We propose a framework to analyze linear optical circuits based on an analogy with stabilizer formalism in quantum circuits, which provides efficiently computable formulas related to state discriminations. Hence, we analyze a Bell-state discrimination scheme with linear optics and ancillary single photons. With an increasing number of ancilla photons, the success probability of Bell-state discrimination has a maximum of
512403≃0.787 at
28 ancilla photons. By contrast, the corresponding two-qubit measurement asymptotically approaches a maximally entangling measurement.
Quantum networking protocols, including quantum teleportation and entanglement swapping, use linear-optical Bell state measurements for heralding the distribution and transfer of quantum information. However, a linear-optical Bell state measurement requires identical photons and is susceptible to errors caused by multiphoton emission, fundamentally limiting the efficiency and fidelity of quantum networking protocols. Here we show a nonlinear Bell state analyzer for time-bin encoded photons based on a nanophotonic cavity with a sum-frequency generation efficiency of 4×10^{-5} to filter multiphoton emissions, and utilize it for faithful quantum teleportation involving spectrally distinct photons with fidelities ≥94% down to the single-photon level. Our result demonstrates that nonlinear-optical entangling operations, empowered by our efficient nanophotonics platform, can realize faithful quantum information protocols without requiring identical photons and without the fundamental limit on the fidelity of a Bell state measurement imposed by linear optics, which facilitates the realization of practical quantum networks.
Bell-state projections serve as a fundamental basis for most quantum communication and computing protocols today. However, with current Bell-state measurement schemes based on linear optics, only two of four Bell states can be identified, which means that the maximum success probability of this vital step cannot exceed
50%. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a scheme that amends the original measurement with additional modes in the form of ancillary photons, which leads to a more complex measurement pattern, and ultimately a higher success probability of
62.5%. Experimentally, we achieve a success probability of
(57.9±1.4)%, a significant improvement over the conventional scheme. With the possibility of extending the protocol to a larger number of ancillary photons, our work paves the way towards more efficient realisations of quantum technologies based on Bell-state measurements.