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Experimental realization of optical cat states by photon-addition

Yi-Ru Chen, Hsien-Yi Hsieh, Jingyu Ning, Hsun-Chung Wu, Hua Li Chen, Zi-Hao Shi, Popo Yang, Ole Steuernagel, Chien-Ming Wu, Ray‐Kuang Lee

Published Jan 1, 2024• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We added (heralded) single photons to squeezed vacuum states creating approximate optical ‘cat states’ at rates exceeding 2.3 × 105 per second; at least one order of magnitude higher than all previously reported realizations.
DOI
10.1364/cleo_fs.2024.fm4k.4

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Optical "Schrödinger cat" states, the non-classical superposition of two quasi-classical coherent states, serve as a basis for gedanken experiments testing quantum physics on mesoscopic scales and are increasingly recognized as a resource for quantum information processing. Here, we report the first experimental realization of optical "Schrödinger cats" by adding a photon to a squeezed vacuum state, so far only photon-subtraction protocols have been realized. Photon-addition gives us the advantage of using heralded signal photons as experimental triggers, and we can generate "Schrödinger cats" at rates exceeding 8.5×1048.5 \times 10^48.5×104 counts per second; at least one order of magnitude higher than all previously reported realizations. Wigner distributions with pronounced negative parts are demonstrated at down to -8.89 dB squeezing, even when the initial squeezed vacuum input state has low purity. Benchmarking against such a degraded squeezed input state we report a maximum fidelity of more than 80% with a maximum cat amplitude of ∣α∣≈1.66|α| \approx 1.66∣α∣≈1.66. Our experiment uses photon-addition from pairs, one of those photons is used for monitoring, giving us enhanced control; moreover the pair production rates are high and should allow for repeated application of photon-addition via repeat-stages.
Optical cat states, the nonclassical superposition of two quasi-classical coherent states, serve as a basis for gedankenexperiments testing quantum physics on mesoscopic scales and are increasingly recognized as a resource for quantum information processing. Here, we report the first experimental realization of optical cat states by adding a photon to a squeezed vacuum state; so far only photon-subtraction protocols have been realized. Photon addition gives us the advantage of using heralded signal photons as experimental triggers, and we can generate cat states at rates exceeding $2.3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{5}$ counts per second. Our most highly squeezed vacuum input state shows \ensuremath{-}8.9 dB squeezing, but such squeezing entails some degradation---in this case, 15.1 dB antisqueezing. Even so, our approach enables us to synthesize a state with a maximum cat amplitude of $|\ensuremath{\alpha}|\ensuremath{\approx}1.77$ whose Wigner distribution still shows pronounced negative parts. Our experimental implementation with controlled photon addition demonstrates a powerful and robust building block for advanced quantum state engineering and shows that heralded photon addition can be controlled well and performed at high rates.
A theoretical framework is developed to analyze the generation of the optical GKP state using a single-photon-added squeezed vacuum. This state, defined by the squeezing parameter rrr, is injected into a 50:50 beam splitter, and the optical GKP state is obtained through conditional measurement at one output port. The single-photon-added squeezed vacuum is especially prominent in this context because it provides a simpler and more experimentally accessible ingredient than Schrodinger cat states, while conditional measurement ensures projection onto a state that closely approximates the finite-energy GKP form. Fidelity is employed to quantify this closeness, and the analysis demonstrates that the scheme achieves a maximum fidelity of 85% at a squeezing level of 3.76 dB3.76 \ \text{dB}3.76 dB. This performance surpasses approaches based on squeezed optical odd Schrodinger cat states, underscoring the single-photon-added squeezed vacuum as a practical and effective pathway toward fault-tolerant photonic quantum computing.