No Arabic abstract
Distinguishing between strings of data or waveforms is at the core of multiple applications in information technologies. In a quantum language the task is to design protocols to differentiate quantum states. Quantum-based technologies promises to go beyond the capabilities offered by technologies based on classical principles. However the implementation of the logical gates that are the core of these systems is challenging since they should overcome quantum decoherence, low probability of success and are prone to errors. One unexpected contribution of considering ideas in the quantum world is to inspire similar solutions in the classical world (quantum-inspired technologies), protocols that aim at mimicking particular features of quantum algorithms. This is based on features of quantum physics also shared by waves in the classical world, such it is the case of interference or entanglement between degrees of freedom of a single particle. Here we demonstrate in a proof-of-concept experiment a new type of quantum-inspired protocol based on the idea of quantum fingerprinting (Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 167902, 2001). Information is encoded on optical beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM). These beams allow to implement a crucial element of our system, a new type of Fredkin gate or polarization-controlled SWAP operation that exchange data between OAM beams. The protocols can evaluate the similarity between pairs of waveforms and strings of bits and quarts without unveiling the information content of the data.
Key to realising quantum computers is minimising the resources required to build logic gates into useful processing circuits. While the salient features of a quantum computer have been shown in proof-of-principle experiments, difficulties in scaling quantum systems have made more complex operations intractable. This is exemplified in the classical Fredkin (controlled-SWAP) gate for which, despite theoretical proposals, no quantum analogue has been realised. By adding control to the SWAP unitary, we use photonic qubit logic to demonstrate the first quantum Fredkin gate, which promises many applications in quantum information and measurement. We implement example algorithms and generate the highest-fidelity three-photon GHZ states to-date. The technique we use allows one to add a control operation to a black-box unitary, something impossible in the standard circuit model. Our experiment represents the first use of this technique to control a two-qubit operation and paves the way for larger controlled circuits to be realised efficiently.
Spatial modes of light provide a high-dimensional space that can be used to encode both classical and quantum information. Current approaches for dynamically generating and measuring these modes are slow, due to the need to reconfigure a high-resolution phase mask such as a spatial light modulator or digital micromirror device. The process of updating the spatial mode of light can be greatly accelerated by multiplexing a set of static phase masks with a fast, image-preserving optical switch, such as an acousto-optic modulator (AOM). We experimentally realize this approach, using a double-pass AOM to generate one of five orbital angular momentum states with a switching rate of up to 500 kHz. We then apply this system to perform fast quantum state tomography of spatial modes of light in a 2-dimensional Hilbert space, by projecting the unknown state onto six spatial modes comprising three mutually unbiased bases. We are able to reconstruct arbitrary states in under 1 ms with an average fidelity of 96.9%.
It has been proved that surface plasmon polariton (SPP) can well conserve and transmit the quantum nature of entangled photons. Therefore, further utilization and manipulation of such quantum nature of SPP in a plasmonic chip will be the next task for scientists in this field. In quantum logic circuits, the controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate is the key building block. Here, we implement the first plasmonic quantum CNOT gate with several-micrometer footprint by utilizing a single polarization-dependent beam-splitter (PDBS) fabricated on the dielectric-loaded SPP waveguide (DLSPPW). The quantum logic function of the CNOT gate is characterized by the truth table with an average fidelity of. Its entangling ability to transform a separable state into an entangled state is demonstrated with the visibilities of and for non-orthogonal bases. The DLSPPW based CNOT gate is considered to have good integratability and scalability, which will pave a new way for quantum information science.
Free space propagation and conventional optical systems such as lenses and mirrors all perform spatial unitary transforms. However, the subset of transforms available through these conventional systems is limited in scope. We present here a unitary programmable mode converter (UPMC) capable of performing any spatial unitary transform of the light field. It is based on a succession of reflections on programmable deformable mirrors and free space propagation. We first show theoretically that a UPMC without limitations on resources can perform perfectly any transform. We then build an experimental implementation of the UPMC and show that, even when limited to three reflections on an array of 12 pixels, the UPMC is capable of performing single mode tranforms with an efficiency greater than 80% for the first 4 modes of the TEM basis.
Spatial light modulators (SLMs) are devices for modulating amplitude, phase or polarization of a light beam on demand. Such devices have been playing an indispensable inuence in many areas from our daily entertainments to scientific researches. In the past decades, the SLMs have been mainly operated in electrical addressing (EASLM) manner, wherein the writing images are created and loaded via conventional electronic interfaces. However, adoption of pixelated electrodes puts limits on both resolution and efficiency of the EASLMs. Here, we present an optically addressed SLM based on a nonlinear metasurface (MS-OASLM), by which signal light is directly modulated by another writing beam requiring no electrode. The MS-OASLM shows unprecedented compactness and is 400 nm in total thickness benefitting from the outstanding nonlinearity of the metasurface. And their subwavelength feature size enables a high resolution up to 250 line pairs per millimeter, which is more than one order of magnitude better than any currently commercial SLMs. Such MS-OASLMs could provide opportunities to develop the next generation of high resolution displays and all-optical information processing technologies.