arXiv subjects

Leonardo Midolo

Publications and source records attributed to Leonardo Midolo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Realization of waveguide many-body quantum optics

Controlling light photon-by-photon is central to quantum optics. At a fundamental level, photon interactions are mediated by their coupling to atoms, and ultimate control requires deterministic light-matter interfacing of single photons to single atoms. Extending this paradigm to radiatively couple multiple individual atoms in a deterministic and scalable manner opens the arena of many-body quantum optics. Here, we realize such a setting by coherently coupling solid-state artificial atoms to a nanophotonic waveguide and demonstrate higher-order photon correlations that are controlled by the number of quantum emitters. We study the scaling of nonlinear photonic transport induced by emitter-photon scattering and demonstrate that adding a quantum emitter generates higher-order photon correlations. Specifically, we experimentally observe genuine three-photon correlations from a pair of collectively coupled emitters, while contributions from lower photon numbers are suppressed. In addition, we scale to three resonant quantum emitters coupled to the waveguide. These advancements demonstrate the onset of many-body quantum optics in waveguide quantum electrodynamics, enabling new photonic quantum simulators, the creation of many-body entangled states, and the exploration of novel quantum phase transitions.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Testing a continuous-variable noncontextuality inequality with a hybrid-encoded system

Continuous-variable quantum systems are promising candidates for quantum computing and quantum information processing. It is widely known that quadrature measurements on Gaussian continuous-variable systems admit a noncontextual hidden-variable description. Here, we demonstrate that this description fails once the same Gaussian correlations are instead probed using Hadamard tests. We realize the test with a hybrid discrete--continuous-variable system---the polarization and spatial modes of a single photon deterministically generated from an InAs/GaAs quantum emitter, with the controlled operations being the phase-space displacements selected through the Gottesman--Kitaev--Preskill correspondence. By directly measuring the correlations of the operators, we observe a violation of the noncontextual hidden-variable inequality by 380 standard deviations and independently bound the residual noncommutativity of the implemented operations. Our results open up new possibilities for studying fundamental quantum physics using photonic-encoded continuous-variable systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Photon Sorting with a Quantum Emitter

High-quality photonic Bell state measurements (BSMs) enable scalable universal quantum computing and long distance quantum communication. However, when implemented with linear optics, BSMs are fundamentally probabilistic, introducing substantial hardware overheads and limiting noise tolerance in photonic quantum computing architectures. Nonlinear interactions at the single-photon level can overcome these limitations by enabling near-deterministic photon-photon gates. Here, we demonstrate a passive photon-sorting circuit based on the induced nonlinearity arising from photon scattering in a solid-state quantum emitter. The scattering is implemented in a directional waveguide-emitter coupling interface and embedded on-chip into a linear optical circuit, through which we demonstrate sorting of one- and two-photon components with a success probability of 62%. We find that the current system can enable BSMs with a 57% post-selected success probability without ancillary photons, exceeding the linear-optical limit of 50%, and can be readily improved to >65% with design optimisations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Directional and correlated optical emission from a waveguide-engineered molecule with local control

Radiative coupling between quantum emitters leads to a range of spectacular emission phenomena. Dicke studied the foundations of collectively enhanced and suppressed decay, commonly referred to as super- and subradiance. Collective effects can further result in directionality of the emission, thus offering a complimentary implementation of chiral quantum optics. Waveguide quantum electrodynamics (QED) allows coupling between spatially separated emitters, enabling selective driving. In this work, we control the emission direction for a pair of quantum dots embedded in a bidirectional photonic crystal waveguide offering independent electrical tuning. Notably the emitters are 13 \micro m apart, which corresponds to 26 effective wavelengths, but are nevertheless radiatively coupled. The directionality arises from a dispersive dipole-dipole interaction, which shifts the energy of the collective states, so that the emitter pair effectively forms an artificial molecule. We show that the emission direction can be switched from left- to rightwards by manipulating the relative driving phase while collectively exciting the emitters. In addition, we observe directional photon statistics under continuous driving, with, for example, single photons detected on one output port, and photon pairs on the other. With pulsed excitation, both emitters are fully inverted and correlated photon pairs are observed in time-resolved intensity correlation measurements. This work demonstrates a novel implementation of chiral quantum optics using quantum dots coupled via a non-chiral waveguide, and reports key steps for scaling up as a multi-emitter waveguide QED platform.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Integrated emitters with CMOS-compatible tuning for large scale quantum SiN photonic circuits

Next-generation scalable quantum photonic technologies operating at the single photon level rely on bringing together optimized quantum building blocks with minimal optical coupling losses. Achieving this necessitates the heterogeneous integration of different elements onto a single interposer chip. Integrated quantum emitters are key enablers for generating single photons, inducing quantum nonlinearities, and producing entanglement. In this work, we demonstrate the scalable integration of mature InGaAs quantum dots embedded in GaAs waveguides onto a low-loss SiN photonic platform, as evidenced by a high processing yield of 94.7% using a commercially available micro-transfer printing tool. These integrated emitters are embedded within a p-i-n heterostructure that allows for noise suppression, near-blinking-free operation and wavelength tunability upon CMOS-level electrical biasing. With this, we pave the way for scalable integration of diverse quantum photonic devices on a single chip.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Contextuality-based quantum key distribution with deterministic single-photon sources

Photons are central to quantum technologies, with photonic qubits offering a promising platform for quantum communication. Semiconductor quantum dots stand out for their ability to generate single photons on demand, a key capability for enabling long-distance quantum networks. In this work, we utilize high-purity single-photon sources based on self-assembled InAs(Ga)As quantum dots as quantum information carriers. We demonstrate that such on-demand single photons can generate quantum contextuality. This capability enables a novel protocol for semi-device-independent quantum key distribution over free-space channels. Crucially, our method does not require ideal or perfectly projective measurements, opening a new pathway for robust and practical quantum communication.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

A quantum-coherent photon--emitter interface in the original telecom band

Quantum dots stand out as the most advanced and versatile light-matter interface available today. Their ability to deliver high-quality, high-rate, and pure photons has set benchmarks that far surpass other emitters. Yet, a critical frontier has remained elusive: achieving these exceptional capabilities at telecom wavelengths, bridging the gap to fiber-optic infrastructure and scalable silicon photonics. Overcoming this challenge demands high quality quantum materials and devices which, despite extensive efforts, have not been realized yet. Here, we demonstrate waveguide-integrated quantum dots and realize a fully quantum-coherent photon-emitter interface operating in the original telecommunication band. The quality is assessed by recording transform-limited linewidths only 8 % broader than the inverse lifetime and bright 41.7 MHz emission rate under 80 MHz $\pi$-pulse excitation, unlocking the full potential of quantum dots for scalable quantum networks.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Electrical control of quantum dots in GaAs-on-insulator waveguides for coherent single-photon generation

The integration of coherent quantum emitters with silicon photonic platforms essential for scalable quantum technologies. We demonstrate electrically controlled self-assembled quantum dots embedded in GaAs waveguides bonded onto a SiO2/Si substrate and coupled to low-loss SiN waveguides. Our approach uses a die-to-die adhesive bonding process to realize a GaAs-on-insulator platform incorporating a p-i-n junction for charge noise suppression and Stark tuning of excitonic transitions. Resonance fluorescence measurements reveal narrow optical linewidths below 2 {\mu}eV and high single-photon purity, matching the performance of unprocessed GaAs devices. These results establish a practical route to integrate high-coherence quantum light sources with mature silicon photonics, enabling scalable quantum photonic integrated circuits

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Integration of a GaAs-based nanomechanical phase shifter with quantum-dot single-photon sources

We demonstrate a small-footprint electromechanical phase shifter with a compact active length of $10\:\mu \text{m}$ fabricated on a suspended GaAs membrane, offering versatile integration with quantum-dot single-photon sources. The phase shifter is based on a slot-mode waveguide, whose slot width can be controlled by electrostatic forces, enabling a large effective refractive index change $\Delta n_\text{eff} > 0.1$. We observe up to 3$\pi$ phase modulation with 10.6 \text{V} applied bias, and a figure of merit $V_{\pi}L = 5.7\cdot 10^{-3} \text{V}\cdot \text{cm}$. Integration with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) further allows routing of single photons with up to 24 \text{dB} extinction ratio at cryogenic temperatures. This device enables advanced manipulation of quantum emitters and the realization of reconfigurable quantum photonic integrated circuits.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Controlling emitter-field coupling in waveguides with a nanomechanical phase shifter

The ability to control light-matter interfaces with solid-state photon emitters is a major requirement for the development of quantum photonic integrated circuits. We demonstrate controllable coupling between a quantum dot and an optical mode in a dielectric waveguide using a nano-opto-electro-mechanical phase shifter and a photonic crystal mirror. By controlling the phase, we induce a virtual displacement of the mirror that modifies the local density of states at the position of the emitter, thereby enhancing or suppressing spontaneous emission without an optical cavity. We observe a broadband tuning of the spontaneous emission rate and a modulation of the intensity emitted by the quantum dot in the waveguide. The method reported here could be employed to optimize the emitter-field interaction between quantum dots in-operando, by maximizing a single-photon source generation rate or adjusting its lifetime, as well as a characterization tool for the direct measurement of emitter-photon cooperativity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Programmable Nonlinear Quantum Photonic Circuits

The lack of interactions between single photons prohibits direct nonlinear operations in quantum optical circuits, representing a central obstacle in photonic quantum technologies. Here, we demonstrate multi-mode nonlinear photonic circuits where both linear and direct nonlinear operations can be programmed with high precision at the single-photon level. Deterministic nonlinear interaction is realized with a tunable quantum dot embedded in a nanophotonic waveguide mediating interactions between individual photons within a temporal linear optical interferometer. We demonstrate the capability to reprogram the nonlinear photonic circuits and implement protocols where strong nonlinearities are required, in particular for quantum simulation of anharmonic molecular dynamics, thereby showcasing the new key functionalities enabled by our technology.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Photonic fusion of entangled resource states from a quantum emitter

Fusion-based photonic quantum computing architectures rely on two primitives: i) near-deterministic generation and control of constant-size entangled states and ii) probabilistic entangling measurements (photonic fusion gates) between entangled states. Here, we demonstrate these key functionalities by fusing resource states deterministically generated using a solid-state spin-photon interface. Repetitive operation of the source leads to sequential entanglement generation, whereby curiously entanglement is created between the quantum states of the same spin at two different instances in time. Such temporal multiplexing of photonic entanglement provides a resource-efficient route to scaling many-body entangled systems with photons.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Curved GaAs cantilever waveguides for the vertical coupling to photonic integrated circuits

We report the nanofabrication and characterization of optical spot-size converters couplers based on curved GaAs cantilever waveguides. Using the stress mismatch between the GaAs substrate and deposited Cr-Ni-Au strips, single-mode waveguides can be bent out-of-plane in a controllable manner. A stable and vertical orientation of the out-coupler is achieved by locking the spot-size converter at a fixed 90$^\circ$ angle via short-range forces. The optical transmission is characterized as a function of temperature and polarization, resulting in a broad-band chip-to-fiber coupling extending over a 200 nm wavelength bandwidth. The methods reported here are fully compatible with quantum photonic integrated circuit technology with quantum dot emitters, and open opportunities to design novel photonic devices with enhanced functionality.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

A single-photon emitter coupled to a phononic-crystal resonator in the resolved-sideband regime

A promising route towards the heralded creation and annihilation of single-phonons is to couple a single-photon emitter to a mechanical resonator. The challenge lies in reaching the resolved-sideband regime with a large coupling rate and a high mechanical quality factor. We achieve all of this by coupling self-assembled InAs quantum dots to a small-mode-volume phononic-crystal resonator with mechanical frequency $\Omega_\mathrm{m}/2\pi = 1.466~\mathrm{GHz}$ and quality factor $Q_\mathrm{m} = 2.1\times10^3$. Thanks to the high coupling rate of $g_\mathrm{ep}/2\pi = 2.9~\mathrm{MHz}$, and by exploiting a matching condition between the effective Rabi and mechanical frequencies, we are able to observe the interaction between the two systems. Our results represent a major step towards quantum control of the mechanical resonator via a single-photon emitter.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

A quantum dot coupled to a suspended-beam mechanical resonator: from the unresolved- to the resolved-sideband regime

We present experiments in which self-assembled InAs quantum dots are coupled to a thin, suspended-beam GaAs resonator. The quantum dots are driven resonantly and the resonance fluorescence is detected. The narrow quantum-dot linewidths, just a factor of three larger than the transform limit, result in a high sensitivity to the mechanical motion. We show that one quantum dot couples to eight mechanical modes spanning a frequency range from $30$ to $600~\mathrm{MHz}$: one quantum dot provides an extensive characterisation of the mechanical resonator. The coupling spans the unresolved-sideband to the resolved-sideband regimes. Finally, we present the first detection of thermally-driven phonon sidebands (at $4.2~\mathrm{K}$) in the resonance-fluoresence spectrum.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Deterministic photon source of genuine three-qubit entanglement

Deterministic photon sources allow long-term advancements in quantum optics. A single quantum emitter embedded in a photonic resonator or waveguide may be triggered to emit one photon at a time into a desired optical mode. By coherently controlling a single spin in the emitter, multi-photon entanglement can be realized. We demonstrate a deterministic source of three-qubit entanglement based on a single electron spin trapped in a quantum dot embedded in a planar nanophotonic waveguide. We implement nuclear spin narrowing to increase the spin dephasing time to $T_2^* \simeq 33$ ns, which enables high-fidelity coherent optical spin rotations, and realize a spin-echo pulse sequence for sequential generation of high-fidelity spin-photon and spin-photon-photon entanglement. The emitted photons are highly indistinguishable, which is a key requirement for subsequent photon fusions to realize larger entangled states. This work presents a scalable deterministic source of multi-photon entanglement with a clear pathway for further improvements, offering promising applications in photonic quantum computing or quantum networks.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Violation of Bell inequality by photon scattering on a two-level emitter

Entanglement, the non-local correlations present in multipartite quantum systems, is a curious feature of quantum mechanics and the fuel of quantum technology. It is therefore a major priority to develop energy-conserving and simple methods for generating high-fidelity entangled states. In the case of light, entanglement can be realized by interactions with matter, although the required nonlinear interaction is typically weak, thereby limiting its applicability. Here, we show how a single two-level emitter deterministically coupled to light in a nanophotonic waveguide is used to realize genuine photonic quantum entanglement for excitation at the single photon level. By virtue of the efficient optical coupling, two-photon interactions are strongly mediated by the emitter realizing a giant nonlinearity that leads to entanglement. We experimentally generate and verify energy-time entanglement by violating a Bell inequality (Clauder-Horne-Shimony-Holt Bell parameter of $S=2.67(16)>2$) in an interferometric measurement of the two-photon scattering response. As an attractive feature of this approach, the two-level emitter acts as a passive scatterer initially prepared in the ground state, i.e., no advanced spin control is required. This experiment is a fundamental advancement that may pave a new route for ultra-low energy-consuming synthesis of photonic entangled states for quantum simulators or metrology.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Direct observation of non-linear optical phase shift induced by a single quantum emitter in a waveguide

Realizing a sensitive photon-number-dependent phase shift on a light beam is required both in classical and quantum photonics. It may lead to new applications for classical and quantum photonics machine learning or pave the way for realizing photon-photon gate operations. Non-linear phase-shifts require efficient light-matter interaction, and recently quantum dots coupled to nanophotonic devices have enabled near-deterministic single-photon coupling. We experimentally realize an optical phase shift of $0.19 \pi \pm 0.03$ radians ($\approx 34$ degrees) using a weak coherent state interacting with a single quantum dot in a planar nanophotonic waveguide. The phase shift is probed by interferometric measurements of the light scattered from the quantum dot in the waveguide. The nonlinear process is sensitive at the single-photon level and can be made compatible with scalable photonic integrated circuitry. The work may open new prospects for realizing high-efficiency optical switching or be applied for proof-of-concept quantum machine learning or quantum simulation demonstrations.

quant-ph↗