arXiv subjects

Sara Congia

Publications and source records attributed to Sara Congia.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Universal All-Fiber Quantum Buffer for the Telecom Band

The realization of a scalable quantum internet relies on the ability to temporally align asynchronous photonic signals through on-demand buffering. While matter-based quantum memories achieve long storage times, their extremely narrow bandwidths and cryogenic requirements pose significant barriers to integration with existing telecommunications infrastructure. Conversely, current all-optical memories operate at room temperature but are hampered by high input/output losses and a lack of universality across different photonic degrees of freedom. Here, we demonstrate a universal, fully fiber-integrated quantum buffer operating over the full telecom C-band that overcomes these fundamental trade-offs. By implementing an actively switched dual-Sagnac cavity driven by cross-phase modulation, we achieve an ultra-low input/output loss of 0.46 dB and a storage time exceeding 18 $\mu$s. The device exhibits an operational bandwidth exceeding 12.5 THz ($\sim$100 nm), covering the full telecom C-band. We show the simultaneous buffering of over 200 temporal modes with the ability to address them either collectively or one by one. We demonstrate high-fidelity storage for all three degrees of freedom compatible with optical fiber propagation, namely time-bin, frequency-bin, and polarization qubits, along with faithful preservation of entanglement, confirming the platform's true universality. These results provide a robust, room-temperature solution for the high-rate synchronization of multidimensional quantum states, clearing a major hurdle for the deployment of global photonic quantum networks.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Gigahertz-rate thin-film lithium niobate receiver for time-bin quantum communication

Time-bin encoded quantum states of light are crucial for quantum technology applications. The integration of manipulation functionalities into chip-scale devices is essential for deploying scalable, high-performance, and cost-effective quantum networks. Here we develop a fully integrated, high-throughput quantum receiver based on the thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) platform, capable of high-speed electro-optic manipulation of time-bin encoded quantum states. The device's novel architecture enables active switching of time-bin quantum states with an electro-optic bandwidth exceeding 30 Ghz, while supporting real-time arbitrary projective measurements with a bandwidth of over 1 GHz. We showcase its versatility and performance through several applications, including the certification of entanglement with Bell's inequality violation by 38 standard deviations and with >95% visibility. We then apply it to a fiber-based quantum communication scenario, where we experimentally demonstrate an entanglement-based quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol, achieving stable finite-size secure key rates exceeding 25 kbit/s over 12 hours of continuous operation. By leveraging a high-speed active switching scheme, the system overcomes the need for temporal post-selection, eliminating a fundamental loophole that compromises the security of time-bin entanglement-based QKD protocols and relaxes the temporal resolution requirements of single-photon detectors. Moreover, it enables active selection of the projection basis, increasing the flexibility for communication parties. This approach establishes a versatile and scalable architecture for time-bin encoded quantum communication, enabling practical protocols on industry-grade photonic technology.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Fully integrated quantum frequency processor on a silicon chip

Frequency-bin encoding has recently emerged as a powerful approach for photonic quantum information processing, offering high dimensionality, gate-parallelization, and compatibility with existing telecommunication infrastructure. However, its scalable deployment has so far been hindered by the lack of an integrated platform capable of unifying quantum state generation, coherent frequency mixing, and programmable spectral control.\\ Here, we report the first fully integrated quantum frequency processor, monolithically integrating on the same silicon photonic chip a microresonator-based biphoton quantum frequency comb source, a pump-rejection filter, high-speed phase modulators, and a four-channel, line-by-line pulse shaper. We demonstrate key functionalities, such as tunable frequency beamsplitters with success probabilities exceeding $94\%$ and fidelities above $99.9\%$, as well as the ability to synthesize more general single-qubit gates. Finally, we generate and coherently manipulate high-dimensional frequency-bin entangled states entirely on chip, showcasing control over two-photon quantum walks and performing the first on-chip frequency-bin quantum state tomography of a Bell-state with a fidelity of $95.7(3)\%$. By integrating all key functional elements on the same $4\times7\,\textrm{mm}^2$ chip, with the possibility of scaling to a larger number of modes, our work marks an important step toward large-scale frequency-domain photonic processors for both classical and quantum applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Generation of hyperentangled photon pairs in the time and frequency domain on a silicon photonic chip

Multi-dimensional entangled photon states represent an important resource in quantum communication networks. Specifically, hyperentangled states presenting simultaneous entanglement in several degrees of freedom (DoF), stand out for their noise resilience and information capacity. In this work, we demonstrate the generation of hyperentangled photon pairs in the time and frequency-bin domain by spontaneous four-wave mixing from the coherent driving of two integrated Silicon microresonators. We demonstrate entanglement in each DoF by proving the violation of the Clauser Horne Shimony Holt (CHSH) inequality by more than 27 standard deviations (STDs) in each reduced space. Genuine hyperentanglement is then assessed from the negativity of an hyperentanglement witness, which is verified by more than 60 STDs. These results mark, to the best of our knowledge, the first demonstration of time-frequency bin hyperentanglement in an integrated silicon photonic device.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Post-selection free time-bin entanglement on a thin-film lithium niobate photonic chip

Time-bin entanglement is the most commonly used form of entanglement for quantum communication protocols over fiber networks, due to the natural resilience of this encoding scheme to thermal phase fluctuations in optical fibers. Projective measurements on some bases in the time-bin encoding need, however, post-selection of the measured events, introducing a loophole in Bell tests and requiring high temporal resolution. In this work, we demonstrate chip-integrated receivers for time-bin entanglement certification including a high-speed optical switch to remove such post-selection loophole. The receivers are realized using thin-film lithium niobate and operate at a switching frequency of 5 GHz, enabling high secure key rates. We demonstrate a Bell inequality violation by more than 24 standard deviations without the need for time resolution at the time-bin separation level.

quant-ph↗