Quantum information processing with atoms and photons

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62643/1/416238a.pd

Entanglement of single-atom quantum bits at a distance

Quantum information science involves the storage, manipulation and communication of information encoded in quantum systems, where the phenomena of superposition and entanglement can provide enhancements over what is possible classically(1,2). Large-scale quantum information processors require stable and addressable quantum memories, usually in the form of fixed quantum bits ( qubits), and a means of transferring and entangling the quantum information between memories that may be separated by macroscopic or even geographic distances. Atomic systems are excellent quantum memories, because appropriate internal electronic states can coherently store qubits over very long timescales. Photons, on the other hand, are the natural platform for the distribution of quantum information between remote qubits, given their ability to traverse large distances with little perturbation. Recently, there has been considerable progress in coupling small samples of atomic gases through photonic channels(2,3), including the entanglement between light and atoms(4,5) and the observation of entanglement signatures between remotely located atomic ensembles(6) (-8). In contrast to atomic ensembles, single-atom quantum memories allow the implementation of conditional quantum gates through photonic channels2,9, a key requirement for quantum computing. Along these lines, individual atoms have been coupled to photons in cavities(2,10-12), and trapped atoms have been linked to emitted photons in free space(13-17). Here we demonstrate the entanglement of two fixed single-atom quantum memories separated by one metre. Two remotely located trapped atomic ions each emit a single photon, and the interference and detection of these photons signals the entanglement of the atomic qubits. We characterize the entangled pair by directly measuring qubit correlations with near-perfect detection efficiency. Although this entanglement method is probabilistic, it is still in principle useful for subsequent quantum operations and scalable quantum information applications(18-20).Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62780/1/nature06118.pd

Fast Generation of High-Fidelity Mechanical Non-Gaussian States via Additional Amplifier and Photon Subtraction

Non-Gaussian states (NGSs) with higher-order correlation properties have wide-range applications in quantum information processing. However, the preparation of such states with high quality still faces practical challenges. Here, we propose a protocol to rapidly generate two types of mechanical NGSs, Schr\"{o}dinger cat states and Fock states, in dissipative optomechanical systems, even when the cooperativity is smaller than one ($g^2/\kappa\gamma<1$). In contrast to the usual scheme of directly applying non-Gaussian operations on the entangled optical mode, we show that an additional phase-sensitive amplifier can accelerate the generation and also precisely control the type of NGSs. Then, a principally deterministic multi-photon subtraction induced by the Rydberg-blockade effect is adopted to produce large-sized NGSs. The protocol can be implemented with state-of-the-art experimental systems with close to unit fidelity. Moreover, it can also be extended to generate a four-component cat state and provide new possibilities for future quantum applications of NGSs.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Tutorial: Nonlinear magnonics

Nonlinear magnonics studies the nonlinear interaction between magnons and other physical platforms (phonon, photon, qubit, spin texture) to generate novel magnon states for information processing. In this tutorial, we first introduce the nonlinear interactions of magnons in pure magnetic systems and hybrid magnon-phonon and magnon-photon systems. Then we show how these nonlinear interactions can generate exotic magnonic phenomena. In the classical regime, we will cover the parametric excitation of magnons, bistability and multistability, and the magnonic frequency comb. In the quantum regime, we will discuss the single magnon state, Schr\"{o}dinger cat state and the entanglement and quantum steering among magnons, photons and phonons. The applications of the hybrid magnonics systems in quantum transducer and sensing will also be presented. Finally, we outlook the future development direction of nonlinear magnonics.Comment: 50 pages, 26 figure

Strong coupling of a single ion to an optical fibre cavity

Achieving strong coupling between a single ion and a cavity is an important condition for cavity quantum electrodynamics, mainly for its applications in quantum networks, quantum computing and quantum interfaces. While strong coupling has been achieved in various physical systems, so far it remained elusive for single atomic ions. In this thesis I present the first observation of strong coupling between a single ion and an optical cavity. Our system is a hybrid system where a fibre based Fabry-Pérot cavity was incorporated to a 3D Paul trap. The position of the ion, relative to the cavity mode, was adjusted by applying additional rf signals on the radial electrodes of the trap, in order to maximise the coupling between the ion and the cavity. The coupling strength was measured to be g = 2π × (12.3±0.1) MHz, which exceeds both the atomic decay rate, γ = 2π × 11.5 MHz, and the cavity decay rate, κ = 2π × (4.1 ± 0.1) MHz, placing the ion-cavity coupling in the strong coupling regime. Cavity assisted Raman spectroscopy was used to precisely characterize the ion-cavity coupling strength, and observe a spectrum featuring the normal mode splitting in the cavity transmission due to the ion-cavity interaction. Due to geometric constraints in our trap, Doppler cooling was not optimal along the cavity axis, hindering the localisation of the ion and thus its coupling to the cavity. To improve the localisation of the ion, cavity cooling was used to efficiently cool the ion along the cavity axis. By using cavity cooling, we obtain an enhanced ion-cavity coupling of g0 = 2π × (16.7±0.1) MHz, compared with g0 = 2π × (15.2±0.1) MHz when using only Doppler cooling