Summary form only given. Entanglement is a fundamental resource for the quantum processing of information and to study the intrinsic nature of quantum correlations. Entangling higher dimensional bipartite systems (qudits) has been shown to give more insight on the nature of entanglement compared to the simplest entanglement system composed of two two level systems (two qubits) [1, 2]. For quantum key distribution, increasing the dimension of the alphabet by using qudits increases the effective bit rate of the protocol, still being secure [3]. Experimentally, higher dimensional entanglement in photonic systems have been demonstrated for various degrees of freedom of light, including time-bins [4,5], transverse momentum [6, 7] or orbital angular momentum modes [8].We demonstrate here a new way to encode qudits in the energy spectrum of the entangled photons by defining frequency bins within their spectra. Broadband entangled photons are generated by continuous wave spontaneous down-conversion and detected in coincidence by sum frequency generation. By means of experimental methods used for shaping fs-laser pulses, frequency bins can be addressed in the photons spectra. Furthermore, controlling each frequency component individually allows to manipulate and characterize the quantum states. The dimension of the generated states is in practice limited by the optical resolution of the setup only.
Summary form only given. Entanglement is a fundamental resource for the quantum processing of information and to study the intrinsic nature of quantum correlations. Entangling higher dimensional bipartite systems (qudits) has been shown to give more insight on the nature of entanglement compared to the simplest entanglement system composed of two two level systems (two qubits) [1, 2]. For quantum key distribution, increasing the dimension of the alphabet by using qudits increases the effective bit rate of the protocol, still being secure [3]. Experimentally, higher dimensional entanglement in photonic systems have been demonstrated for various degrees of freedom of light, including time-bins [4,5], transverse momentum [6, 7] or orbital angular momentum modes [8].We demonstrate here a new way to encode qudits in the energy spectrum of the entangled photons by defining frequency bins within their spectra. Broadband entangled photons are generated by continuous wave spontaneous down-conversion and detected in coincidence by sum frequency generation. By means of experimental methods used for shaping fs-laser pulses, frequency bins can be addressed in the photons spectra. Furthermore, controlling each frequency component individually allows to manipulate and characterize the quantum states. The dimension of the generated states is in practice limited by the optical resolution of the setup only.
Quantum photonics is increasingly making use of the energy-time degree of freedom (DoF) to encode information. Its inherently high-dimensionality offers higher information capacity and robustness against noise. Most frequently, the energy-time DoF is exploited in the form of time bins and frequency bins, with direct applications in both quantum information processing tasks and quantum communication protocols. More recently, it has been used also in its pulse modes (or temporal modes) form, sets of states overlapping in time and frequency but kept orthogonal considering their temporal and spectral phase, whose difficult manipulation and characterisation made it less appealing for experimental applications. The production of states encoded in pulse modes has been demonstrated through sum frequency generation in waveguides [1] and parametric down conversion in bulk crystals [2], as well as the demonstration of schemes for creating hyper-entanglement among energy-time DoF and other high-dimensional DoFs [3], [4]. However, their implementation is still an area of continuous development and evolution, given the complexity of manipulating and characterising them.
Entanglement is a key feature of quantum mechanics and is best suited to study the peculiar nature of non-classical correlations. Higher dimensional entangled bipartite systems beyond qubits allow for new insights in generalized Bell inequalities and for enhanced bit rates within protocols for quantum key distribution. Entangled qutrits and ququarts in the time domain have been implemented interferometrically. This paper proposes and demonstrates the capability to encode qudits in the spectrum of energy-time entangled photons by means of spectral amplitude and phase modulation.
Frequency modes of light are one of the most promising platforms that provide access to high-dimensional quantum states amongst different photonic degrees of freedom capable of high-dimensionality, enabling robust, error-tolerant, and scalable quantum optical information systems. We demonstrate engineering of precisely controlled two-photon high-dimensional states entangled in frequency through time-domain Fourier optical synthesis. We generate and convert a continuous broadband frequency-entangled state into a large range of discrete frequency bins suitable for ITU standards, with spacings ranging from 12.5 GHz to 750 GHz, and observe spectral anticorrelations over 38 frequency bins, including intra-bin pure states at a 100 GHz bin spacing. We characterize the full quantum state dimensionality via Schmidt decomposition and observe lower bounds on the frequency-binned Hilbert-space dimensionalities of at least 289, formed by two entangled qudits with dimension 17. Furthermore, we demonstrate quantum nonlocality via frequency correlations in a transmission experiment over a campus-scale two-node fiber network. This work represents a crucial step towards building a versatile and relatively simple way of generating precisely controlled high-dimensional spectral qudits, with the potential of harnessing in wavelength-multiplexed quantum networks, high-dimensional information processing, and communication of quantum states specifically, and fiber-optic quantum remote sensing.
Single photons provide a natural platform for quantum communication and quantum networking, as they can be entangled in many degrees of freedom and maintain coherence over long-distance links. However, while their minimal interactions with the environment isolate them from detrimental noise, it can make them difficult to measure and manipulate. In particular, manipulation on the ultrafast timescale is necessary to fully exploit the energy-time (or spectral) photonic degree of freedom. Full control over the spectral properties of single photons is key to many quantum technologies and opens the door to natural high-dimensional quantum encodings. \n \nIn this thesis, we theoretically and experimentally examine the use of nonlinear optical processes mediated by strong laser pulses as a method to control the spectral properties of ultrafast single photons. By mixing single-photon pulses with strong escort pulses that have been shaped through dispersion in a nonlinear crystal, the shape of the escort is imprinted on the photon, resulting in a custom-tailored upconverted pulse. We theoretically examine this process for quadratic spectral phases and show that it has the potential to be simultaneously effective and efficient for the customization of single-photon spectral waveforms, and can be performed in an entanglement-conserving manner. \n \nWe then experimentally demonstrate the range of this technique through three applications. First, we show that sum-frequency generation with shaped pulses can be used to coherently measure time-bin encoded photons with bin separations on the order of picoseconds, well below the timing resolution of our detectors. Secondly, we show that this technique can be adapted to convert a train of pulses to a frequency comb, which can be read out in a straightforward manner using diffraction-based spectrometry. We also show here that this process can be performed in a polarization-maintaining fashion, and demonstrate that entanglement with a partner photon is conserved with high fidelity. Finally, we show that this process can be viewed as a time lens, which modulates a temporal waveform in an analogous fashion to a lens focusing a beam of light. We apply the time lens to a photon from an energy-time entangled pair, and show negative magnification of the joint spectrum through a reversal of the spectral correlations. Such processes could find application in quantum state engineering and high-speed single-photon measurement.
Entanglement and encoding in discrete frequency bins – essentially a quantum analogue of wavelength-division multiplexing – represents a relatively new degree of freedom for quantum information with photons. In this talk I discuss biphoton frequency combs, generated either by spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) from on-chip microring resonators or by spectral filtering of spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) in second order nonlinear crystals. Potential advantages include generation of high dimensional units of quantum information (qudits), which can carry multiple qubits per photon, robust transmission over fiber, frequency parallelism and routing, and compatibility with on-chip implementations, as well as hyperentanglement with other photonic degrees, e.g., time-frequency hyperentanglement. Since the initial experiments less than two years ago, frequency bin quantum photonics has been advancing rapidly [1-8]. In this talk I will discuss a method using pulse shapers and phase modulators in order to mix different frequencies and perform two photon interference experiments for characterization of the frequency-bin entanglement. Similar components (pulse shapers and phase modulators) may be used to manipulate the frequency-encoded quantum states; this will be described in another talk by our collaborators at Oak Ridge National Labs. I will also discuss the use of time bins and frequency bins as independent degrees of freedom in a quantum encoding fashion to realize what we believe to be the first deterministic two qudit gates. Finally, I comment briefly on potential applications and on prospects for realization of integrated frequency bin quantum photonics.
In this thesis, we explore the properties of photons generated by parametric down-conversion (PDC) and entangled in continuous variables of transverse momentum, with the aim of using this degree of freedom for developing a new method for generating en-tangled states in discrete and multidimensional spaces. Such states have a great potential for applications in fundamental problems of quantum mechanics as well as in quantum information protocols. Our study is based on the theory of angular spectrum transfer from the laser beam tothe two-photon state, proposed and demonstrated by Monken, Souto Ribeiro and P Ladua [Phys. Rev. A 57, 3123 (1998)]. Using it, we investigate theoretically the evolution of the quantum state of photon pairs when they propagate from the crystal and are transmitted through linear optical systems like lenses and apertures. The two-photon state is calculated when there is only one optical system in the path of each photon and we also discuss the generalization of the method employed in the calculation, for more complex experiments. With the two-photon state obtained, we propose a method for generating entangledstates of qubits (two-dimensional quantum systems) and qudits (D-dimensional quantum systems), using the transverse momentum of photons from PDC. The method is based on the selection of specific transverse spatial modes of each photon, by using an array of D-slits (D . 2) in the path of these photons. In this method we have the control of the dimension, D, of each qudit and also the degree of entanglement between them, by manipulating the transverse laser beam profile, which is due to the transfer of angular spectrum. In order to test the theory, we make an experiment for a specific case, which has a great interest in practical applications of entanglement: we demonstrate the generation of maximally entangled states of qudits with D = 4 and D = 8. The quantum character of the correlations is assured qualitatively by measuring two-photon interference patterns with conditional fringes. We also investigate the propagation of these entangled states of qudits through free space and with a simple experiment we show that they can be distributed for distant and spatially separated parts, keeping the correlations. Finally, we perform an experiment for quantifying entanglement in this type of state that we are producing. In this work, we restrict ourselves to the simplest case of two qubits. We prepare different states by manipulating the transverse laser beam profile and their degree of entanglement is measured in two ways: (i) through the degree ofconditionality of the two-photon interference patterns and (ii) through the measurement of marginal probability. We discuss the extension of the method (i) for two-qudit states.