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IEEE International Conference on Nanotechnology (IEEE-NANO)

Quantum Circuits for Simulation of Optical and Photonic Devices

Guilherme P. Temporão, Gustavo Castro do Amaral, Thiago B. Guerreiro

Published Jul 2, 2023• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We provide and discuss examples of quantum circuits for simulating the behavior of optical and photonic devices, especially those present in quantum communication setups. Examples include decoherence effects in optical fibers, two-photon (Hong-Ou-Mandel) interference in a beamsplitter - including the case where multiple degrees of freedom are involved - and representation of weak coherent states. Moreover, we discuss the modelling of practical non-ideal characteristics of threshold single-photon detectors, namely, the quantum efficiency and the dark count rate.

DOI
10.1109/nano58406.2023.10231228

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We provide and discuss examples of quantum circuits for simulating the behavior of optical and photonic devices, especially those present in quantum communication setups. Examples include decoherence effects in optical fibers, two-photon (Hong-Ou-Mandel) interference in a beamsplitter - including the case where multiple degrees of freedom are involved - and representation of weak coherent states. Moreover, we discuss the modelling of practical non-ideal characteristics of threshold single-photon detectors, namely, the quantum efficiency and the dark count rate.
Extending an existing quantum optic model for beamsplitters, a comprehensive model is developed from the first principles of quantum physics to describe photons traversing linear optical devices of arbitrary number of ports and even a circuit of devices, which are essential components of photonic quantum computing gates and circuits. The model derives the quantum operators and states of the photons at the egress ports of a device, gate or circuit from those at the ingress ports. As an application and validation, it is used to model the experiment that discovered the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect and to explain the effect without the notion of quantum interference. The experiment is not only a landmark in the research of quantum optics but also important to photonic quantum computing design.
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A constructive method for simulating small-scale quantum circuits by use of linear optical devices is presented. It relies on the representation of several quantum bits by a single photon, and on the implementation of universal quantum gates using simple optical components (beam splitters, phase shifters, etc.). This suggests that the optical realization of small quantum networks with present-day quantum optics technology is a reasonable goal. This technique could be useful for demonstrating basic concepts of simple quantum algorithms or error-correction schemes. The optical analog of a nontrivial three-bit quantum circuit is presented as an illustration.
In this paper, we revisit the well-known Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) effect in which two photons, which meet at a beamsplitter, can interfere destructively, leading to null in coincidence counts. In a standard HOM measurement, the coincidence counts across the two output ports of the beamsplitter are monitored as the temporal delay between the two photons prior to the beamsplitter is varied, resulting in the well-known HOM dip. We show, both theoretically and experimentally, that by leaving the delay fixed at a particular value while relying on spectrally resolved coincidence photon counting, we can reconstruct the HOM dip, which would have been obtained through a standard delay-scanning, non-spectrally resolved HOM measurement. We show that our numerical reconstruction procedure exhibits a novel dispersion cancellation effect, to all orders. We discuss how our present work can lead to a drastic reduction in the time required to acquire a HOM interferogram, and specifically discuss how this could be of particular importance for the implementation of efficient quantum-optical coherence tomography devices.
Many components that are employed in quantum information and communication systems are well known photonic devices encountered in standard optical fiber communication systems, such as optical beamsplitters, waveguide couplers and junctions, electro-optic modulators and optical fiber links. The use of these photonic devices is becoming increasingly important especially in the context of their possible integration either in a specifically designed system or in an already deployed end-to-end fiber link. Whereas the behavior of these devices is well known under the classical regime, in some cases their operation under quantum conditions is less well understood. This paper reviews the salient features of the quantum scattering theory describing both the operation of the electro-optic phase and amplitude modulators in discrete and continuous-mode formalisms. This subject is timely and of importance in light of the increasing utilization of these devices in a variety of systems, including quantum key distribution and single-photon wavepacket measurement and conformation. In addition, the paper includes a tutorial development of the use of these models in selected but yet important applications, such as single and multi-tone modulation of photons, two-photon interference with phase-modulated light or the description of amplitude modulation as a quantum operation.
Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI QKD) is a promising and practical protocol for remote secret sharing, where the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) type interference in the measurement side provides a simple and economic way to resist malicious attacks on the measurement devices. Because the HOM interference greatly indicates the performance of MDI QKD system, its interferential behavior in practical situations deserve to be studied. In this work, we analyzed HOM visibility with several practical imperfections, such as the deviation of the beam splitting ratio, detection efficiency mismatch of detectors, inconsistent intensities of two incident pulses. In particular, we discussed the afterpulse effect of InGaAs avalanche photodiode detectors with a non-Markovian model, where we take the avalanche history into consideration and provide a new and more accurate perspective for afterpulse analysis. Simulation results indicate that the afterpulse effect in practical situation has a greater impact on the HOM performance than other imperfections. The results exhibit its value in realistic high-speed MDI QKD systems as well as other fiber-based HOM applications.