons and suffer from low success rates. We present an optimized scheme for directly generating caterpillar graph states (CGSs)—essential resource states for constructing high-dimensional lattice graph states—using only single-photon sources, linear optics, and heralded measurements. Based on the linear quantum graph (LQG) picture, our method produces CGSs efficiently. For CGSs of length l ≥ 3 , it requires l − 2 fewer photons and achieves a success rate 2 l − 2 times higher than fusion-based approaches. These results demonstrate that the LQG picture provides a powerful and flexible route to generating complex photonic graph states for efficient quantum information processing.