Near-ideal spontaneous photon sources in silicon quantum photonics

While integrated photonics is a robust platform for quantum information processing, architectures for photonic quantum computing place stringent demands on high quality information carriers. Sources of single photons that are highly indistinguishable and pure, that are either near-deterministic or heralded with high efficiency, and that are suitable for mass-manufacture, have been elusive. Here, we demonstrate on-chip photon sources that simultaneously meet each of these requirements. Our photon sources are fabricated in silicon using mature processes, and exploit a novel dual-mode pump-delayed excitation scheme to engineer the emission of spectrally pure photon pairs through intermodal spontaneous four-wave mixing in low-loss spiralled multi-mode waveguides. We simultaneously measure a spectral purity of $0.9904 \pm 0.0006$, a mutual indistinguishably of $0.987 \pm 0.002$, and $>90\%$ intrinsic heralding efficiency. We measure on-chip quantum interference with a visibility of $0.96 \pm 0.02$ between heralded photons from different sources. These results represent a decisive step for scaling quantum information processing in integrated photonics

Structure, rotational dynamics, and superfluidity of small OCS-doped He clusters

The structural and dynamical properties of OCS molecules solvated in Helium clusters are studied using reptation quantum Monte Carlo, for cluster sizes n=3-20 He atoms. Computer simulations allow us to establish a relation between the rotational spectrum of the solvated molecule and the structure of the He solvent, and of both with the onset of superfluidity. Our results agree with a recent spectroscopic study of this system, and provide a more complex and detailed microscopic picture of this system than inferred from experiments.Comment: 4 pages. TeX (requires revtex4) + 3 ps figures (1 color

High-threshold quantum computing by fusing one-dimensional cluster states

We propose a measurement-based model for fault-tolerant quantum computation that can be realised with one-dimensional cluster states and fusion measurements only; basic resources that are readily available with scalable photonic hardware. Our simulations demonstrate high thresholds compared with other measurement-based models realized with basic entangled resources and two-qubit fusion measurements. Its high tolerance to noise indicates that our practical construction offers a promising route to scalable quantum computing with quantum emitters and linear-optical elements.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, comments welcom

Optimising graph codes for measurement-based loss tolerance

Graph codes play an important role in photonic quantum technologies as they provide significant protection against qubit loss, a dominant noise mechanism. Here, we develop methods to analyse and optimise measurement-based tolerance to qubit loss and computational errors for arbitrary graph codes. Using these tools we identify optimised codes with up to 12 qubits and asymptotically-large modular constructions. The developed methods enable significant benefits for various photonic quantum technologies, as we illustrate with novel all-photonic quantum repeater states for quantum communication and high-threshold fusion-based schemes for fault-tolerant quantum computing

Loss-tolerant architecture for quantum computing with quantum emitters

We develop an architecture for measurement-based quantum computing using photonic quantum emitters. The architecture exploits spin-photon entanglement as resource states and standard Bell measurements of photons for fusing them into a large spin-qubit cluster state. The scheme is tailored to emitters with limited memory capabilities since it only uses an initial non-adaptive (ballistic) fusion process to construct a fully percolated graph state of multiple emitters. By exploring various geometrical constructions for fusing entangled photons from deterministic emitters, we improve the photon loss tolerance significantly compared to similar all-photonic schemes

Path-polarization hyperentangled and cluster states of photons on a chip

Encoding many qubits in different degrees of freedom (DOFs) of single photons is one of the routes towards enlarging the Hilbert space spanned by a photonic quantum state. Hyperentangled photon states (i.e. states showing entanglement in multiple DOFs) have demonstrated significant implications for both fundamental physics tests and quantum communication and computation. Increasing the number of qubits of photonic experiments requires miniaturization and integration of the basic elements and functions to guarantee the set-up stability. This motivates the development of technologies allowing the precise control of different photonic DOFs on a chip. We demonstrate the contextual use of path and polarization qubits propagating within an integrated quantum circuit. We tested the properties of four-qubit linear cluster states built on both DOFs. Our results pave the way towards the full integration on a chip of hybrid multiqubit multiphoton states.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, RevTex4-1, Light: Science & Applications AAP:http://aap.nature-lsa.cn:8080/cms/accessory/files/AAP-lsa201664.pd

Experimental Bayesian Quantum Phase Estimation on a Silicon Photonic Chip

Quantum phase estimation is a fundamental subroutine in many quantum algorithms, including Shor's factorization algorithm and quantum simulation. However, so far results have cast doubt on its practicability for near-term, non-fault tolerant, quantum devices. Here we report experimental results demonstrating that this intuition need not be true. We implement a recently proposed adaptive Bayesian approach to quantum phase estimation and use it to simulate molecular energies on a Silicon quantum photonic device. The approach is verified to be well suited for pre-threshold quantum processors by investigating its superior robustness to noise and decoherence compared to the iterative phase estimation algorithm. This shows a promising route to unlock the power of quantum phase estimation much sooner than previously believed

Threshold detection statistics of bosonic states

In quantum photonics, threshold detectors, distinguishing between vacuum and one or more photons, such as superconducting nanowires and avalanche photodiodes, are routinely used to measure Fock and Gaussian states of light. Despite being the standard measurement scheme, there is no general closed form expression for measurement probabilities with threshold detectors, unless accepting coarse approximations or combinatorially scaling summations. Here, we present new matrix functions to fill this gap. We develop the Bristolian and the loop Torontonian functions for threshold detection of Fock and displaced Gaussian states, respectively, and connect them to each other and to existing matrix functions. By providing a unified picture of bosonic statistics for most quantum states of light, we provide novel tools for the design and analysis of photonic quantum technologies.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl