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Photonics Research

High-dimensional entanglement generation based on a Pancharatnam–Berry phase metasurface

Zhixiang Li, Zhu Dong, Peicheng Lin, Pengcheng Huo, Hongkuan Xia, Mingze Liu, Ya-Ping Ruan, Jiang-Shan Tang, Miao Cai, Haodong Wu, Chao-Ying Meng, Han Zhang, Peng Chen, Ting Xu, Keyu Xia, Lijian Zhang, Yanqing Lu

Published Sep 27, 2022• 32 citations
Publisher

Abstract

High-dimensional entanglement is of great importance in quantum communications and can be realized by encoding information on multiple degrees of freedom (DoFs) of the photons. Conventionally, the realization of such high-dimensional entanglement involves different combinations of bulky optical elements. In this work, we present the use of a single dielectric metasurface to generate high-dimensional entanglement by modulating multi-DoFs of photons. By sending one of the polarization-entangled photons to interact with the metasurface, we encode path, spin angular momentum, and orbital angular momentum information to the original state. We achieve a four-qubit quantum state in the experiment. To verify it, we experimentally demonstrate the nonlocal correlations between the two photons by recording the correlated images, and we also perform a quantum state tomography measurement. This scheme can be applied to on-chip quantum state manipulation, which is promising in quantum communication with integrated components.

DOI
10.1364/prj.470663

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High-dimensional entanglement is of great importance in quantum communications and can be realized by encoding information on multiple degrees of freedom (DoFs) of the photons. Conventionally, the realization of such high-dimensional entanglement involves different combinations of bulky optical elements. In this work, we present the use of a single dielectric metasurface to generate high-dimensional entanglement by modulating multi-DoFs of photons. By sending one of the polarization-entangled photons to interact with the metasurface, we encode path, spin angular momentum, and orbital angular momentum information to the original state. We achieve a four-qubit quantum state in the experiment. To verify it, we experimentally demonstrate the nonlocal correlations between the two photons by recording the correlated images, and we also perform a quantum state tomography measurement. This scheme can be applied to on-chip quantum state manipulation, which is promising in quantum communication with integrated components.
Metamaterials constructed from deep subwavelength building blocks have been used to demonstrate phenomena ranging from negative refractive index and ε-near-zero to cloaking, emulations of general relativity, and superresolution imaging. More recently, metamaterials have been suggested as a new platform for quantum optics. We present the use of a dielectric metasurface to generate entanglement between the spin and orbital angular momentum of photons. We demonstrate the generation of the four Bell states on a single photon by using the geometric phase that arises from the photonic spin-orbit interaction and subsequently show nonlocal correlations between two photons that interacted with the metasurface. Our results show that metamaterials are suitable for the generation and manipulation of entangled photon states, introducing the area of quantum optics metamaterials.
Twisted photons can in principle carry a discrete unbounded amount of orbital angular momentum (OAM), which are of great significance for quantum communication and fundamental tests of quantum theory. However, the methods for characterization of the OAM quantum states present a fundamental limit for miniaturization. Metasurfaces can exploit new degrees of freedom to manipulate optical fields beyond the capabilities of bulk optics, opening a broad range of novel and superior applications in quantum photonics. Here we present a scheme to reconstruct the density matrix of the OAM quantum states of single photons with all-dielectric metasurfaces composed of birefringent meta-atoms. We have also measured the Schmidt number of the OAM entanglement by the multiplexing of multiple degrees of freedom. Our work represents a step toward the practical application of quantum metadevices for the measurement of OAM quantum states in free-space quantum imaging and communications.
With recent advances in nanophotonics, metasurfaces based on nano-resonators have facilitated novel types of optical devices. In particular, the interplay between different degrees of freedom, involving polarization and spatial modes, boosted classical polarization measurements and imaging applications. However, the use of metasurfaces for measuring the quantum states of light remains largely unexplored. Conventionally, the task of quantum state tomography is realized with several bulk optical elements, which need to be reconfigured multiple times. Such setups can suffer from decoherence, and there is a fundamental and practical interest in developing integrated solutions for measurement of multi-photon quantum states. We present a new concept and the first experimental realization of all-dielectric metasurfaces with no tuneable elements for imaging-based reconstruction of the full quantum state of entangled photons. Most prominently, we implement multi-photon interferometric measurements on a sub-wavelength thin optical element, which delivers ultimate miniaturization and extremely high robustness. Specifically, we realize a highly transparent all-dielectric metasurface, which spatially splits different components of quantum-polarization states. Then, a simple one-shot measurement of correlations with polarization-insensitive on-off click detectors enables complete reconstruction of multi-photon density matrices with high precision. In our experiment, we prepare sets of polarization states and reconstruct their density matrices with a high fidelity of over 99% for single photon states and above 95% for two-photon states. Our work provides a fundamental advance in the imaging of quantum states, where multi-photon quantum interference takes place at sub-wavelength scale.
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.
As an important imaging technique, holography has been realized with different physical dimensions of light, including polarization, wavelength, and time. Recently, quantum holography has been demonstrated by utilizing polarization entangled state with the advantages of high robustness and enhanced spatial resolution, comparing with classical holography. However, the polarization is only a two-dimensional degree of freedom, which greatly limits the capacity of quantum holography. Here, we propose a method to realize high-dimensional quantum holography by using high-dimensional orbital angular momentum (OAM) entanglement. A high-capacity OAM-encoded quantum holographic system can be obtained by multiplexing a wide range of OAM-dependent holographic images. Proof-of-principle experiments with four- and six-dimensional OAM entangled states have been implemented and verify the feasibility of our idea. Our experimental results also demonstrate that the high-dimensional quantum holography shows a high robustness to classical noise. What is more, the level of security of the holographic imaging encryption system can be greatly improved in our high-dimensional quantum holography.
Multiprotocol quantum key distribution (mQKD) enables users to flexibly select protocols for secure quantum communication, though achieving mQKD introduces considerable system complexity and resource demands. Here, we report the first realization of mQKD using a metasurface, which generates multiple hybrid states of photonic spin angular momentum (SAM) and orbital angular momentum (OAM) and distributes them to different users. The incident polarization-entangled photon pair interacts with the metasurface, producing four SAM-OAM hybrid states with high fidelity through spin-orbit conversion. Among these hybrid states, two execute the BB84 protocol, while the other two perform the BBM92 protocol, all demonstrating high secret key rates and low quantum bit error rates. This approach provides a robust, compact solution for generating and distributing SAM-OAM hybrid states and stands out for the remarkable capability of a metasurface in secured information processing.