CW-pumped telecom band polarization entangled photon pair generation in a Sagnac interferometer

A polarization entangled photon pair source is widely used in many quantum information processing applications such as teleportation, quantum swapping, quantum computation and high precision quantum metrology. Here, we report on the generation of a continuous-wave pumped degenerated 1550 nm polarization entangled photon pair source at telecom wavelength using a type-II phase-matched periodically poled KTiOPO4 crystal in a Sagnac interferometer. Hong-Ou-Mandel-type interference measurement shows the photon bandwidth of 2.4 nm. High quality of entanglement is verified by various kinds of measurements, for example two-photon interference fringes, Bell inequality and quantum states tomography. The wavelength of photons can be tuned over a broad range by changing the temperature of crystal or pump power without losing the quality of entanglement. This source will be useful for building up long-distance quantum networks

A wavelength-tunable fiber-coupled source of narrowband entangled photons

We demonstrate a wavelength-tunable, fiber-coupled source of polarization-entangled photons with extremely high spectral brightness and quality of entanglement. Using a 25 mm PPKTP crystal inside a polarization Sagnac interferometer we detect a spectral brightness of 273000 pairs/(s mW nm), a factor of 28 better than comparable previous sources while state tomography showed the two-photon state to have a tangle of T=0.987. This improvement was achieved by use of a long crystal, careful selection of focusing parameters and single-mode fiber coupling. We demonstrate that, due to the particular geometry of the setup, the signal and idler wavelengths can be tuned over a wide range without loss of entanglement.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. Article rewritten, added Fig.(1a-1b). Published in Optics Express, comments welcom

A single-crystal source of path-polarization entangled photons at non-degenerate wavelengths

We demonstrate a bright, narrowband, compact, quasi-phase-matched single-crystal source generating path-polarization-entangled photon pairs at 810 nm and 1550 nm at a maximum rate of 3 Mcounts/(s THz mW) after coupling to single-mode fiber, and with two-photon interference visibility above 90%. While the source can already be used to implement quantum communication protocols such as quantum key distribution, this work is also instrumental for narrowband applications such as entanglement transfer from photonic to atomic qubits, or entanglement of photons from independent sources.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, published in Optics Express (2008

Energy efficient mining on a quantum-enabled blockchain using light

We outline a quantum-enabled blockchain architecture based on a consortium of quantum servers. The network is hybridised, utilising digital systems for sharing and processing classical information combined with a fibre--optic infrastructure and quantum devices for transmitting and processing quantum information. We deliver an energy efficient interactive mining protocol enacted between clients and servers which uses quantum information encoded in light and removes the need for trust in network infrastructure. Instead, clients on the network need only trust the transparent network code, and that their devices adhere to the rules of quantum physics. To demonstrate the energy efficiency of the mining protocol, we elaborate upon the results of two previous experiments (one performed over 1km of optical fibre) as applied to this work. Finally, we address some key vulnerabilities, explore open questions, and observe forward--compatibility with the quantum internet and quantum computing technologies.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure