Regulated and entangled photons from a single quantum Dot

We propose a new method of generating nonclassical optical field states. The method uses a semiconductor device, which consists of a single quantum dot as active medium embedded in a p- i- n junction and surrounded by a microcavity. Resonant tunneling of electrons and holes into the quantum dot ground states, together with the Pauli exclusion principle, produce regulated single photons or regulated pairs of photons. We propose that this device also has the unique potential to generate pairs of entangled photons at a well-defined repetition rate.     

Flying qubits and entangled photons

Efficient generation of polarized single photons or entangled photon pairs is crucial for the implementation of quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. Self organized semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are capable of emitting on demand one polarized photon or an entangled photon pair upon current injection. Highly efficient single‐photon sources consist of a pin structure inserted into a microcavity where single electrons and holes are funneled into an InAs QD via a submicron AlOx aperture, leading to emission of single polarized photons with record purity of the spectrum and non‐classicality of the photons. A new QD site‐control technique is based on using the surface strain field of an AlO_x current aperture below the QD. GaN/AlN QD based devices are promising to operate at room temperature and reveal a fine‐structure splitting (FSS) depending inversely on the QD size. Large GaN/AlN QDs show disappearance of the FSS. Theory also suggests QDs grown on (111)‐oriented GaAs substrates as source of entangled photon pairs.     

Entangling single photons on a beamsplitter

We report on a scheme for the creation of time-bin entangled states out of two subsequent single photons. Both photons arrive on the same input port of a beamsplitter and the situation in which the photons leave the beamsplitter on different output ports is post-selected. We derive a full quantum mechanical analysis of such time-bin entanglement for emitters subject to uncorrelated dephasing processes and apply this model to sequential single photons emerging from a single semiconductor quantum dot. Our results indicate that the visibility of entanglement is degraded by decoherence effects in the quantum dot, but can be restored by use of CQED effects, namely the Purcell effect.     

Entanglement on demand through time reordering

Entangled photons can be generated "on demand" in a novel scheme involving unitary time reordering of the photons emitted in a radiative decay cascade. The scheme yields polarization entangled photon pairs, even though prior to reordering the emitted photons carry significant "which path information" and their polarizations are unentangled. This shows that quantum chronology can be manipulated in a way that is lossless and deterministic (unitary). The theory can, in principle, be tested and applied to the biexciton cascade in semiconductor quantum dots.     

Directed self‐assembly of single quantum dots for telecommunication wavelength optical devices

The ability to control the nucleation site of a single quantum dot will have a profound effect on the development of quantum dot‐based photonic devices. The deterministic approach will provide a truly scalable technology that can take full advantage of conventional semiconductor processing for device fabrication. In this review, we discuss the progress towards the integration of deterministically nucleated single quantum dots with top‐down quantum optical devices targeting telecommunication wavelengths. Advances in site‐controlled quantum dot nucleation using selective‐area epitaxy now makes it possible to position quantum dots at predetermined positions on a substrate in registry with alignment markers. This, in turn, has allowed for devices fabricated in subsequent processing steps to be aligned to individual quantum dots. The specific devices being targeted are gated‐single dots and coupled dot‐cavity systems which are key components of efficient sources of single photons and entangled photon pairs.     

Broadband source of polarization entangled photons

A broadband source of polarization entangled photons based on type-II spontaneous parametric down conversion from a chirped PPKTP crystal is presented. With numerical simulation and experimental evaluation, we report a source of broadband polarization entangled states with a bandwidth of approximately 125 nm for use in quantum interferometry. The technique has the potential to become a basis for the development of flexible broadband sources with designed spectral properties.     

Monolithic source of photon pairs

The creation of monolithically integratable sources of single and entangled photons is a top research priority with formidable challenges: The production, manipulation, and measurement of the photons should all occur in the same material platform, thereby fostering stability and scalability. Here we demonstrate efficient photon pair production in a semiconductor platform, gallium arsenide. Our results show type-I spontaneous parametric down-conversion of laser light from a 2.2 mm long Bragg-reflection waveguide, and we estimate its internal pair production efficiency to be 2.0×10(-8) (pairs/pump photon). This is the first time that significant pair production has been demonstrated in a structure that can be electrically self-pumped and which can form the basis for passive optical circuitry, bringing us markedly closer to complete integration of quantum optical technologies.     

High Intensity Generation of Entangled Photons in a Two‐Mode Electromagnetic Field

At present, the sources of entangled photons have a low rate of photon generation. This limitation is a key component of quantum informatics for the realization of such functions as linear quantum computation and quantum teleportation. In this paper, we propose a method for high intensity generation of entangled photons in a two‐mode electromagnetic field. On the basis of exact solutions of the Schrödinger equation, when electrons interact in an atom with a strong two‐mode electromagnetic field, it is shown that there may be large quantum entanglement between photons. The quantum entanglement is analyzed on the basis of the Schmidt parameter. It is shown that the Schmidt parameter can reach very high values depending on the choice of characteristics of the two‐mode fields. We find the Wigner function for the considered case. Violation of Bell's inequalities for continuous variables is demonstrated.     

Multistage entanglement swapping

We report an experimental demonstration of entanglement swapping over two quantum stages. By successful realizations of two cascaded photonic entanglement swapping processes, entanglement is generated and distributed between two photons, that originate from independent sources and do not share any common past. In the experiment we use three pairs of polarization entangled photons and conduct two Bell-state measurements: one between the first and second pair, and one between the second and third pair. This results in projecting the remaining two outgoing photons from pair 1 and 3 into an entangled state, as characterized by an entanglement witness. The experiment represents an important step towards a full quantum repeater where multiple entanglement swapping is a key ingredient.     

Spin-photon entangling diode

We propose a semiconductor device that can electrically generate entangled electron spin-photon states, providing a building block for entanglement of distant spins. The device consists of a p-i-n diode structure that incorporates a coupled double quantum dot. We show that electronic control of the diode bias and local gating allow for the generation of single photons that are entangled with a robust quantum memory based on the electron spins. Practical performance of this approach to controlled spin-photon entanglement is analyzed.     

Quantum diffraction of position-momentum entangled photons from a sharp edge

In this paper, an experiment of quantum diffraction of position-momentum entangled photons from a straight sharp edge is presented. Path of a single photon of an entangled pair is partially blocked by a sharp edge whereas the other photon is detected at a stationary location without revealing the which-path information of the other photon. Quantum diffraction pattern of the sharp edge is revealed only in the correlated conditional detection of spatially separated photons and no diffraction pattern is formed in local detections of individual photons. Theoretical analysis of the quantum diffraction of position-momentum entangled photons from a sharp edge is also presented in this paper. Experimental measurements of the quantum diffraction pattern are compared with theoretically calculated quantum diffraction pattern of position-momentum entangled photons.     

Aerial image formation of quantum lithography for diffraction limit

Since the diffraction limit of Rayleigh criterion hardly creates finer features, the development for the quantum lithography of entangled photons, one of technologies beyond the diffraction limit, is a key merit without the shorter wavelength source tool. In the arbitrary pattern formation for the commercialization of this lithography, however, this quantum lithography is required to implement mask patterns and the conventional optical lithography. In this paper, for the quantum lithography of entangled photons, collective behavior of N-photon entangled states is modeled and simulated to show the effect of photon entangled states for 3-dimensional arbitrary pattern formation by using the rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA) and Kirchhoff analysis. For the enhanced resolution from the point of view that the de Broglie wavelength of a quantum state comprised of two entangled photons is half the classical wavelength associated with either photon, simulation results of entangled photons are similar to those of short wavelengths. However, both of simulation results show that the resolution of entangled photons is better than those of the shorter wavelengths. Simulation results can predict realistic better performance of entangled photons.     

Experimental Non-Local Generation of Entanglement from Independent Sources

We experimentally demonstrate a non-local generation of entanglement from two independent photonic sources in an ancilla-free process. Two bosons （photons） are entangled in polarization space by steering into a novel interferometer setup, in which they have never met each other. The entangled photons are delivered to polarization analyzers in different sites, respectively, and a non-local interaction is observed. Entanglement is further verified by the way of the measured violation of a CHSH type Bell＇s inequality with S-values of 2.54 and 27 standard deviations. Our results will shine a new light onto the understanding of how quantum mechanics works, have possible philosophic consequences on the one hand and provide an essential element for quantum information processing on the other hand. Potential applications of our results are briefly discussed.     

Experimental observation of quantum Talbot effects

We report the first experimental observation of quantum Talbot effects with single photons and entangled photon pairs. Both the first- and second-order quantum Talbot self-images are observed experimentally. They exhibit unique properties, which are different from those produced by coherent and incoherent classical light sources. In particular, our experiments show that the revival distance of two-photon Talbot imaging is twice the usual classical Talbot length and there is no net improvement in the resolution, due to the near-field effect of Fresnel diffraction, which is different from the case of previous proof-of-principle quantum lithography experiments in the far field.     

Nonclassical interference and entanglement generation using a photonic crystal fiber pair photon source

We demonstrate two key components for optical quantum information processing: a bright source of heralded single photons; and a bright source of entangled photon pairs. A pair of pump photons produces a correlated pair of photons at widely spaced wavelengths (583 nm and 900 nm), via a chi((3)) four-wave mixing process. We demonstrate nonclassical interference between heralded photons from independent sources with a visibility of 95% (after correction for background), and an entangled photon pair source, with a fidelity of 89% with a Bell state.     

Fast path and polarization manipulation of telecom wavelength single photons in lithium niobate waveguide devices

We demonstrate fast polarization and path control of photons at 1550?nm in lithium niobate waveguide devices using the electro-optic effect. We show heralded single photon state engineering, quantum interference, fast state preparation of two entangled photons, and feedback control of quantum interference. These results point the way to a single platform that will enable the integration of nonlinear single photon sources and fast reconfigurable circuits for future photonic quantum information science and technology.     

Quantum and classical coincidence imaging

Coincidence, or ghost, imaging is a technique that uses two correlated optical fields to form an image of an object. In this work we identify aspects of coincidence imaging which can be performed with classically correlated light sources and aspects which require quantum entanglement. We find that entangled photons allow high-contrast, high-resolution imaging to be performed at any distance from the light source. We demonstrate this fact by forming ghost images in the near and far fields of an entangled photon source, noting that the product of the resolutions of these images is a factor of 3 better than that which is allowed by classical diffraction theory.     

Repeat-until-success linear optics distributed quantum computing

We demonstrate the possibility to perform distributed quantum computing using only single-photon sources (atom-cavity-like systems), linear optics, and photon detectors. The qubits are encoded in stable ground states of the sources. To implement a universal two-qubit gate, two photons should be generated simultaneously and pass through a linear optics network, where a measurement is performed on them. Gate operations can be repeated until a success is heralded without destroying the qubits at any stage of the operation. In contrast with other schemes, this does not require explicit qubit-qubit interactions, a priori entangled ancillas, nor the feeding of photons into photon sources.     

Ghost images without the background based on Bell states

When observing a ghost image, information on an object is obtained by measuring the spatial correlation between photons propagating in the object and reconstruction channels. In the traditional schemes involving two-mode entangled quantum states or quasithermal light sources, the correlation function of photons has a background associated with the average number of photons in the channels. It has been shown in this work that the use of polarization-entangled states, e.g., Bell states, allows removing this background and, thereby, obtaining a higher quality reconstructed image.     

Heralded path-entangled NOON states generation from a reconfigurable photonic chip

Maximal multi-photon entangled states, known as NOON states, play an essential role in quantum metrology. With the number of photons growing, NOON states are becoming increasingly powerful and advantageous for obtaining supersensitive and super-resolved measurements. In this paper, we propose a universal scheme for generating three- and four-photon path-entangled NOON states on a reconfigurable photonic chip via photons subtracted from pairs and detected by heralding counters. Our method is postselection free, enabling phase supersensitive measurements and sensing at the Heisenberg limit. Our NOON-state generator allows for integration of quantum light sources as well as practical and portable precision phase-related measurements.