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Journal of Lightwave Technology

Prospects on Planar Quantum Computing

Gabriella Cincotti

Published Sep 18, 2009• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

High-fidelity planar quantum circuits have been recently experimentally demonstrated, enabling a new generation of quantum computing, based on reliable, monolithically integrated planar optical devices. The present paper is a contribution to the development of this new concept, giving a general and at most comprehensive overview of quantum algorithms that can be implemented using planar optics devices. Starting from the four postulates of quantum mechanics, the complete set of quantum-gate operations is described using only planar 1-qubit rotations and CNOT gates, both in universal and non-deterministic forms. Both single-photon and coherent-states quantum computing are considered, and the effects of photon losses and phase noise are investigated.

DOI
10.1109/jlt.2009.2032371

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High-fidelity planar quantum circuits have been recently experimentally demonstrated, enabling a new generation of quantum computing, based on reliable, monolithically integrated planar optical devices. The present paper is a contribution to the development of this new concept, giving a general and at most comprehensive overview of quantum algorithms that can be implemented using planar optics devices. Starting from the four postulates of quantum mechanics, the complete set of quantum-gate operations is described using only planar 1-qubit rotations and CNOT gates, both in universal and non-deterministic forms. Both single-photon and coherent-states quantum computing are considered, and the effects of photon losses and phase noise are investigated.
We report the current status and future prospects over optical quantum computing, based on reliable, scalable, monolithically integrable planar devices. Every quantum-gate operation can be implemented using only planar 1- qubit rotations and CNOT gates, both in the universal and non-deterministic forms, using either single-photon or coherent-state sources. Therefore, any quantum algorithm, such as Quantum Fourier Transform, or Quantum Key Distribution, can be implemented using only planar optical devices.
Although practical realisation of a fully functioning quantum computer is still a long way off, recent progress both experimentally and theoretically is paving the way for possible implementations. One of the leading approaches is quantum optics, where photons are used as carriers of quantum information, and are manipulated in both linear and non-linear optical circuits. More recently, advances in integrated quantum photonics are enabling the realisation of compact and stable quantum gates and circuits. This approach provides routes to enhancing the complexity of quantum optic experiments, and ultimately towards the development of advanced quantum technologies. This study presents an overview of recent developments in the field of integrated waveguide quantum circuits. Key building blocks required for the realisation of quantum circuits are presented, and a rudimentary version of Shor's quantum factoring algorithm is demonstrated. Planar waveguide quantum circuits provide a high-performance platform from which quantum technologies and experimental quantum physics using single photons can be developed, and a new generation of quantum information and computing devices can be monolithically integrated onto a single optical chip.
Universal gate sets for quantum computation, when single and two qubit operations are accessible, include both Hermitian and non-Hermitian gates. Here we utilize the fact that any single-qubit operator may be implemented as two Hermitian gates, and thus a purely Hermitian universal set is possible. This implementation can be used to prepare high fidelity single-qubit states in the presence of amplitude errors, and helps to achieve a high fidelity single-qubit gate decomposition using four Hermitian gates. An implementational convenience can be that non-identity single-qubit Hermitian gates are equivalent to π rotations up to a global phase. We show that a gate set comprised of π rotations about two fixed axes, along with the CNOT gate, is universal for quantum computation. Moreover, we show that two π rotations can transform the axis of any multi-controlled unitary, a special case being a single CNOT sufficing for any controlled π rotation. These gates simplify the process of circuit compilation in view of their Hermitian nature. We exemplify by designing efficient circuits for a variety of controlled gates, and achieving a CNOT count reduction for the four-controlled Toffoli gate in LNN-restricted qubit connectivity.
Scalable quantum computation with linear optics was considered to be impossible due to the lack of efficient two-qubit logic gates, despite its ease of implementation of one-qubit gates. Two-qubit gates necessarily need a nonlinear interaction between the two photons, and the efficiency of this nonlinear interaction is typically very tiny in bulk materials. However, we recently have shown that this barrier can be circumvented with effective nonlinearities produced by projective measurements, and with this work linear-optical quantum computing becomes a new possibility of scalable quantum computation. We review several issues concerning its principles and requirements.
This thesis covers several topics in optical quantum computation. A quantum computer is a computational device which is able to manipulate information by performing unitary operations on some physical system whose state can be described as a vector (or mixture of vectors) in a Hilbert space. The basic unit of information, called the qubit, is considered to be a system with two orthogonal states, which are assigned logical values of 0 and 1. Photons make excellent candidates to serve as qubits. They have little interactions with the environment. Many operations can be performed using very simple linear optical devices such as beam splitters and phase shifters. Photons can easily be processed through circuit-like networks. Operations can be performed in very short times. Photons are ideally suited for the long-distance communication of quantum information. The great difficulty in constructing an optical quantum computer is that photons naturally interact weakly with one another. This thesis first gives a brief review of two early approaches to optical quantum computation. It will describe how any discrete unitary operation can be performed using a single photon and a network of beam splitters, and how the Kerr effect can be used to construct a two photon logic gate. Second, this work provides a thorough introduction to the linear optical quantum computer developed by Knill, Laflamme, and Milburn. It then presents this author's results on the reliability of this scheme when implemented using imperfect photon detectors. This author finds that quantum computers of this sort cannot be built using current technology. Third, this dissertation describes a method for constructing a linear optical quantum computer using nearly orthogonal coherent states of light as the qubits. It shows how a universal set of logic operations can be performed, including calculations of the fidelity with which these operations may be accomplished. It discusses methods for reducing and correcting errors and recovering from failed operations. Lastly it describes an analysis of the long distance transmission of the coherent state qubits and shows how transmission errors can be corrected.
Quantum information science aims to harness uniquely quantum mechanical properties to enhance measurement and information technologies, and to explore fundamental aspects of quantum physics. Of the various approaches to quantum computing [1], photons are particularly appealing for their low-noise properties and ease of manipulation at the single qubit level [2]. Encoding quantum information in photons is also an appealing approach to quantum communication, metrology (eg. [3]), measurement (eg. [4]) and other quantum technologies [5]. However, the implementation of optical quantum circuits with bulk optics has reached practical limits. We have developed an integrated waveguide approach to photonic quantum circuits for high performance, miniaturisation and scalability [6]. Here we report high-fidelity silica-on-silicon integrated optical realisations of key quantum photonic circuits, including two-photon quantum interference and a controlled-NOT logic gate [7]. We have demonstrated controlled manipulation of up to four photons on-chip, including high-fidelity single qubit operations, using a lithographically patterned resistive phase shifter [8]. We have used this architecture to implement a small-scale compiled version of Shorʼs quantum factoring algorithm [9] and demonstrated heralded generation of tuneable four photon entangled states from a six photon input [10]. We have combined waveguide photonic circuits with superconducting single photon detectors [11]. We describe complex quantum interference behaviour in multi-mode interference devices with up to eight inputs and outputs [12], and quantum walks of correlated particles in arrays of coupled waveguides [13]. Finally, we give an overview of our recent work on fundamental aspects of quantum measurement [14,15] and single photon sources [16,17].