We propose a scheme that enables the deterministic generation of single phonons at GHz frequencies triggered by single photons in the near infrared. This process is mediated by a quantum dot embedded on-chip in an opto-mechanical circuit, which allows for the simultaneous control of the relevant photonic and phononic frequencies. We devise new opto-mechanical circuit elements that constitute the necessary building blocks for the proposed scheme and are readily implementable within the current state-of-the-art of nano-fabrication. This will open new avenues for implementing quantum functionalities based on phonons as an on-chip quantum bus.
We investigate both experimentally and theoretically a simple yet more robust and flexible alternative to Rabi oscillation-type biexciton preparation protocols traditionally used for semiconductor quantum dots. The quantum dot is excited by a strong laser pulse positively detuned from the two-photon resonance yielding an on demand initialization of the biexciton state by making use of the phonon-induced thermalization of the photon dressed states. It is shown that for excitation pulses in the picosecond range, a stable and high fidelity of up to $f_{XX}=0.98\pm 0.01$ is reached. Notably, the g…
Using the zero-phonon line (ZPL) emission of a single molecule, we realized a triggered source of near-infra-red (lambda=785 nm) single photons at a high repetition rate. A Weierstrass solid immersion lens is used to image single molecules with an optical resolution of 300 nm (~0.4*lambda) and a high collection efficiency. Because dephasing of the transition dipole due to phonons vanishes at liquid helium temperatures, our source is attractive for the efficient generation of single indistinguishable photons.
Quantum spin squeezing is an important resource for quantum information processing, but its squeezing degree is not easy to preserve in an open system with decoherence. Here, we propose a scheme to implement single-photon-triggered spin squeezing with decoherence reduction in an open system. In our system, a Dicke model (DM) is introduced into the quadratic optomechanics, which can be equivalent to an effective DM manipulated by the photon number. Besides, the phonon mode of the optomechanical system is coupled to a squeezed vacuum reservoir with a phase matching, resulting in that the thermal…
A non-classical light source emitting pairs of identical photons represents a versatile resource of interdisciplinary importance with applications in quantum optics and quantum biology. Emerging research fields, which benefit from such type of quantum light source, include quantum-optical spectroscopy or experiments on photoreceptor cells sensitive to photon statistics. To date, photon twins have mostly been generated using parametric downconversion sources, relying on Poissonian number distributions, or atoms, exhibiting low emission rates. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate the …
We report on a platform for the production of single photon devices with a fabrication yield of 100%. The sources are based on InAsP quantum dots embedded within position-controlled bottom-up InP nanowires. Using optimized growth conditions, we produce large arrays of structures having highly uniform geometries. Collection efficiencies are as high as 83% and multiphoton emission probabilities as low as 0.6% with the distribution away from optimal values associated with the excitation of other charge complexes and re-excitation processes, respectively, inherent to the above-band excitation empl…
Quantum cloning is an essential operation in quantum information and quantum computing. Similar to the `copy' operation in classical computing, the cloning of flying bits for further processing from the solid-state quantum bits in storage is an operation frequently used in quantum information processing. Here we propose a high-fidelity and controllable quantum cloning scheme between solid bits and flying bits. In order to overcome the obstacles from the no-cloning theorem and the weak phonon-photon interaction, we introduce a hybrid optomechanical system that performs both the probabilistic cl…
Deterministic single-photon source with on-chip 5.6 GHz acoustic clock
Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik, Leibniz-Institut im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.（柏林莱布尼茨固体电子学保罗·德鲁德研究所）；Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校物理系）；National Institute of Standards and Technology（美国国家标准与技术研究院）
Deterministic coupling of single solid-state emitters to nanocavities is the key for integrated quantum information devices. We here fabricate a photonic crystal cavity around a preselected single silicon-vacancy color center in diamond and demonstrate modification of the emitters internal population dynamics and radiative quantum efficiency. The controlled, room-temperature cavity coupling gives rise to a resonant Purcell enhancement of the zero-phonon transition by a factor of 19, coming along with a 2.5-fold reduction of the emitter's lifetime.
We study the role of electron-phonon scattering for a pulse-triggered quantum dot single-photon source which utilizes a modified version of stimulated Raman adiabatic passage and cavity-coupling. This on-demand source is coherently pumped with an optical pulse in the presence of a continuous wave laser drive, allowing for efficient generation of indistinguishable single photons with polarizations orthogonal to the applied fields. In contrast to previous studies, we explore the role of electron-phonon scattering on this semiconductor system by using a polaron master equation approach to model t…
Engineering the coupling between fundamental quantum excitations is at the heart of quantum science and technologies. A significant case is the creation of quantum light sources in which coupling between single photons and phonons can be controlled and harnessed to enable quantum information transduction. Here, we report the deterministic creation of quantum emitters featuring highly tunable coupling between excitons and phonons. The quantum emitters are formed in strain-induced quantum dots created in homobilayer semiconductor WSe2. The colocalization of quantum confined interlayer excitons a…
We report on the robust experimental accumulation of nonclassicallity of motion of a single trapped ion. The nonclassicality stems from deterministic incoherent modulation of thermal phonon number distribution implemented by a laser excitation of nonlinear coupling between the ion's internal - electronic levels and external - motional states. We demonstrate that the repetitive application of this nonlinear process monotonically accumulates the observable state nonclassicality. The output states converge to a phonon number distribution with high overlap with a particular Fock state and visible …
Quantum theory is based on a mathematical structure totally different from conventional arithmetic. Due to the symmetric nature of bosonic particles, annihilation or creation of single particles translates a quantum state depending on how many bosons are already in the given quantum system. This proportionality results in a variety of non-classical features of quantum mechanics including the bosonic commutation relation. The annihilation and creation operations have recently been implemented in photonic systems. However, this feature of quantum mechanics does not preclude the possibility of re…
Phonons, and in particular surface acoustic wave phonons, have been proposed as a means to coherently couple distant solid-state quantum systems. Recent experiments have shown that superconducting qubits can control and detect individual phonons in a resonant structure, enabling the coherent generation and measurement of complex stationary phonon states. Here, we report the deterministic emission and capture of itinerant surface acoustic wave phonons, enabling the quantum entanglement of two superconducting qubits. Using a 2 mm-long acoustic quantum communication channel, equivalent to a 500 n…
Using the deterministic, on-demand generation of two entangled phonons, we demonstrate a quantum eraser protocol in a phononic interferometer where the which-path information can be heralded during the interference process. Omitting the heralding step yields a clear interference pattern in the interfering half-quanta pathways; including the heralding step suppresses this pattern. If we erase the heralded information after the interference has been measured, the interference pattern is recovered, thereby implementing a delayed-choice quantum erasure. The test is implemented using a closed surfa…
Thin film 4H-silicon carbide (4H-SiC) is emerging as a contender for realizing large-scale optical quantum circuits due to its high CMOS technology compatibility and large optical nonlinearities. Though, challenges remain in producing wafer-scale 4H-SiC thin film on insulator (4H-SiCOI) for dense integration of photonic circuits, and in efficient coupling of deterministic quantum emitters that are essential for scalable quantum photonics. Here we demonstrate hybrid integration of self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) based single-photon sources (SPSs) with wafer-scale 4H-SiC photonic chips …
Multi-party entangled states have important applications in quantum metrology and quantum computation. Experimental preparation of large entangled state, in particular, the NOON states, however, remains challenging as the particle number $N$ increases. Here we develop a deterministic method to generate arbitrarily high NOON states for phonons and experimentally create the states up to $N=9$ phonons in two radial modes of a single trapped \Yb ion. We demonstrate that the fidelity of the NOON states are significantly above the classical limit by measuring the interference contrast and the popula…
Phonon heat transport with squeezing-based symmetry breaking
Institute of Quantum Science and Precision Measurement, School of Physics, East China Normal University（华东师范大学物理学院量子科学与精密测量研究所）；Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University（山西大学极端光学协同创新中心）；Shanghai Branch, Hefei National Laboratory（合肥微尺度物质科学国家研究中心上海分部）；Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences（上海量子科学研究与发展中心）
We propose to use the intrinsic two-level system (TLS) defect states found naturally in integrated optomechanical devices for exploring cavity QED-like phenomena with localized phonons. The Jaynes-Cummings-type interaction between TLS and mechanics can reach the strong coupling regime for existing nano-optomechanical systems, observable via clear signatures in the optomechanical output spectrum. These signatures persist even at finite temperature, and we derive an explicit expression for the temperature at which they vanish. Further, the ability to drive the defect with a microwave field allow…
We put forward a deterministic dissipative protocol to prepare phonon Fock states in nonlinear quantum optomechanical devices. The system is composed of a mechanical mode interacting with an optical field via radiation pressure, whereas the light mode is laser-driven in the resolved blue-sideband regime. To keep our results tractable, we have switched to an interaction picture in a displaced basis, where the effective Hamiltonian exhibits the selective photon-phonon interaction explicitly. After proper parameter adjustment and similarly to cavity-cooling schemes, the quantum evolution allows s…
We introduce an intuitive and semi-analytical polaron master equation approach to model pulse-driven population inversion and emitted single photons from a quantum dot exciton. The master equation theory allows one to identify important phonon-induced scattering rates analytically, and fully includes the role of the time-dependent pump field. As an application of the theory, we first study a quantum dot driven by a time-varying laser pulse on and off resonance, showing the population inversion caused by acoustic phonon emission in direct agreement with recent experiment of Quilter {\em et al.}…
Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is gaining considerable attention as a solid-state host of quantum emitters from the ultraviolet to the near infrared spectral ranges. However, atomic structures of most of the emitters are speculative or unknown, and emitter fabrication methods typically suffer from poor reproducibility, spatial accuracy, or spectral specificity. Here, we present a robust, deterministic electron beam technique for site-specific fabrication of blue quantum emitters with a zero-phonon line at 436 nm (2.8 eV). We show that the emission intensity is proportional to electron dose and …
Quantum error correction will be an essential ingredient in realizing fault-tolerant quantum computing. However, most correction schemes rely on the assumption that errors are sufficiently uncorrelated in space and time. In superconducting qubits this assumption is drastically violated in the presence of ionizing radiation, which creates bursts of high energy phonons in the substrate. These phonons can break Cooper-pairs in the superconductor and, thus, create quasiparticles over large areas, consequently reducing qubit coherence across the quantum device in a correlated fashion. A potential m…
Quantum random number generation (QRNG) harnesses the intrinsic randomness of quantum mechanical phenomena. Demonstrations of such processes have, however, been limited to probabilistic sources, for instance, spontaneous parametric down-conversion or faint lasers, which cannot be triggered deterministically. Here, we demonstrate QRNG with a quantum emitter in hexagonal boron nitride; an emerging solid-state quantum source that can generate single photons on demand and operates at room temperature. We achieve true random number generation through the measurement of single photons exiting one of…
Quantum entanglement is the central resource behind applications in quantum information science, from quantum computers and simulators of complex quantum systems to metrology and secure communication. All of these applications require the quantum control of large networks of quantum bits (qubits) to realize gains and speedups over conventional devices. However, propagating quantum entanglement generally becomes difficult or impossible as the system grows in size, owing to the inevitable decoherence from the complexity of connections between the qubits and increased couplings to the environment…
Quantum entanglement is a key resource for quantum computation and quantum communication \cite{Nielsen2010}. Scaling to large quantum communication or computation networks further requires the deterministic generation of multi-qubit entanglement \cite{Gottesman1999,Duan2001,Jiang2007}. The deterministic entanglement of two remote qubits has recently been demonstrated with microwave photons \cite{Kurpiers2018,Axline2018,Campagne2018,Leung2019,Zhong2019}, optical photons \cite{Humphreys2018} and surface acoustic wave phonons \cite{Bienfait2019}. However, the deterministic generation and transmis…
We propose and analyze a new method to produce single and entangled photons which does not require cavities. It relies on the collective enhancement of light emission as a consequence of the presence of entanglement in atomic ensembles. Light emission is triggered by a laser pulse, and therefore our scheme is deterministic. Furthermore, it allows one to produce a variety of photonic entangled states by first preparing certain atomic states using simple sequences of quantum gates. We analyze the feasibility of our scheme, and particularize it to: ions in linear traps, atoms in optical lattices,…
We propose a deterministic scheme for establishing hybrid Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entanglement channel between a macroscopic mechanical oscillator and a magnon mode in a distant yttrium-iron-garnet (YIG) sphere across about ten gigahertz of frequency difference. The system consists of a driven electromechanical cavity which is unidirectionally coupled to a distant electromagnonical cavity inside which a YIG sphere is placed. We find that far beyond the sideband-resolved regime in the electromechanical subsystem, stationary phonon-magnon EPR entanglement can be achieved. This is realized …
An experiment is performed where a single rubidium atom trapped within a high-finesse optical cavity emits two independently triggered entangled photons. The entanglement is mediated by the atom and is characterized both by a Bell inequality violation of S=2.5, as well as full quantum-state tomography, resulting in a fidelity exceeding F=90%. The combination of cavity-QED and trapped atom techniques makes our protocol inherently deterministic - an essential step for the generation of scalable entanglement between the nodes of a distributed quantum network.
