arXiv subjects

W. Steven Kolthammer

Publications and source records attributed to W. Steven Kolthammer.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Joint estimation of phase and phase diffusion for quantum metrology

Phase estimation, at the heart of many quantum metrology and communication schemes, can be strongly affected by noise, whose amplitude may not be known, or might be subject to drift. Here, we investigate the joint estimation of a phase shift and the amplitude of phase diffusion, at the quantum limit. For several relevant instances, this multiparameter estimation problem can be effectively reshaped as a two-dimensional Hilbert space model, encompassing the description of an interferometer phase probed with relevant quantum states -- split single-photons, coherent states or N00N states. For these cases, we obtain a trade-off bound on the statistical variances for the joint estimation of phase and phase diffusion, as well as optimum measurement schemes. We use this bound to quantify the effectiveness of an actual experimental setup for joint parameter estimation for polarimetry. We conclude by discussing the form of the trade-off relations for more general states and measurements.

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arXiv2014

Quantum teleportation on a photonic chip

Quantum teleportation is a fundamental concept in quantum physics which now finds important applications at the heart of quantum technology including quantum relays, quantum repeaters and linear optics quantum computing (LOQC). Photonic implementations have largely focussed on achieving long distance teleportation due to its suitability for decoherence-free communication. Teleportation also plays a vital role in the scalability of photonic quantum computing, for which large linear optical networks will likely require an integrated architecture. Here we report the first demonstration of quantum teleportation in which all key parts - entanglement preparation, Bell-state analysis and quantum state tomography - are performed on a reconfigurable integrated photonic chip. We also show that a novel element-wise characterisation method is critical to mitigate component errors, a key technique which will become increasingly important as integrated circuits reach higher complexities necessary for quantum enhanced operation.

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arXiv2013

High quantum-efficiency photon-number-resolving detector for photonic on-chip information processing

The integrated optical circuit is a promising architecture for the realization of complex quantum optical states and information networks. One element that is required for many of these applications is a high-efficiency photon detector capable of photon-number discrimination. We present an integrated photonic system in the telecom band at 1550 nm based on UV-written silica-on-silicon waveguides and modified transition-edge sensors capable of number resolution and over 40% efficiency. Exploiting the mode transmission failure of these devices, we multiplex three detectors in series to demonstrate a combined 79% +/- 2% detection efficiency with a single pass, and 88% +/- 3% at the operating wavelength of an on-chip terminal reflection grating. Furthermore, our optical measurements clearly demonstrate no significant unexplained loss in this system due to scattering or reflections. This waveguide and detector design therefore allows the placement of number-resolving single-photon detectors of predictable efficiency at arbitrary locations within a photonic circuit - a capability that offers great potential for many quantum optical applications.

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arXiv2013

Boson Sampling on a Photonic Chip

While universal quantum computers ideally solve problems such as factoring integers exponentially more efficiently than classical machines, the formidable challenges in building such devices motivate the demonstration of simpler, problem-specific algorithms that still promise a quantum speedup. We construct a quantum boson sampling machine (QBSM) to sample the output distribution resulting from the nonclassical interference of photons in an integrated photonic circuit, a problem thought to be exponentially hard to solve classically. Unlike universal quantum computation, boson sampling merely requires indistinguishable photons, linear state evolution, and detectors. We benchmark our QBSM with three and four photons and analyze sources of sampling inaccuracy. Our studies pave the way to larger devices that could offer the first definitive quantum-enhanced computation.

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arXiv2013

On-chip low loss heralded source of pure single photons

A key obstacle to the experimental realization of many photonic quantum-enhanced technologies is the lack of low-loss sources of single photons in pure quantum states. We demonstrate a promising solution: generation of heralded single photons in a silica photonic chip by spontaneous four-wave mixing. A heralding efficiency of 40%, corresponding to a preparation efficiency of 80% accounting for detector performance, is achieved due to efficient coupling of the low-loss source to optical fibers. A single photon purity of 0.86 is measured from the source number statistics without filtering, and confirmed by direct measurement of the joint spectral intensity. We calculate that similar high-heralded-purity output can be obtained from visible to telecom spectral regions using this approach. On-chip silica sources can have immediate application in a wide range of single-photon quantum optics applications which employ silica photonics.

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arXiv2013

Requirements for two-source entanglement concentration

Entanglement enhancement is a key task for quantum technologies. This operation performed on states produced by parametric down-conversion sources has been the object of several recent experimental investigations. In particular, conditional preparation by photon-subtraction has been shown to improve the entanglement of these states. Here we analyse the role played by non-Gaussian and Gaussian measurements in more general entanglement concentration operations performed on a pair of two-mode squeezed vacua. We find stringent requirements for achieving an improved entanglement enhancement by measuring jointly these two resource states.

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arXiv2012

Efficient optical pumping and high optical depth in a hollow-core photonic-crystal fibre for a broadband quantum memory

The generation of large multiphoton quantum states - for applications in computing, metrology, and simulation - requires a network of high-efficiency quantum memories capable of storing broadband pulses. Integrating these memories into a fibre offers a number of advantages towards realising this goal: strong light-matter coupling at low powers, simplified alignment, and compatibility with existing photonic architectures. Here, we introduce a large-core kagome-structured hollow-core fibre as a suitable platform for an integrated fibre-based quantum memory with a warm atomic vapour. We demonstrate, for the first time, efficient optical pumping in a hollow-core photonic-crystal fibre with a warm atomic vapour, where (90 $\pm$ 1)% of atoms are prepared in the ground state. We measure high optical depths (3$\times 10^{4}$) and, also, narrow homogeneous linewidths that do not exhibit significant transit-time broadening. Our results establish that kagome fibres are suitable for implementing a broadband, room-temperature quantum memory.

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arXiv2012

Multi-photon quantum interference in a multi-port integrated photonic device

Increasing the complexity of quantum photonic devices is essential for many optical information processing applications to reach a regime beyond what can be classically simulated, and integrated photonics has emerged as a leading platform for achieving this. Here, we demonstrate three-photon quantum operation of an integrated device containing three coupled interferometers, eight spatial modes and many classical and nonclassical interferences. This represents a critical advance over previous complexities and the first on-chip nonclassical interference with more than two photonic inputs. We introduce a new scheme to verify quantum behaviour, using classically characterised device elements and hierarchies of photon correlation functions. We accurately predict the device's quantum behaviour and show operation inconsistent with both classical and bi-separable quantum models. Such methods for verifying multiphoton quantum behaviour are vital for achieving increased circuit complexity. Our experiment paves the way for the next generation of integrated photonic quantum simulation and computing devices.

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