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Shigehito Miki

Publications and source records attributed to Shigehito Miki.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Quantum Photonic Interconnect

Integrated photonics has enabled much progress towards quantum technologies. Many applications, including quantum communication, sensing, and distributed and cloud quantum computing, will require coherent photonic interconnection between separate chip-based sub-systems. Large-scale quantum computing systems and architectures may ultimately require quantum interconnects to enable scaling beyond the limits of a single wafer and towards "multi-chip" systems. However, coherently interconnecting separate chips is challenging due to the fragility of these quantum states and the demanding challenges of transmitting photons in at least two media within a single coherent system. Distribution and manipulation of qubit entanglement between multiple devices is one of the most stringent requirements of the interconnected system. Here, we report a quantum photonic interconnect demonstrating high-fidelity entanglement distribution and manipulation between two separate chips, implemented using state-of-the-art silicon photonics. Path-entangled states are generated and manipulated on-chip, and distributed between the chips by interconverting between path-encoding and polarisation-encoding. We use integrated state analysers to confirm a Bell-type violation of $S$=2.638+-0.039 between two chips. With improvements in loss, this quantum interconnect will provide new levels of flexible systems and architectures for quantum technologies.

quant-ph↗

Chip-based Quantum Key Distribution

Improvement in secure transmission of information is an urgent practical need for governments, corporations and individuals. Quantum key distribution (QKD) promises security based on the laws of physics and has rapidly grown from proof-of-concept to robust demonstrations and even deployment of commercial systems. Despite these advances, QKD has not been widely adopted, and practical large-scale deployment will likely require integrated chip-based devices for improved performance, miniaturisation and enhanced functionality, fully integrated into classical communication networks. Here we report low error rate, GHz clocked QKD operation of an InP transmitter chip and a SiO$_x$N$_y$ receiver chip --- monolithically integrated devices that use state-of-the-art components and manufacturing processes from the telecom industry. We use the reconfigurability of these devices to demonstrate three important QKD protocols --- BB84, Coherent One Way (COW) and Differential Phase Shift (DPS) --- with performance comparable to state-of-the-art. These devices, when combined with integrated single photon detectors, satisfy the requirements at each of the levels of future QKD networks --- from point-of-use through to backbone --- and open the way to operation in existing and emerging classical communication networks.

quant-ph↗

Spectrally resolved Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between independent sources

Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference between independent photon sources (HOMI-IPS) is the fundamental block for quantum information processing, such as quantum gate, Shor's algorithm, Boson sampling, etc. All the previous HOMI-IPS experiments were carried out in time-domain, however, the spectral information during the interference was lost, due to technical difficulties. Here, we investigate the HOMI-IPS in spectral domain using the recently developed fast fiber spectrometer, and demonstrate the spectral distribution during the HOM interference between two heralded single-photon sources, and two thermal sources. This experiment can not only deepen our understanding of HOMI-IPS in the spectral domain, but also be utilized to improve the visibility by post-processing spectral filtering.

quant-ph↗

Modified E91 protocol demonstration with hybrid entanglement photon source

We report on an experimental demonstration of the modified Ekert 91 protocol of quantum key distribution using a hybrid entanglement source with two different degrees of freedoms, a 1550 nm time-bin qubit and 810 nm polarization qubit. The violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality could be demonstrated for the entanglement between the polarization qubit in free space and the time-bin qubit through 20 km fiber transmission. The secure key rate in our system is estimated 70-150 bps.

quant-ph↗

Nanoantenna enhancement for telecom-wavelength superconducting single photon detectors

Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors are rapidly emerging as a key infrared photon-counting technology. Two front-side-coupled silver dipole nanoantennas, simulated to have resonances at 1480 nm and 1525 nm, were fabricated in a two-step process. An enhancement of 50% to 130% in the system detection efficiency was observed when illuminating the antennas. This offers a pathway to increasing absorption into superconducting nanowires, creating larger active areas, and achieving more efficient detection at longer wavelengths.

physics.optics↗

Efficient generation of twin photons at telecom wavelengths with 10 GHz repetition-rate tunable comb laser

Efficient generation and detection of indistinguishable twin photons are at the core of quantum information and communications technology (Q-ICT). These photons are conventionally generated by spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC), which is a probabilistic process, and hence occurs at a limited rate, which restricts wider applications of Q-ICT. To increase the rate, one had to excite SPDC by higher pump power, while it inevitably produced more unwanted multi-photon components, harmfully degrading quantum interference visibility.Here we solve this problem by using recently developed 10 GHz repetition-rate-tunable comb laser, combined with a group-velocity-matched nonlinear crystal, and superconducting nanowire single photon detectors. They operate at telecom wavelengths more efficiently with less noises than conventional schemes, those typically operate at visible and near infrared wavelengths generated by a 76 MHz Ti Sapphire laser and detected by Si detectors. We could show high interference visibilities, which are free from the pump-power induced degradation. Our laser, nonlinear crystal, and detectors constitute a powerful tool box, which will pave a way to implementing quantum photonics circuits with variety of good and low-cost telecom components, and will eventually realize scalable Q-ICT in optical infra-structures.

quant-ph↗

Efficient detection of a highly bright photon source using superconducting nanowire single photon detectors

We investigate the detection of an ultra-bright single-photon source using highly efficient superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) at telecom wavelengths. Both the single-photon source and the detectors are characterized in detail. At a pump power of 100 mW (400 mW), the measured coincidence counts can achieve 400 kcps (1.17 Mcps), which is the highest ever reported at telecom wavelengths to the best of our knowledge. The multi-pair contributions at different pump powers are analyzed in detail. We compare the experimental and theoretical second order coherence functions $g^{(2)}(0)$ and find that the conventional experimentally measured $g^{(2)}(0)$ values are smaller than the theoretically expected ones. We also consider the saturation property of SNSPD and find that SNSPD can be easier to saturate with a thermal state rather than with a coherent state. The experimental data and theoretical analysis should be useful for the future experiments to detect ultra-bright down-conversion sources with high-efficiency detectors.

quant-ph↗

Pulsed Sagnac polarization-entangled photon source with a PPKTP crystal at telecom wavelength

We demonstrate pulsed polarization-entangled photons generated from a periodically poled $\mathrm{KTiOPO_4}$ (PPKTP) crystal in a Sagnac interferometer configuration at telecom wavelength. Since the group-velocity-matching (GVM) condition is satisfied, the intrinsic spectral purity of the photons is much higher than in the previous scheme at around 800 nm wavelength. The combination of a Sagnac interferometer and the GVM-PPKTP crystal makes our entangled source compact, stable, highly entangled, spectrally pure and ultra-bright. The photons were detected by two superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) with detection efficiencies of 70% and 68% at dark counts of less than 1 kcps. We achieved fidelities of 0.981 $\pm$ 0.0002 for $\left| {ψ^ -} \right\rangle$ and 0.980 $\pm$ 0.001 for $\left| {ψ^ +} \right\rangle$ respectively. This GVM-PPKTP-Sagnac scheme is directly applicable to quantum communication experiments at telecom wavelength, especially in free space.

quant-ph↗

A low-noise frequency down-conversion to the telecommunication band for a quantum communication based on NV centers in diamond

We demonstrate a low-noise frequency down-conversion of photons at 637 nm to the telecommunication band at 1587 nm by the difference frequency generation in a periodically-poled lithium niobate. An internal conversion efficiency of the converter is estimated to be 0.44 at the maximum which is achieved by a pump power of 430 mW, whereas a rate of internal background photons caused by the strong cw pump laser is estimated to be 9 kHz/mW within a bandwidth of about 1 nm. By using the experimental values related to the intrinsic property of the converter, and using the intensity correlation and the average photon number of a 637-nm input light pulse, we derive the intensity correlation of a converted telecom light pulse. Then we discuss feasibility of a single-photon frequency conversion to the telecommunication band for a long-distance quantum communication based on NV centers in diamond.

quant-ph↗

64-pixel NbTiN superconducting nanowire single-photon detector array for spatially resolved photon detection

We present the characterization of two-dimensionally arranged 64-pixel NbTiN superconducting nanowire single-photon detector array for spatially resolved photon detection. NbTiN films deposited on thermally oxidized Si substrates enabled the high-yield production of high-quality SSPD pixels, and all 64 SSPD pixels showed uniform superconducting characteristics. Furthermore, all of the pixels showed single-photon sensitivity, and 60 of the 64 pixels showed a pulse generation probability higher than 90% after photon absorption. As a result of light irradiation from the single-mode optical fiber at different distances between the fiber tip and the active area, the variations of system detection efficiency in each pixel showed reasonable Gaussian distribution to represent the spatial distributions of photon flux intensity.

physics.ins-det↗

Low-Filling-Factor Superconducting Single Photon Detector with High System Detection Efficiency

We designed, fabricated, and measured superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SSPDs) with low filling factor which achieve high system detection efficiency (SDE) and counting rate simultaneously. Numerical simulation reveals that high optical absorptance is possible in SSPDs even for low filing factor by tuning the device design. The SDEs of fabricated 18-50% filling factor SSPDs were measured systematically, and all SSPDs showed high SDEs of 61-80% and the lowest 18% filling factor SSPD achieved a high SDE of 69%.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Observation of two output light pulses from a partial wavelength converter preserving phase of an input light at a single-photon level

We experimentally demonstrate that both a converted and an unconverted light pulses after wavelength conversion with various conversion efficiencies preserve phase information of an input light at a single-photon level. In our experiment, we converted temporally-separated two coherent light pulses with average photon numbers of $\sim$ 0.1 at 780 nm to light pulses at 1522 nm by using difference-frequency generation in a periodically-poled lithium niobate waveguide. We observed a single-photon interference between temporally-separated two modes for both the converted and the unconverted light pulses at various values of the conversion efficiency. We observed interference visibilities greater than 0.88 without suppressing the background noises for any value of the conversion efficiency the wavelength converter achieves. At a conversion efficiency of $\sim$ 0.5, the observed visibilities are 0.98 for the unconverted light and 0.99 for the converted light.

quant-ph↗

Countermeasure against tailored bright illumination attack for DPS-QKD

We propose a countermeasure against the so-call tailored bright illumination attacl dor Differential-Phase-Shift QKD (DPS-QKD). By Monitoring a rate of coincidence detection at a pair of superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SSPDs) which is connected at each of the output ports of Bob's Mach-Zehnder interferometer, Alice and Bob can detect and defeat this kind of attack.

quant-ph↗

Nonclasscial interference between independent intrinsically pure single photons at telecom wavelength

We demonstrate a Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between two independent, intrinsically pure, heralded single photons from spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) at telecom wavelength. A visibility of $85.5\pm8.3%$ was achieved without using any bandpass filter. Thanks to the group-velocity-matched SPDC and superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs), the 4-fold coincidence counts are one order higher than that in the previous experiments. The combination of bright single photon sources and SNSPDs is a crucial step for future practical quantum info-communication systems at telecom wavelength.

quant-ph↗

High performance fiber-coupled NbTiN superconducting nanowire single photon detectors with Gifford-McMahon cryocooler

We present high performance fiber-coupled niobium titanium nitride superconducting nanowire single photon detectors fabricated on thermally oxidized silicon substrates. The best device showed a system detection efficiency (DE) of 74%, dark count rate of 100 c/s, and full width at half maximum timing jitter of 68 ps under a bias current of 18.0 uA with a practical Gifford-McMahon cryocooler system. We also introduced six detectors into the cryocooler and confirmed that the system DE of all detectors was higher than 67% at the dark count rate of 100 c/s.

physics.ins-det↗

Non-classical two-photon interference between independent telecom light pulses converted by difference-frequency generation

We experimentally demonstrated the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference between two photons after visible-to-telecommunication wavelength conversion. In the experiment, we prepared a heralded single photon by using spontaneous parametric down-conversion and the other photon from a weak laser source at 780 nm. We converted the wavelength of both photons to the telecommunication wavelength of 1522 nm by using difference-frequency generation in a periodically-poled lithium niobate, and then observed the HOM interference between the photons. The observed visibility is $0.76\pm 0.12$ which clearly shows the non-classical interference of the two photons. The high-visibility interference is an important step for fiber-based quantum communications of photons generated from visible photon emitters.

quant-ph↗

Nonlatching Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detection with Quasi-Constant-Voltage Bias

Latching is a serious issue in superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) technology. By extensively studying the electrical transportation characteristics of SNSPD with different bias schemes, we conclude that latching is a result of the improper bias to SNSPD. With the quasi-constant-voltage bias scheme, the intrinsic nonlatching nature of SNSPD is observed and discussed. The SNSPD working in the nonlatching bias shows a smaller jitter and a higher pulse amplitude than that in the previous anti-latching method. The quantum efficiency of SNSPD with the pulsed photon frequency up to 3 GHz is measured successfully, which further proves the nonlatching operation of SNSPD.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Crosstalk-free operation of multi-element SSPD array integrated with SFQ circuit in a 0.1 Watt GM cryocooler

We demonstrate the successful operation of a multi-element superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SSPD) array integrated with a single-flux-quantum (SFQ) readout circuit in a compact 0.1 W Gifford-McMahon cryocooler. A time-resolved readout technique, where output signals from each element enter the SFQ readout circuit with finite time intervals, revealed crosstalk-free operation of the four-element SSPD array connected with the SFQ readout circuit. The timing jitter and the system detection efficiency were measured to be 50 ps and 11.4%, respectively, which were comparable to the performance of practical single-pixel SSPD systems.

physics.optics↗