Quantum optical skyrmions, as topologically robust quantum information carriers, hold transformative potential for resilient high-dimensional quantum information networks. However, their practical exploitation was still restricted to a single quantum channel, which precludes the multiplexing essential for practical high-capacity quantum networks. Here, we utilize a metasurface to achieve multi-channel quantum state distribution of the polarization-entangled photon pairs, inducing a two-photon bunching effect in both the spin and spatial dimensions with compact flat optics. At the spatial bunching port, controlled manipulation of the spin-orbit interaction enables the generation of a tunable single-photon skyrmion pair. In contrast to any prior skyrmion generation, the single-photon skyrmions are mediated and topologically controlled by quantum measurement in multiple channels. Concurrently, during the amplitude and phase modulation process, both the skyrmion localization and the texture helicity can be precisely customized. The proposed tunable single-photon skyromions offer multidimensional controllability and topological stability provide a viable path toward noise-resilient high-dimensional quantum information processing.
Quantum optical skyrmions, as topologically robust quantum information carriers, hold transformative potential for resilient high-dimensional quantum information networks. However, their practical exploitation was still restricted to a single quantum channel, which precludes the multiplexing essential for practical high-capacity quantum networks. Here, we utilize a metasurface to achieve multi-channel quantum state distribution of the polarization-entangled photon pairs, inducing a two-photon bunching effect in both the spin and spatial dimensions with compact flat optics. At the spatial bunching port, controlled manipulation of the spin-orbit interaction enables the generation of a tunable single-photon skyrmion pair. In contrast to any prior skyrmion generation, the single-photon skyrmions are mediated and topologically controlled by quantum measurement in multiple channels. Concurrently, during the amplitude and phase modulation process, both the skyrmion localization and the texture helicity can be precisely customized. The proposed tunable single-photon skyromions offer multidimensional controllability and topological stability provide a viable path toward noise-resilient high-dimensional quantum information processing.
Quantum skyrmions are topological structures that have garnered significant interest due to their demonstrated robustness and versatility across diverse optical platforms. However, existing approaches for their generation are limited to producing pre-determined two dimensional qubit states with a single topology. Here we create multi-dimensional topological states by introducing a non-local interaction between high-dimensional photonic entanglement and a metasurface, where the topological transformation induced by the metasurface is made non-deterministic by the probabilistic nature of the interfacing entangled state. Within this framework, we demonstrate that individual quantum states can host multiple co-existing topologies that are only revealed upon measurement, allowing for their parallel transport within distinct spatial mode channels. We confirm this by revealing the rich topological landscape within our modified Hilbert space while controlling the desired output topology by orbital angular momentum (OAM) projections on one of the entangled photons, producing multiple non-local polarization-OAM entangled states characterized by distinct topological classes, all from a single metasurface device. Our results reveal new capability when structured high-dimensional entanglement is interfaced with structured matter capable of coupling photonic degrees of freedom, establishing a new pathway for the compact generation of complex quantum states.
Skyrmions, topologically stable field configurations, have recently emerged in classical optics as structured light for high-density data applications. Achieving controllable on-chip generation of single-photon skyrmions, while being highly desirable for quantum information technologies, remains challenging due to the nanoscale confinement of quantum emitters (QEs). Here we demonstrate a metasurface-integrated quantum emitter (metaQE) platform enabling room-temperature on-chip generation of single-photon skyrmions. Near-field coupling between QEs and propitiously designed surface arrays of meta-atoms mediates spin-orbit interaction, transforming nanoscale-localized dipole emission into free-propagating topologically structured photonic modes. By exploiting this approach for structuring quantum emission from different color centers in nanodiamonds, we realize diverse skyrmionic states, including high-order anti-skyrmions and skyrmionium, and thereby demonstrate its universality across QEs. Our work establishes a unified framework for on-chip structured quantum light sources, offering versatile control of high-dimensional topological states, such as skyrmions, and advancing scalable quantum photonic technologies.
Twisted photons, carrying spin and orbital angular momentum (OAM) in an unbounded-dimensional Hilbert space, has recently sparked significant interest, leading to the discovery of new physics in both classical and quantum optics, furthering our understanding and incubating applications in classical and quantum communication. At the heart of this emerging field is the requirement for versatile, efficient, and robust generation of novel photonic spin-orbit states involving both spin and OAM degrees of freedom (DoFs). However, so far, the generation and manipulation of spin–orbit photons have primarily relied on free-space bulk optics, which, due to their lack of compactness and stability, are unsuitable for large-scale applications. In this work, we address this challenge by dynamically generating and manipulating the photonic spin-orbit states in both integrated microlaser and single photon source systems, leveraging non-Hermitian photonics and chiral quantum optics. We further investigated the generation and control of quantum entanglement between the spin and OAM DoFs of photons via integrated photonic circuits. Moreover, we successfully generated photonic spin-orbit states with intricate Skyrmionic topological structures and demonstrate the robustness of their topological properties during the quantum teleportation process. The integrated spin-orbit control toolbox for various structured photons, combined with the robustness of their topological properties, holds significant potential for developing large-channel capacity, noise-resilient information systems within a unique multidimensional space.
Quantum skyrmions as topologically structured entangled states have the potential to be a pathway toward robustness against external perturbations, but so far no theoretical framework exists to validate this. Here, we introduce the notion of a new entanglement observable based on such topologies and develop a theoretical framework for studying its evolution in general quantum channels. Using photons entangled in orbital angular momentum and polarization as an example, we show that the noise affecting both photons can be recast as a position-dependent perturbation affecting only the photon in the polarization state, restricting the noise to a finite-dimensional Hilbert space. From this we predict complete resilience for both non-depolarizing and depolarizing noise, the former by rigorous arguments based on homotopic maps and the latter by numerical simulation. Finally, we identify sources of local noise that can destabilize the topology and suggest why this may be ignored in practical situations. Our work sets a solid foundational framework for understanding how and why topology enhances the resilience of such entanglement observables, with immediate relevance to the distribution of information through entanglement in noisy environments, such as quantum computers and quantum networks.
Topological quasiparticles of light, such as classical and quantum optical skyrmions, have so far relied on fully coherent or pure quantum states whose topology is encoded in the entanglement between polarization and two-dimensional spatial modes. Here we show that skyrmionic topology can emerge directly within the density matrix of a mixed quantum state. We introduce a framework in which a coherence-Stokes vector defines a topological texture over the density matrix, enabling the realization of quantum skyrmions using only a pseudospin and a real or synthetic one-dimensional space of modes. For a single photon, the density matrix is analogous to the coherence matrix of classical light, and can be encoded using partially coherent electromagnetic fields. We further analyze the topological texture encoded in a bipartite entangled photon pair, showing how skyrmions arise not only in the full bi-photon system, but also in its reduced subspaces with any pseudospin-mode combination simultaneously. We then explore the robustness of such skyrmions to environmental noise, and discover their persistence in mixed-quantum states of multiple photons. Finally, we propose a feasible experimental route to generate and measure such skyrmions using integrated photonic networks, and suggest avenues for similar implementations in other quantum systems. Our work paves the way for robustly encoding classical information on partially coherent light or on mixed quantum states and for encoding topological charges on many-body quantum systems.
Abstract Quantum skyrmions as topologically structured quantum photonic states are promising candidates for enabling robust quantum information processing in real-world environments where entanglement is fragile. The state-of-the-art allows their creation as single photon and entangled states, but their storage in a quantum memory is crucial to realise real applications, e.g., quantum repeaters for quantum networks as well as gates and synchronisation for quantum computers. Here we demonstrate the first entanglement mediated quantum memory of quantum skyrmions in cold atomic ensembles. To achieve this, we produce the first narrow-band quantum skyrmions from spontaneous four‑wave mixing, yielding a sub‑natural linewidth compatible with atomic transitions. We then store the spatially encoded photon (one of the entangled pair) in an electromagnetically induced transparency memory, subjecting it to light‑matter interaction and decoherence while its entangled partner remains free, thus demonstrating the first storage and retrieval of quantum topology. Crucially, we observe that the Skyrme number remains resilient even as entanglement decays under storage noise, demonstrating the inherent topological robustness of the non‑local state. Our work establishes cold atomic ensembles as an integrated platform for quantum topological photonics, combining narrowband entanglement generation, reconfigurable topological engineering, and coherent quantum storage. These results bridge structured light, quantum information, and topological physics, and open pathways toward topologically protected quantum repeaters and noise-resilient quantum networks, where topology itself acts as a resource for preserving quantum information.