A single photon in a strongly nonlinear cavity is able to block the transmission of the second photon, thereby converting incident coherent light into anti-bunched light, which is known as photon blockade effect. On the other hand, photon anti-pairing, where only the entry of two photons is blocked and the emission of bunches of three or more photons is allowed, is based on an unconventional photon blockade mechanism due to destructive interference of two distinct excitation pathways. We propose quantum plexcitonic systems with moderate nonlinearity to generate both anti-bunched and anti-paired photons. The proposed plexitonic systems benefit from subwavelength field localizations that make quantum emitters spatially distinguishable, thus enabling a reconfigurable photon source between anti-bunched and anti-paired states via tailoring the energy bands. For a realistic nanoprism plexitonic system, two schemes of reconfiguration are suggested: (i) the chemical means by partially changing the type of the emitters; or (ii) the optical approach by rotating the polarization angle of the incident light to tune the coupling rate of the emitters. These results pave the way to realize reconfigurable nonclassical photon sources in a simple quantum plexcitonic platform with readily accessible experimental conditions.
We investigate the quantum-optical properties of the light emitted by a nanoparticle-on-mirror cavity filled with a single quantum emitter. Inspired by recent experiments, we model a dark-field set-up and explore the photon statistics of the scattered light under grazing laser illumination. Exploiting analytical solutions to Maxwell's equations, we quantize the nanophotonic cavity fields and describe the formation of plasmon exciton polaritons (or plexcitons) in the system. This way, we reveal that the rich plasmonic spectrum of the nanocavity offers unexplored mechanisms for nonclassical ligh…
We predict that all-optically reconfigurable generation of photon pairs with tailored spatial entanglement can be realized via spontaneous parametric down-conversion in integrated nonlinear coupled waveguides. The required elements of the output quantum wavefunction are directly mapped from the amplitudes and phases of the classical laser pump inputs in each waveguide. This is achieved through special nonuniform domain poling, which locally inverts the sign of quadratic nonlinear susceptibility and accordingly shapes the interference of biphoton quantum states generated along the waveguides. W…
A phase-sensitive microscopy technique is proposed and demonstrated that employs the momentum correlations inherent in spontaneous parametric down-conversion. One photon from a correlated pair is focused onto a microscopic target while the other is measured in the Fourier plane. This provides knowledge of the position and angle of illumination for every photon striking the target, allowing full post-production control of the illumination angle used to form an image. The versatility of this approach is showcased with asymmetric illumination and differential phase contrast imaging, without any b…
The importance of integrated quantum photonics in the telecom band resides on the possibility of interfacing with the optical network infrastructure developed for classical communications. In this framework, femtosecond laser written integrated photonic circuits, already assessed for quantum information experiments in the 800 nm wavelength range, have great potentials. In fact these circuits, written in glass, can be perfectly mode-matched at telecom wavelength to the in/out coupling fibers, which is a key requirement for a low-loss processing node in future quantum optical networks. In additi…
The development of large-scale optical quantum information processing circuits ground on the stability and reconfigurability enabled by integrated photonics. We demonstrate a reconfigurable 8x8 integrated linear optical network based on silicon nitride waveguides for quantum information processing. Our processor implements a novel optical architecture enabling any arbitrary linear transformation and constitutes the largest programmable circuit reported so far on this platform. We validate a variety of photonic quantum information processing primitives, in the form of Hong-Ou-Mandel interferenc…
We study the production of entangled two- and N-mode quantum states of light in optical waveguides. To this end, we propose a quantum photonic circuit that produces a reconfigurable superposition of photon subtraction on two single-mode squeezed states. Under postselection, continuous variable or discrete variable entangled states with possibilities in quantum information processing are obtained. Likewise, nesting leads to higher-dimension entanglement with a similar design, enabling the generation of non-Gaussian continuous variable cluster states. Additionally, we show the operation of the d…
We present a modular design for integrated programmable multimode sources of arbitrary Gaussian states of light. The technique is based on current technologies, in particular recent demonstrations of on-chip photon manipulation and generation of highly squeezed vacuum states in semiconductors. While the design is generic and independent of the choice of integrated platform, we adopt recent experimental results on compound semiconductors as a demonstrative example. Such a device would be valuable as a source for many quantum protocols that range from imaging to communication and information pro…
Integrated quantum optics becomes a consequent tendency towards practical quantum information processing. Here, we report the on-chip generation and manipulation of photonic entanglement based on reconfigurable lithium niobate waveguide circuits. By introducing periodically poled structure into the waveguide interferometer, two individual photon-pair sources with controllable phase-shift are produced and cascaded by a quantum interference, resulting in a deterministically separated identical photon pair. The state is characterized by 92.9% visibility Hong-Ou-Mandel interference. Continuous mor…
Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)（韩国科学技术院）；Korea University（高丽大学）；Seoul National University of Science and Technology（首尔科学技术大学）；Kyung Hee University（庆熙大学）
The ability to shape photon emission facilitates strong photon-mediated interactions between disparate physical systems, thereby enabling applications in quantum information processing, simulation and communication. Spectral control in solid state platforms such as color centers, rare earth ions, and quantum dots is particularly attractive for realizing such applications on-chip. Here we propose the use of frequency-modulated optical transitions for spectral engineering of single photon emission. Using a scattering-matrix formalism, we find that a two-level system, when modulated faster than i…
Quantum metrology takes advantage of nonclassical resources such as entanglement to achieve a sensitivity level below the standard quantum limit. To date, almost all quantum-metrology demonstrations are restricted to improving the measurement performance at a single sensor, but a plethora of applications require multiple sensors that work jointly to tackle distributed sensing problems. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a reconfigurable sensor network empowered by continuous-variable (CV) multipartite entanglement. Our experiment establishes a connection between the entanglement s…
We report a compact, scalable, quantum photonic integrated circuit realised by combining multiple, independent InGaAs/GaAs quantum-light-emitting-diodes (QLEDs) with a silicon oxynitride waveguide circuit. Each waveguide joining the circuit can then be excited by a separate, independently electrically contacted QLED. We show that the emission from neighbouring QLEDs can be independently tuned to degeneracy using the Stark Effect and that the resulting photon streams are indistinguishable. This enables on-chip Hong-Ou-Mandel-type interference, as required for many photonic quantum information p…
Integrated quantum photonics is an appealing platform for quantum information processing, quantum communication and quantum metrology. In all these applications it is necessary not only to be able to create and detect Fock states of light but also to program the photonic circuits that implements some desired logical operation. Here we demonstrate a reconfigurable controlled two-qubit operation on a chip using a multiwaveguide interferometer with a tunable phase shifter. We find excellent agreement between theory and experiment, with a 0.98 \pm 0.02 average similarity between measured and ideal…
Operating reconfigurable quantum circuits with single photon sources is a key goal of photonic quantum information science and technology. We use an integrated waveguide device comprising of directional couplers and a reconfigurable thermal phase controller to manipulate single photons emitted from a chromium related colour centre in diamond. Observation of both a wave-like interference pattern and particle-like sub-Poissionian autocorrelation functions demonstrates coherent manipulation of single photons emitted from the chromium related centre and verifies wave particle duality.
Realizing the advantages of quantum computation requires access to the full Hilbert space of states of many quantum bits (qubits). Thus, large-scale quantum computation faces the challenge of efficiently generating entanglement between many qubits. In systems with a limited number of direct connections between qubits, entanglement between non-nearest neighbor qubits is generated by a series of nearest neighbor gates, which exponentially suppresses the resulting fidelity. Here we propose and demonstrate a novel, on-chip photon exchange network. This photonic network is embedded in a superconduc…
The future of quantum photonic technology depends on the realization of efficient sources of single photons, the ideal carriers of quantum information. Parametric downconversion (PDC) is a promising route to create highly coherent, spectrally pure single photons for quantum photonics using versatile group-velocity matching (GVM) and tailored nonlinearities. However, the functionality to actively control the poling period of nonlinear crystals used in PDC is currently missing, yet would enable to dynamically modify the wavelength of single photons produced in the PDC process. Here a detailed GV…
Entanglement is a universal resource in quantum networks, yet entangled photon sources are typically custom-made for a specific use case. Versatility, both in terms of state modulation and tunability of the temporal properties of the photons, is the key to flexible network architectures and cryptographic primitives that go beyond quantum key distribution. Here, we report on a flexible source design that produces high-quality entanglement in continuous-wave and GHz-rate-pulsed operation modes. Utilizing off-the-shelf optical components, our approach uses a fiber-based Sagnac loop to generate po…
Entanglement is the quintessential quantum mechanical phenomenon understood to lie at the heart of future quantum technologies and the subject of fundamental scientific investigations. Mixture, resulting from noise, is often an unwanted result of interaction with an environment, but is also of fundamental interest, and is proposed to play a role in some biological processes. Here we report an integrated waveguide device that can generate and completely characterize pure two-photon states with any amount of entanglement and arbitrary single-photon states with any amount of mixture. The device c…
The ability of phase-change materials to reversibly and rapidly switch between two stable phases has driven their use in a number of applications such as data storage and optical modulators. Incorporating such materials into metasurfaces enables new approaches to the control of optical fields. In this article we present the design of novel switchable metasurfaces that enable the control of the nonclassical two-photon quantum interference. These structures require no static power consumption, operate at room temperature, and have high switching speed. For the first adaptive metasurface presente…
Photonic chip based time-bin entanglement has attracted significant attention because of its potential for quantum communication and computation. Useful time-bin entanglement systems must be able to generate, manipulate and analyze entangled photons on a photonic chip for stable, scalable and reconfigurable operation. Here we report the first time-bin entanglement photonic chip that integrates time-bin generation, wavelength demultiplexing and entanglement analysis. A two-photon interference fringe with an 88.4% visibility is measured (without subtracting any noise), indicating the high perfor…
In this work, we demonstrate reconfigurable frequency manipulation of quantum states of light in the telecom C-band. Triggered single photons are encoded in a superposition state of three channels using sidebands up to 53 GHz created by an off-the-shelf phase modulator. The single photons are emitted by an InAs/GaAs quantum dot grown by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy within the transparency window of the backbone fiber optical network. A cross-correlation measurement of the sidebands demonstrates the preservation of the single photon nature; an important prerequisite for future quantum tech…
Reconfigurable quantum photonic processors are an essential technology for photonic quantum computing. Although most large-scale reconfigurable quantum photonic processors were demonstrated at the telecommunications C band around 1550 nm, high-performance single photon light sources utilizing quantum dots that are well-suited for photonic quantum computing operate at a variety of wavelengths. Thus, a demand exists for the compatibility of quantum photonic processors with a larger wavelength range. Silicon nitride (SiN) has a high confinement and wide transparency window, enabling compact, low-…
By coupling controllable quantum systems into larger structures we introduce the concept of a quantum metamaterial. Conventional meta-materials represent one of the most important frontiers in optical design, with applications in diverse fields ranging from medicine to aerospace. Up until now however, metamaterials have themselves been classical structures and interact only with the classical properties of light. Here we describe a class of dynamic metamaterials, based on the quantum properties of coupled atom-cavity arrays, which are intrinsically lossless, reconfigurable, and operate fundame…
Reconfigurable distribution of entangled states is essential for operation of quantum networks connecting multiple devices such as quantum memories and quantum computers. We introduce new quantum distribution network architecture enabling control of the entangled state propagation direction using linear-optical devices and phase shifters and offering reconfigurable connections between multiple quantum nodes. The basic two-photon entanglement distribution scheme is first introduced to illustrate the principle of operation. The scheme is then extended to a network structure with increased number…
On-chip integrated photonic circuits are crucial to further progress towards quantum technologies and in the science of quantum optics. Here we report precise control of single photon states and multi-photon entanglement directly on-chip. We manipulate the state of path-encoded qubits using integrated optical phase control based on resistive elements, observing an interference contrast of 98.2+/-0.3%. We demonstrate integrated quantum metrology by observing interference fringes with 2- and 4-photon entangled states generated in a waveguide circuit, with respective interference contrasts of 97.…
Experimental verification of Threshold Quantum State Tomography on a fully-reconfigurable photonic integrated circuit
Sapienza Università di Roma（罗马第一大学）；Università di Pavia（帕维亚大学）；European Centre for Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Physics and Related Areas (ECT*, Fondazione Bruno Kessler)（核物理及相关领域欧洲理论研究中心（ECT*，布鲁诺·凯斯勒基金会））；Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFN-CNR)（意大利国家研究委员会光子学与纳米技术研究所）；Politecnico di Milano（米兰理工大学）
The complexity of experimental quantum information processing devices is increasing rapidly, requiring new approaches to control them. In this paper, we address the problems of practically modeling and controlling an integrated optical waveguide array chip, a technology expected to have many applications in telecommunications and optical quantum information processing. This photonic circuit can be electrically reconfigured, but only the output optical signal can be monitored. As a result, the conventional control methods cannot be naively applied. Characterizing such a chip is challenging for …
Large-scale integrated quantum photonic technologies will require the on-chip integration of identical photon sources with reconfigurable waveguide circuits. Relatively complex quantum circuits have already been demonstrated, but few studies acknowledge the pressing need to integrate photon sources and waveguide circuits together on-chip. A key step towards such large-scale quantum technologies is the integration of just two individual photon sources within a waveguide circuit, and the demonstration of high-visibility quantum interference between them. Here, we report a silicon-on-insulator de…
We present a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration of a reconfigurable entanglement distribution scheme utilizing a poled fiber-based source of broadband polarization-entangled photon pairs and dense wavelength-division multiplexing. A large bandwidth (> 90 nm, centered at 1555 nm) and highly spectrally correlated nature of the entangled source can be exploited to allow for the generation of more than 25 frequency-conjugate entangled pairs when aligned to the standard 200 GHz ITU grid. In this work, three frequency-conjugate entangled pairs are used to demonstrate quantum key distribut…
