The orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light shows great potential in quantum communication. The transmission wavelength for telecom is usually around 1550 nm, while the common quantum information storage and processing devices based on atoms, ions or NV color centers are for photons in visible regime. Here we demonstrate a quantum information interface based on the frequency upconversion for photons carrying OAM states from telecom wavelength to visible regime by sum-frequency generation with high quantum conversion efficiency. The infrared photons at 1558 nm carrying different OAM values were converted to the visible regime of 622.2 nm, and the OAM value of the signal photons was well preserved in the frequency upconversion process with pump beam in Gaussian profile.
The orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light shows great potential in quantum communication. The transmission wavelength for telecom is usually around 1550 nm, while the common quantum information storage and processing devices based on atoms, ions or NV color centers are for photons in visible regime. Here we demonstrate a quantum information interface based on the frequency upconversion for photons carrying OAM states from telecom wavelength to visible regime by sum-frequency generation with high quantum conversion efficiency. The infrared photons at 1558 nm carrying different OAM values were converted to the visible regime of 622.2 nm, and the OAM value of the signal photons was well preserved in the frequency upconversion process with pump beam in Gaussian profile.
Light carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) has exciting applications, including the studies of fundamental quantum physics, optical manipulation and trapping of particles, astrophysics, high-precision optical measurements and optical communication, etc. In quantum information field, a photon encoded with information in its OAM degrees of freedom enables networks to carry significantly more information and increase their capacity greatly due to the inherent infinite degrees of freedom for OAM. Therefore it is no surprise that many groups and researchers are active in building up a high-dimensional quantum network and many important progresses have been achieved during the past years. To realize a long-distance quantum communication, a quantum repeater has to be used to overcome the problem of communication fidelity decreasing exponentially with the channel length, where, quantum memories for photons, used for storing quantum information, which have been realized successfully during the past decade in many systems such as a cold/hot atomic system, a solid matter, a diamond, and others, are key components consisting of a quantum repeater. Photons acted as information candidates can connect different quantum repeaters. Long distance quantum communication requires the wavelengths of photons are situated in the low-loss communication windows, but most quantum memories currently being developed for use in a quantum repeater work at different wavelengths, only few memories can work in low-loss communication windows. Furthermore, the signal stored is an attenuated coherent light and has the Gaussian mode. Though the storage of photonic entanglement at telecom wavelength is realized in an erbium-doped optical fibre recently, the spatial mode used is Gaussian mode. Quantum memories for photons with OAM have recently been realized, but all work at different wavelengths. So a quantum interface to bridge the wavelength gap is necessary.
In quantum communications, vortex photons can encode higher-dimensional quantum states and build high-dimensional communication networks (HDCNs). The interfaces that connect different wavelengths are significant in HDCNs. We construct a coherent orbital angular momentum (OAM) frequency bridge via difference frequency conversion in a nonlinear bulk crystal for HDCNs. Using a single resonant cavity, maximum quantum conversion efficiencies from visible to infrared are 36\%, 15\%, and 7.8\% for topological charges of 0,1, and 2, respectively. The average fidelity obtained using quantum state tomography for the down-converted infrared OAM-state of topological charge 1 is 96.51\%. We also prove that the OAM is conserved in this process by measuring visible and infrared interference patterns. This coherent OAM frequency-down conversion bridge represents a basis for an interface between two high-dimensional quantum systems operating with different spectra.
Coherent frequency conversion of structured light, i.e. the ability to manipulate the carrier frequency of a wave front without distorting its spatial phase and intensity profile, provides the opportunity for numerous novel applications in photonic technology and fundamental science. In particular, frequency conversion of spatial modes carrying orbital angular momentum can be exploited in sub-wavelength resolution nano-optics and coherent imaging at a wavelength different from that used to illuminate an object. Moreover, coherent frequency conversion will be crucial for interfacing information stored in the high-dimensional spatial structure of single and entangled photons with various constituents of quantum networks. In this work, we demonstrate frequency conversion of structured light from the near infrared (803 nm) to the visible (527 nm). The conversion scheme is based on sum-frequency generation in a periodically poled lithium niobate crystal pumped with a 1540-nm Gaussian beam. We observe frequency-converted fields that exhibit a high degree of similarity with the input field and verify the coherence of the frequency-conversion process via mode projection measurements with a phase mask and a single-mode fiber. Our results demonstrate the suitability of exploiting the technique for applications in quantum information processing and coherent imaging.
Frequency interface, namely, converting the colors of photons while retaining their other features, is indispensable for numerous applications ranging from up-conversion imaging to the multimode quantum network. However, limited by the nonuniform nonlinear frequency-conversion efficiency, constructing the frequency interface for high-dimensional spatial modes is still challenging. Here, to break this fundamental barrier, we construct a high-dimensional (HD) orbital-angular-momentum (OAM) frequency interface via conducting sum-frequency generation between HD OAM states to be converted and a radial structured pump. Specifically, by replacing the conventional Gaussian pump with an optimized coherent superposition of HD Laguerre-Gaussian radial modes (i.e., its azimuthal number is zero), we experimentally achieve the OAM frequency interface in nine dimensions with a record fidelity up to 90.38 %. Additionally, by increasing the number of radial modes, our scheme can be flexibly extended to higher dimension. Such a high-dimensional frequency interface could find potential applications in the high-capacity free-space optical communication and would also pave the way for constructing high-dimensional quantum networks.
In quantum communications, vortex photons can encode higher-dimensional quantum states and build high-dimensional communication networks (HDCNs). The interfaces that connect different wavelengths are significant in HDCNs. We construct a coherent orbital angular momentum (OAM) frequency bridge via difference frequency conversion in a nonlinear bulk crystal for HDCNs. Using a single resonant cavity, maximum quantum conversion efficiencies from visible to infrared are 36%, 15%, and 7.8% for topological charges of 0,1, and 2, respectively. The average fidelity obtained using quantum state tomography for the down-converted infrared OAM-state of topological charge 1 is 96.51%. We also prove that the OAM is conserved in this process by measuring visible and infrared interference patterns. This coherent OAM frequency-down conversion bridge represents a basis for an interface between two high-dimensional quantum systems operating with different spectra.