Polarization Entanglement Purification using Spatial Entanglement

Parametric down-conversion can produce photons that are entangled both in polarization and in space. Here we show how the spatial entanglement can be used to purify the polarization entanglement using only linear optical elements. Spatial entanglement as an additional resource leads to a substantial improvement in entanglement output compared to a previous scheme. Interestingly, in the present context the thermal character of down-conversion sources can be turned into an advantage. Our scheme is realizable with current technology.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure