Quantum walk represents one of the most promising resources for the simulation of physical quantum systems, and has also emerged as an alternative to the standard circuit model for quantum computing. ...Here we investigate how the particle statistics, either bosonic or fermionic, influences a two-particle discrete quantum walk. Such an experiment has been realized by exploiting polarization entanglement to simulate the bunching-antibunching feature of noninteracting bosons and fermions. To this scope a novel three-dimensional geometry for the waveguide circuit is introduced, which allows accurate polarization independent behavior, maintaining remarkable control on both phase and balancement.
Integrated quantum photonics, i.e. the generation, manipulation, and detection of quantum states of light in integrated photonic chips, is revolutionizing the field of quantum information in all ...applications, from communications to computing. Although many different platforms are being currently developed, from silicon photonics to lithium niobate photonic circuits, none of them has shown the versatility of femtosecond laser micromachining (FLM) in producing all the components of a complete quantum system, encompassing quantum sources, reconfigurable state manipulation, quantum memories, and detection. It is in fact evident that FLM has been a key enabling tool in the first-time demonstration of many quantum devices and functionalities. Although FLM cannot achieve the same level of miniaturization of other platforms, it still has many unique advantages for integrated quantum photonics. In particular, in the last five years, FLM has greatly expanded its range of quantum applications with several scientific breakthroughs achieved. For these reasons, we believe that a review article on this topic is very timely and could further promote the development of this field by convincing end-users of the great potentials of this technological platform and by stimulating more research groups in FLM to direct their efforts to the exciting field of quantum technologies.
First predicted for quantum particles in the presence of a disordered potential, Anderson localization is a ubiquitous effect, observed also in classical systems, arising from the destructive ...interference of waves propagating in static disordered media. Here we report the observation of this phenomenon for pairs of polarization-entangled photons in a discrete quantum walk affected by position-dependent disorder. By exploiting polarization entanglement of photons to simulate different quantum statistics, we experimentally investigate the interplay between the Anderson localization mechanism and the bosonic/fermionic symmetry of the wavefunction. The disordered lattice is realized by an integrated array of interferometers fabricated in glass by femtosecond laser writing. A novel technique is used to introduce a controlled phase shift into each unit mesh of the network. This approach yields great potential for quantum simulation and for implementing a computational power beyond the one of a classical computer in the 'hard-to-simulate' scenario.
Escaping from a complex maze, by exploring different paths with several decision-making branches in order to reach the exit, has always been a very challenging and fascinating task. Wave field and ...quantum objects may explore a complex structure in parallel by interference effects, but without necessarily leading to more efficient transport. Here, inspired by recent observations in biological energy transport phenomena, we demonstrate how a quantum walker can efficiently reach the output of a maze by partially suppressing the presence of interference. In particular, we show theoretically an unprecedented improvement in transport efficiency for increasing maze size with respect to purely quantum and classical approaches. In addition, we investigate experimentally these hybrid transport phenomena, by mapping the maze problem in an integrated waveguide array, probed by coherent light, hence successfully testing our theoretical results. These achievements may lead towards future bio-inspired photonics technologies for more efficient transport and computation.
The ability to manipulate quantum states of light by integrated devices may open new perspectives both for fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and for novel technological applications. However, ...the technology for handling polarization-encoded qubits, the most commonly adopted approach, is still missing in quantum optical circuits. Here we demonstrate the first integrated photonic controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate for polarization-encoded qubits. This result has been enabled by the integration, based on femtosecond laser waveguide writing, of partially polarizing beam splitters on a glass chip. We characterize the logical truth table of the quantum gate demonstrating its high fidelity to the expected one. In addition, we show the ability of this gate to transform separable states into entangled ones and vice versa. Finally, the full accessibility of our device is exploited to carry out a complete characterization of the CNOT gate through a quantum process tomography.
The identification of phenomena able to pinpoint quantum interference is attracting large interest. Indeed, a generalization of the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect valid for any number of photons and optical ...modes would represent an important leap ahead both from a fundamental perspective and for practical applications, such as certification of photonic quantum devices, whose computational speedup is expected to depend critically on multi-particle interference. Quantum distinctive features have been predicted for many particles injected into multimode interferometers implementing the Fourier transform over the optical modes. Here we develop a scalable approach for the implementation of the fast Fourier transform algorithm using three-dimensional photonic integrated interferometers, fabricated via femtosecond laser writing technique. We observe the suppression law for a large number of output states with four- and eight-mode optical circuits: the experimental results demonstrate genuine quantum interference between the injected photons, thus offering a powerful tool for diagnostic of photonic platforms.
The main features of quantum mechanics reside in interference deriving from the superposition of different quantum states. While current quantum optical technology enables two-photon interference ...both in bulk and integrated systems, simultaneous interference of more than two particles, leading to richer quantum phenomena, is still a challenging task. Here we report the experimental observation of three-photon interference in an integrated three-port directional coupler realized by ultrafast laser writing. By exploiting the capability of this technique to produce three-dimensional structures, we realized and tested in the quantum regime a three-port beam splitter, namely a tritter, which allowed us to observe bosonic coalescence of three photons. These results open new important perspectives in many areas of quantum information, such as fundamental tests of quantum mechanics with increasing number of photons, quantum state engineering, quantum sensing and quantum simulation.
The transfer of data is a fundamental task in information systems. Microprocessors contain dedicated data buses that transmit bits across different locations and implement sophisticated routing ...protocols. Transferring quantum information with high fidelity is a challenging task, due to the intrinsic fragility of quantum states. Here we report on the implementation of the perfect state transfer protocol applied to a photonic qubit entangled with another qubit at a different location. On a single device we perform three routing procedures on entangled states, preserving the encoded quantum state with an average fidelity of 97.1%, measuring in the coincidence basis. Our protocol extends the regular perfect state transfer by maintaining quantum information encoded in the polarization state of the photonic qubit. Our results demonstrate the key principle of perfect state transfer, opening a route towards data transfer for quantum computing systems.
The decay of an unstable system is usually described by an exponential law. Quantum mechanics predicts strong deviations of the survival probability from the exponential: Indeed, the decay is ...initially quadratic, while at very large times it follows a power law, with superimposed oscillations. The latter regime is particularly elusive and difficult to observe. Here we employ arrays of single-mode optical waveguides, fabricated by femtosecond laser direct inscription, to implement quantum systems where a discrete state is coupled and can decay into a continuum. The optical modes correspond to distinct quantum states of the photon, and the temporal evolution of the quantum system is mapped into the spatial propagation coordinate. By injecting coherent light states in the fabricated photonic structures and by measuring a small scattered fraction of such light with an unprecedented dynamic range, we are able to experimentally observe not only the exponential decay regime, but also the quadratic Zeno region and the power-law decay at long evolution times.
Photonic platforms represent a promising technology for the realization of several quantum communication protocols and for experiments of quantum simulation. Moreover, large-scale integrated ...interferometers have recently gained a relevant role in quantum computing, specifically with Boson Sampling devices and the race for quantum supremacy. Indeed, various linear optical schemes have been proposed for the implementation of unitary transformations, each one suitable for a specific task. Notwithstanding, so far a comprehensive analysis of the state of the art under broader and realistic conditions is still lacking. In the present work we fill this gap, providing in a unified framework a quantitative comparison of the three main photonic architectures, namely the ones with triangular and square designs and the so-called fast transformations. All layouts have been analyzed in presence of losses and imperfect control over the internal reflectivities and phases, showing that the square design outperforms the triangular scheme in most operational conditions. Our results represent a further step ahead towards the implementation of quantum information protocols on large-scale integrated photonic devices.
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