The hybrid quantum computer

In this paper, we look at the possibility of realizing one-way quantum computing through a hybrid quantum computing architecture based on stationary qubits inside an optical cavity and flying qubits (photons). It has been shown that direct qubit-qubit interactions for two-qubit gate implementations can be replaced by the experimentally less demanding generation of single photons on demand and linear optics photon pair measurements. The outcomes of these measurements indicate either the completion of the gate or the presence of the original qubits, such that the operation can be repeated until success.     

Quantum teleportation with a quantum dot single photon source

We report the experimental demonstration of a quantum teleportation protocol with a semiconductor single photon source. Two qubits, a target and an ancilla, each defined by a single photon occupying two optical modes (dual-rail qubit), were generated independently by the single photon source. Upon measurement of two modes from different qubits and postselection, the state of the two remaining modes was found to reproduce the state of the target qubit. In particular, the coherence between the target qubit modes was transferred to the output modes to a large extent. The observed fidelity is 80%, in agreement with the residual distinguishability between consecutive photons from the source. An improved version of this teleportation scheme using more ancillas is the building block of the recent Knill, Laflamme, and Milburn proposal for efficient linear optics quantum computation.     

Quantum communication without alignment using multiple-qubit single-photon states

We propose a scheme for encoding logical qubits in a subspace protected against collective rotations around the propagation axis using the polarization and transverse spatial degrees of freedom of single photons. This encoding allows for quantum key distribution without the need of a shared reference frame. We present methods to generate entangled states of two logical qubits using present day down-conversion sources and linear optics, and show that the application of these entangled logical states to quantum information schemes allows for alignment-free tests of Bell's inequalities, quantum dense coding, and quantum teleportation.     

Quantum information processing with fiber optics: Quantum Fourier transform of 1024 qubits

Among a number of candidates, photons have advantages for implementing qubits: very weak coupling to the environment, the existing single photon measurement technique, and so on. Moreover, commercially available fiber-optic devices enable us to construct quantum circuits that consist of one-qubit operations (including classically controlled gates). Fiber optics resolves the mode matching problems in conventional optics and provides mechanically stable optical circuits. A quantum Fourier transform (QFT) followed by measurement was demonstrated with a simple circuit based on fiber optics. The circuit was shown to be robust against imperfections in the rotation gate. The error probability was estimated to be 0.01 per qubit, which corresponded to error-free operation for 100 qubits. The error probability can be further reduced to achieve successful QFT of 1024 qubits by taking the majority of the accumulated results. As is well known, QFT is a key function in quantum computations such as the final part of Shor’s factorization algorithm. The present QFT circuit, in combination with controlled unitary gates, would make possible practical quantum computers. Possible schemes of realizing quantum computers in this line are explored.     

Nearly deterministic linear optical controlled-NOT gate

We show how to construct a near deterministic CNOT gate using several single photons sources, linear optics, photon number resolving quantum nondemolition detectors, and feed forward. This gate does not require the use of massively entangled states common to other implementations and is very efficient on resources with only one ancilla photon required. The key element of this gate is nondemolition detectors that use a weak cross-Kerr nonlinearity effect to conditionally generate a phase shift on a coherent probe if a photon is present in the signal mode. These potential phase shifts can then be measured using highly efficient homodyne detection.     

Quantum phase gate in decoherence-free subspace with cavity QED system

We demonstrate how to perform quantum phase gate with cavity QED system in decoherence-free subspace by using only linear optics elements and photon detectors. The qubits are encoded in the singlet state of the atoms in cavities among spatially separated nodes, and the quantum interference of polarized photons decayed from the optical cavities is used to realized the desired quantum operation among distant nodes. In comparison with previous schemes, the distinct advantage is that the gate fidelity could not only resist collective noises, but also immune from atomic spontaneous emission, cavity decay, and imperfection of the photodetectors. We also discuss the experimental feasibility of our scheme.     

Deutsch-jozsa algorithm using triggered single photons from a single quantum dot

We demonstrate a two-qubit Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm with single photons from a single InP quantum dot. The qubits are implemented via the spatial mode and the polarization of a single photon. Our photon source is operated both under continuous and pulsed excitation, the latter allowing deterministic quantum logic by generating photons on demand with a strong suppression of two-photon events. The computation reached a success probability of up to 79%. We also exploit the concept of decoherence-free subspaces that helps to make our experimental setup robust against sources of phase noise.     

Loss-tolerant optical qubits

We present a linear optics quantum computation scheme that employs a new encoding approach that incrementally adds qubits and is tolerant to photon loss errors. The scheme employs a circuit model but uses techniques from cluster-state computation and achieves comparable resource usage. To illustrate our techniques we describe a quantum memory which is fault tolerant to photon loss.     

Experimental nonlinear sign shift for linear optics quantum computation

We have realized the nonlinear sign shift operation for photonic qubits. This operation shifts the phase of two photons reflected by a beam splitter using an extra single photon and measurement. We show that the conditional phase shift is (1.05+/-0.06)pi in clear agreement with theory. Our results show that, by using an ancilla photon and conditional detection, nonlinear optical effects can be implemented using only linear optical elements. This experiment represents an essential step for linear optical implementations of scalable quantum computation.     

Complete Deterministic Analyzer for Multi-Electron Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger States Assisted by Double-Side Optical Microcavities

We present a complete deterministic scheme for the multi-electron Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) state analyzer, resorting to an interface between the polarization of a probe photon and the spin of an electron in a quantum dot embedded in a double-sided optical microcavity. All the multi-spin GHZ states can be completely discriminated by using single-photon detectors and linear optical elements. Our scheme has some features. First, it is a complete GHZ-state analyzer for multi-electron spin systems. Second, the initial entangled states remain after being identified and they can be used for a successive task. Third, the electron qubits are static and the photons play a role of a medium for information transfer, which has a good application in quantum repeater in which the electron qubits are used to store the information and the photon qubits are used to transfer the information between others.     

Resource-efficient linear optical quantum computation

We introduce a scheme for linear optics quantum computation, that makes no use of teleported gates, and requires stable interferometry over only the coherence length of the photons. We achieve a much greater degree of efficiency and a simpler implementation than previous proposals. We follow the "cluster state" measurement based quantum computational approach, and show how cluster states may be efficiently generated from pairs of maximally polarization entangled photons using linear optical elements. We demonstrate the universality and usefulness of generic parity measurements, as well as introducing the use of redundant encoding of qubits to enable utilization of destructive measurements--both features of use in a more general context.     

Measurement-based entanglement under conditions of extreme photon loss

The act of measuring optical emissions from two remote qubits can entangle them. By demanding that a photon from each qubit reaches the detectors, one can ensure that no photon was lost. But retaining both photons is rare when loss rates are high, as in Moehring et al. where 30 successes occurred per 10(9) attempts. We describe a means to exploit the low grade entanglement heralded by the detection of a lone photon: A subsequent perfect operation is quickly achieved by consuming this noisy resource. We require only two qubits per node, and can tolerate both path length variation and loss asymmetry. The impact of photon loss upon the failure rate is then linear; realistic high-loss devices can gain orders of magnitude in performance and thus support quantum computing.     

Experimental demonstration of a nondestructive controlled-NOT quantum gate for two independent photon qubits

Universal logic gates for two quantum bits (qubits) form an essential ingredient of quantum information processing. However, photons, one of the best candidates for qubits, suffer from a lack of strong nonlinear coupling, which is required for quantum logic operations. Here we show how this drawback can be overcome by reporting a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration of a nondestructive controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate for two independent photons using only linear optical elements in conjunction with single-photon sources and conditional dynamics. Moreover, we exploit the CNOT gate to discriminate all four Bell states in a teleportation experiment.     

Dicke quantum spin glass of atoms and photons

Recent studies of strongly interacting atoms and photons in optical cavities have rekindled interest in the Dicke model of atomic qubits coupled to discrete photon cavity modes. We study the multimode Dicke model with variable atom-photon couplings. We argue that a quantum spin-glass phase can appear, with a random linear combination of the cavity modes superradiant. We compute atomic and photon spectral response functions across this quantum phase transition, both of which should be accessible in experiments.     

Entanglement formation and violation of Bell's inequality with a semiconductor single photon source

We report the generation of polarization-entangled photons, using a quantum dot single photon source, linear optics, and photodetectors. Two photons created independently are observed to violate Bell's inequality. The density matrix describing the polarization state of the postselected photon pairs is reconstructed and agrees well with a simple model predicting the quality of entanglement from the known parameters of the single photon source. Our scheme provides a method to create no more than one entangled photon pair per cycle after postselection, a feature useful to enhance quantum cryptography protocols based on shared entanglement.     

Quantum teleportation with a three-Bell-state analyzer

We present a novel Bell-state analyzer (BSA) for time-bin qubits allowing the detection of three out of four Bell states with linear optics, two detectors, and no auxiliary photons. The theoretical success rate of this scheme is 50%. Our new BSA demonstrates the power of generalized quantum measurements, known as positive operator valued measurements. A teleportation experiment was performed to demonstrate its functionality. We also present a teleportation experiment with a fidelity larger than the cloning limit.     

Remote Three-Party Quantum State Sharing Based on Three-Atom Entangled States Assisted by Cavity QED and Flying Qubits

We present a remote three-party quantum state sharing (QSTS) schemewith three-atom Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states assisted bycavity QED and flying qubits. It exploits some photons to act as the flying qubits for setting up the quantum channel securely with three-atom systems in a GHZ state, which maybe make this remote QSTS scheme more practical than some other schemes based on atom systems only or ion-trap systems as photons interact with their environments weakly. The coherence of the stationary atom qubits in cavities provides the convenience for the parties in QSTS to check eavesdropping, different from entangled photon systems. Moreover, the present scheme works in a collective-noise condition and it may be more practical than others in applications in future.     

Scheme for Controlled Dense Coding via Cavity Decay

A scheme for controlled dense coding via cavity decay is proposed. In the scheme, two degenerate ground states of six-level atoms are used as the storage qubits and the leaky photons act as flying qubits. The system is robust against atomic spontaneous emissions and decoherence of cavity field. And the successful probability is nearly 1 with quantum nondemolition parity detectors and photon detectors, The scheme may be realized based on current technologies.     

Scheme for Controlled Dense Coding via Cavity Decay

A scheme for controlled dense coding via cavity decay is proposed. In the scheme, two degenerate ground states of six-level atoms are used as the storage qubits and the leaky photons act as flying qubits. The system is robust against atomic spontaneous emissions and decoherence of cavity field. And the successful probability is nearly 1 with quantum nondemolition parity detectors and photon detectors. The scheme may be realized based on current technologies.     

Entanglement generation by Fock-state filtration

We demonstrate a Fock-state filter which is capable of preferentially blocking single photons over photon pairs. The large conditional nonlinearities are based on higher-order quantum interference, using linear optics, an ancilla photon, and measurement. We demonstrate that the filter acts coherently by using it to convert unentangled photon pairs to a path-entangled state. We quantify the degree of entanglement by transforming the path information to polarization information; applying quantum state tomography we measure a tangle of T=(20+/-9)%.