Emerging optical and quantum computers require hardware capable of coherent transport of and operations on quantum states. Here, we investigate finite optical waveguide arrays with linear coupling as means of efficient and compact coherent state transfer. Coherent transfer with periodic state revivals is enabled by engineering coupling coefficients between neighbouring waveguides to yield commensurate eigenvalue spectrum. Particular cases of finite arrays have been actively studied to achieve the perfect state transfer by mirroring the input into the output state. We explore a much wider scope of coherent propagation and revivals of both the state amplitude and phase. We analytically solve the inverse eigenvalue problem to find the corresponding array coupling coefficients and use them to construct optical waveguide arrays that support full state revivals. We present analytical solutions for general arrays with 4 and 5 waveguides and for symmetric arrays with 7 and 9 waveguides. These solutions include previously proposed families of solutions based on equidistance between eigenvalues.
Emerging optical and quantum computers require hardware capable of coherent transport of and operations on quantum states. Here, we investigate finite optical waveguide arrays with linear coupling as means of efficient and compact coherent state transfer. Coherent transfer with periodic state revivals is enabled by engineering coupling coefficients between neighbouring waveguides to yield commensurate eigenvalue spectrum. Particular cases of finite arrays have been actively studied to achieve the perfect state transfer by mirroring the input into the output state. We explore a much wider scope of coherent propagation and revivals of both the state amplitude and phase. We analytically solve the inverse eigenvalue problem to find the corresponding array coupling coefficients and use them to construct optical waveguide arrays that support full state revivals. We present analytical solutions for general arrays with 4 and 5 waveguides and for symmetric arrays with 7 and 9 waveguides. These solutions include previously proposed families of solutions based on equidistance between eigenvalues.
Coherent state transfer is an important requirement in the construction of quantum computer hardware. The state transfer can be realized by linear next-neighbour-coupled finite chains. Starting from the commensurability of chain eigenvalues as the general condition of periodic dynamics, we find chains that support full periodic state revivals. For short chains, exact solutions are found analytically by solving the inverse eigenvalue problem to obtain the coupling coefficients between chain elements. We apply the solutions to design optical waveguide arrays and perform numerical simulations of light propagation thorough realistic waveguide structures. Applications of the presented method to the realization of a parallel bus for quantum states, perfect transfer and edge oscillations are proposed and considered in detail.
We propose a quantum network consisting of optical waveguides in the linear regime for quantum state transfer. The circular topology of our network introduces novel functionalities that enable us to analytically identify the conditions under which perfect state transfer (PST) is achievable. We utilize the properties of the Fourier modes, in particular the zero Fourier modes, which provide a protected subspace for the efficient propagation of quantum states, resulting in PST to the diametrically opposite site in a network with any number of sites N=4n. The coupling profiles in the photonic network modulate the number of zero-energy eigenmodes, with uniform couplings yielding more than evanescent ones, confirming that the expedition of observed PST originates from the collapse of the eigenvalue spectrum into three distinct eigenvalue blocks, including N/2 manifolds of zero Fourier modes. We investigate PST in both discrete- and continuous-variable input regimes, using single photon state, Schrödinger cat states, and two-mode squeezed vacuum state. Our findings apply to the engineering of quantum networks and photonic lattices, paving the way for applications in controlled routing in integrated quantum circuits.
The arrays of nonlinear waveguides are a powerful integrated photonics platform for studying and manipulating quantum states of light. Also, they are a valuable resource for various quantum technologies. In this work, we employed a supermode approach to obtain an analytic solution to the evolution of degenerate biphoton states in arrays of nonlinear waveguides. The solution accounts for arrays of an arbitrary number of waveguides and coupling profiles. In addition, it provides an explicit analytic expression without the need of computationally-expensive steps. Actually, it only relies on the calculation of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the coupling matrix. In general, this needs to be performed numerically, but there are relevant instances in which analytic expressions are available. Thus, in certain cases, the procedure proposed here does not require the use of any numerical method. We analyze the general properties of the solution and show some application examples. Particularly, simple solutions that can be obtained by special symmetric injection profiles, the results for small arrays, and the properties of the propagation when only the center waveguide is pumped in a symmetric odd array. In addition, we present a proof-of-principle example on how to use the analytic solution to tackle inversion problems. That is, obtaining the initial conditions required to achieve a desired quantum state -- which is a valuable technological application. A relevant aspect of the method presented here is its scalability for large arrays due to the lack of resource-intensive steps -- both for the direct and inverse problems.
Abstract In this work, we investigate the quantum state reconstruction of the periodic input state in a 1-D waveguide array. In particular, we consider a single-photon multimode entangled W-state with different periodicities as an input to the array and study the effect of periodicity in the output. For comparison, we also study separable single photon periodic input states. We study the evolution of average photon number and the fidelity of the periodic input state and give the exact solution to investigate the revival of single photon multimode periodic input. Our solution is valid for any number of waveguides in the array. Our findings show the revival of the average photon number and almost complete quantum state reconstruction of the initial multimode entangled state for certain periodicities. The results reported here are significant because multimode-entangled states are essential resources for various applications in the physical implementation of photonic quantum technologies.
In the current quest for efficient and experimentally feasible platforms for implementation of multimode squeezing and entanglement in the continuous variable regime, we underpin and complement our results on the generation of versatile multimode entanglement and cluster states in nonlinear waveguide arrays presented by Barral et al., arXiv:1912.11154 [Phys. Rev. Appl. (to be published)]. We present detailed derivations of the equations that describe the propagation of light through this system, and then we focus on parameter regimes where these equations can be solved analytically. These analytical solutions build an intuition for the wide landscape of quantum states that are accessible through the activation of pumping, coupling, and measurement schemes. Furthermore, we showcase the acquired insights by using one of the identified analytical solutions to exhibit the generation, optimization, and scalability of spatial linear cluster states.
We study the cooperative optical coupling between regularly spaced atoms in a one-dimensional waveguide using decompositions to subradiant and super-radiant collective excitation eigenmodes, direct numerical solutions, and analytical transfer-matrix methods. We illustrate how the spectrum of transmitted light through the waveguide, including the emergence of narrow Fano resonances, can be understood by the resonance features of the eigenmodes. We describe a method based on super-radiant and subradiant modes to engineer the optical response of the waveguide and to store light. The stopping of light is obtained by transferring an atomic excitation to a subradiant collective mode with the zero radiative resonance linewidth by controlling the level shift of an atom in the waveguide. Moreover, we obtain an exact analytic solution for the transmitted light through the waveguide for the case of a regular lattice of atoms and provide a simple description of how the light transmission may present large resonance shifts when the lattice spacing is close, but not exactly equal, to half of the wavelength of the light. Experimental imperfections such as fluctuations of the positions of the atoms and loss of light from the waveguide are easily quantified in the numerical simulations, which produce the natural result that the optical response of the atomic array tends toward the response of a gas with random atomic positions.