Quantum Photonic Circuits Research Articles

Riemannian optimization of photonic quantum circuits in phase and Fock space

We propose a framework to design and optimize generic photonic quantum circuits composed of Gaussian objects (pure and mixed Gaussian states, Gaussian unitaries, Gaussian channels, Gaussian measurements) as well as non-Gaussian effects such as photon-number-resolving measurements. In this framework, we parametrize a phase space representation of Gaussian objects using elements of the symplectic group (or the unitary or orthogonal group in special cases), and then we transform it into the Fock representation using a single linear recurrence relation that computes the Fock amplitudes of any Gaussian object recursively. We also compute the gradient of the Fock amplitudes with respect to phase space parameters by differentiating through the recurrence relation. We can then use Riemannian optimization on the symplectic group to optimize MM-mode Gaussian objects, avoiding the need to commit to particular realizations in terms of fundamental gates. This allows us to “mod out” all the different gate-level implementations of the same circuit, which now can be chosen after the optimization has completed. This can be especially useful when looking to answer general questions, such as bounding the value of a property over a class of states or transformations, or when one would like to worry about hardware constraints separately from the circuit optimization step. Finally, we make our framework extendable to non-Gaussian objects that can be written as linear combinations of Gaussian ones, by explicitly computing the change in global phase when states undergo Gaussian transformations. We implemented all of these methods in the freely available open-source library MrMustard, which we use in three examples to optimize the 216-mode interferometer in Borealis, and 2- and 3-modes circuits (with Fock measurements) to produce cat states and cubic phase states.

Effective integration of highly-efficient focusing apodized grating and quantum dots on a solid substrate for scalable quantum photonic circuits

Effective integration of highly-efficient focusing apodized grating and quantum dots on a solid substrate for scalable quantum photonic circuits

Distributed Bragg reflector based ASE noise removal pump wavelength filters for futuristic chip-scale quantum photonic circuits.

This article reports a novel design of a compact tunable resonance filter with a highly extinguished and ultra-broad out-of-band rejection for on-chip amplified spontaneous noise suppression from pump lasers highly demanding for generating pure/entangled photon pairs via χ(3) process in a CMOS compatible silicon photonics technology platform. The proposed device is designed with two identically apodized distributed grating structures for guided Fabry-Perot resonant transmissions in a silicon-on-insulator rib waveguide structure. The device design parameters are optimized by theoretical simulation for a low insertion loss singly-resonant transmission peak at a desired wavelength. We observed that a device length of as low as ∼ 35 µm exhibits a rejection band as large as ∼ 60 nm with an extinction of ∼ 40 dB with respect to the resonant wavelength peak at λr ∼ 1550 nm (FWHM ∼ 80 pm, IL ∼ 2 dB). The experimental results have been shown to be closely matching to our theoretical simulation and modeling results in terms of its stop bandwidth and resonance wavelength for noise suppressed pump laser wavelength filtering. As expected from the theoretical prediction, the trend pertaining to the trade-off between passive insertion loss and Q-value of the resonances has been observed depending on the device parameters. The thermo-optic tuning characteristics of resonant wavelengths have been obtained by integrating microheaters. The resonance peak could be tuned at a rate of 96 pm per mW of consumed thermal power. Noise associated with an amplified pump wavelength (λP ∼ 1550 nm) has been shown to be suppressed (∼ 40-dB), up to the detector noise floor.

3D Laser Writing of Low-Loss Cross-Section-Variable Type-I Optical Waveguide Passive/Active Integrated Devices in Single Crystals.

Optical waveguides fabricated in single crystals offer crucial passive/active optical components for photonic integrated circuits. Single crystals possess inherent advantages over their amorphous counterpart, such as lower optical losses in visible-to-mid-infrared band, larger peak emission cross-section, higher doping concentration. However, the writing of Type-I positive refractive index modified waveguides in single crystals using femtosecond laser technology presents significant challenges. Herein, this work introduces a novel femtosecond laser direct writing technique that combines slit-shaping with an immersion oil objective to fabricate low-loss Type-I waveguides in single crystals. This approach allows for precise control of waveguide shape, size, mode-field, and refractive index distribution, with a spatial resolution as high as 700nm and a high positive refractive index variation on the order of 10-2, introducing new degrees of freedom to design and fabricate passive/active optical waveguide devices. As a proof-of-concept, this work successfully produces a 7mm-long circular-shaped gain waveguide (≈10µm in diameter) in an Er3+-doped YAG single crystal, exhibiting a propagation loss as low as 0.23dBcm-1, a net gain of ≈3dB and a polarization-insensitive character. The newly-developed technique is theoretically applicable to arbitrary single crystals, holding promising potential for various applications in integrated optics, optical communication, and photonic quantum circuits.

Polarization entanglement generation in silicon nitride waveguide-coupled dual microring resonators.

Polarization-entangled photon pair sources exhibiting nonlocal quantum correlations are crucial to developments of quantum computing, quantum communications, quantum cryptography, and quantum sensing technologies. On-chip polarization entanglement generation thus constitutes one enabling component for integrated quantum photonic circuits. Here, we present to our knowledge the first polarization-entangled photon pair sources in a silicon nitride platform for integrated quantum photonic circuits. We demonstrate the generation of a polarization-entangled state by adopting a configuration comprising dual microring resonators, with nearly degenerate transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarized cavity resonances for the two resonators coupled in series to a common bus waveguide. We measure two-photon interference and quantum state tomography to characterize the polarization entanglement of the generated state and to reconstruct the density matrix. Our experiments reveal a visibility of 96.4% ± 3.1% and of 86.7% ± 3.2% with the |H⟩ and |V⟩ bases, respectively (and a visibility of 89.4% ± 6.6% and 81.3% ± 7.3% with the |D⟩ and |A⟩ bases), and a fidelity of ∼75.7% from the tomographic reconstructed density matrix.

On-chip tunable quantum interference in a lithium niobate-on-insulator photonic integrated circuit

Programmable interferometric circuits are at the heart of integrated quantum photonic processors. While the lithium niobate-on-insulator platform has the potential to advance integrated quantum photonics due to its strong nonlinearity and tight mode confinement, the demonstration of reconfigurable two-photon interference has not yet been achieved. Here, we design, fabricate and characterize the building block of such interferometric networks in the form of a 2 × 2 Mach–Zehnder Interferometer. We use a thermo-optic phase shifter to achieve stable performance with a power consumption of Pπ=44.4 mW and sub-microsecond switching times. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our device for quantum applications by measuring single-photon routing with up to 34 dB extinction ratio. We show Hong-Ou-Mandel interference with fully tunable visibilities reaching a maximum value of 97.4±1.0% . As part of large scale quantum photonic circuits, this building block will facilitate reconfigurable and tunable photonic processing units integrated alongside non-classical light sources.

Reconfigurable quantum photonic circuits based on quantum dots.

Quantum photonic integrated circuits, composed of linear-optical elements, offer an efficient way for encoding and processing quantum information on-chip. At their core, these circuits rely on reconfigurable phase shifters, typically constructed from classical components such as thermo- or electro-optical materials, while quantum solid-state emitters such as quantum dots are limited to acting as single-photon sources. Here, we demonstrate the potential of quantum dots as reconfigurable phase shifters. We use numerical models based on established literature parameters to show that circuits utilizing these emitters enable high-fidelity operation and are scalable. Despite the inherent imperfections associated with quantum dots, such as imperfect coupling, dephasing, or spectral diffusion, we show that circuits based on these emitters may be optimized such that these do not significantly impact the unitary infidelity. Specifically, they do not increase the infidelity by more than 0.001 in circuits with up to 10 modes, compared to those affected only by standard nanophotonic losses and routing errors. For example, we achieve fidelities of 0.9998 in quantum-dot-based circuits enacting controlled-phase and - not gates without any redundancies. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of quantum emitter-driven quantum information processing and pave the way for cryogenically-compatible, fast, and low-loss reconfigurable quantum photonic circuits.

An integrated 3C-silicon carbide-on-insulator photonic platform for nonlinear and quantum light sources

Silicon carbide (SiC) polytypes are emerging for integrated nonlinear and quantum photonics due to their wide-bandgap energies, second-order optic nonlinearity and process compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technologies. Among polytypes, 3C-SiC is the only one epitaxially grown on wafer-scale silicon substrates. However, on-chip nonlinear and quantum light sources leveraging the second-order nonlinearity of 3C-SiC have not been reported to our knowledge. Here, we design and fabricate an elliptical microring on 3C-SiC. We demonstrate a nonlinear light source with a second-harmonic generation efficiency of 17.4±0.2%W−1\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$17.4\\pm 0.2 \\% {W}^{-1}$$\\end{document} and difference-frequency generation with a signal-idler bandwidth of 97 nm. We demonstrate a spontaneous parametric down-conversion source with a photon-pair generation rate of 4.8 MHz and a coincidence-to-accidental ratio of 3361±84\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$3361\\pm 84$$\\end{document}. We measure a low heralded single-photon second-order coherence gH2=0.0007\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${g}_{H}^{\\left(2\\right)}=0.0007$$\\end{document}. We observe time-bin entanglement with a visibility of 86.0±2.4%\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$86.0\\pm 2.4 \\%$$\\end{document} using this source. Our work paves a way toward SiC-based on-chip nonlinear and quantum photonic circuits.

Nano antenna-assisted quantum dots emission into high-index planar waveguide

Integrated quantum photonic circuits require the efficient coupling of photon sources to photonic waveguides. Hybrid plasmonic/photonic platforms are a promising approach, taking advantage of both plasmon modal confinement for efficient coupling to a nearby emitter and photonic circuitry for optical data transfer and processing. In this work, we established directional quantum dot (QD) emission coupling to a planar TiO2 waveguide assisted by a Yagi-Uda antenna. Antenna on waveguide is first designed by scaling radio frequency dimensions to nano-optics, taking into account the hybrid plasmonic/photonic platform. Design is then optimized by full numerical simulations. We fabricate the antenna on a TiO2 planar waveguide and deposit a few QDs close to the Yagi-Uda antenna. The optical characterization shows clear directional coupling originating from antenna effect. We estimate the coupling efficiency and directivity of the light emitted into the waveguide.

Quantum Light Generation Based on GaN Microring toward Fully On-Chip Source.

An integrated quantum light source is increasingly desirable in large-scale quantum information processing. Despite recent remarkable advances, a new material platform is constantly being explored for the fully on-chip integration of quantum light generation, active and passive manipulation, and detection. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate a gallium nitride (GaN) microring based quantum light generation in the telecom C-band, which has potential toward the monolithic integration of quantum light source. In our demonstration, the GaN microring has a free spectral range of 330GHz and a near-zero anomalous dispersion region of over 100nm. The generation of energy-time entangled photon pair is demonstrated with a typical raw two-photon interference visibility of 95.5±6.5%, which is further configured to generate a heralded single photon with a typical heralded second-order autocorrelation g_{H}^{(2)}(0) of 0.045±0.001. Our results pave the way for developing a chip-scale quantum photonic circuit.

Large reconfigurable quantum circuits with SPAD arrays and multimode fibers

Reprogrammable integrated optics provides a natural platform for tunable quantum photonic circuits, but faces challenges when high dimensions and high connectivity are involved. Here, we implement high-dimensional linear transformations on spatial modes of photons using wavefront shaping together with mode mixing in a multimode fiber, and measure photon correlations using a time-tagging single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array. Our demonstration of a generalization of a Hong-Ou-Mandel interference to 22 output ports shows the scalability potential of wavefront shaping in complex media in conjunction with SPAD arrays for implementing high-dimensional reconfigurable quantum circuits. Specifically, we achieved (80.5±6.8)% similarity for indistinguishable photon pairs and (84.9±7.0)% similarity for distinguishable photon pairs using 22 detectors and random circuits.

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

We report the nanofabrication and characterization of optical spot-size converter 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 ∘ 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 150 nm wavelength bandwidth at cryogenic temperatures, with the lower bound for the coupling efficiency into the TE mode being 16±2% in the interval 900-1050 nm. 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.

Progress on Chip-Based Spontaneous Four-Wave Mixing Quantum Light Sources

Quantum light generated through spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) process in nonlinear materials, such as entangled photon pairs and single photons, is an important resource for various emerging quantum applications. Integrated quantum photonics has enabled the generation, manipulation, and detection of quantum states of light with steadily increasing scale and complexity levels. Importantly, the exploration of on-chip integration has accumulated substantial progresses in recent years toward the realization of low-cost, large-scale quantum photonic circuits. Here, we review the underlying mechanism and discuss state-of-the-art SFWM on-chip quantum light sources fabricated with various structures and materials on chip. Furthermore, we enumerate the most appealing applications of on-chip SFWM such as heralding single-photon source, entangled photon source, and system-level integration.

Utilizing direct Zener tunneling in Germanium for cryogenic quantum applications

The temperature-dependent electroluminescent properties of Ge-Diodes, especially the Ge-Zener-Emitter, with tunnel transitions are investigated. The direct band-gap behavior of Germanium below a temperature of 140 K is demonstrated, facilitated by Zener tunneling. Pulsed excitation of the Ge-Zener-Emitter results in an optical output power density of 6 μW, which is sufficient to excite quantum dots for single-photon emission. The peak energy of 0.86 eV suits the non-resonant excitation of InGaAs quantum dots at cryogenic temperatures. This paper presents a potential optical pump source for a quantum photonic integrated circuit.

Maximally Efficient Biphoton Generation by Single Photon Decay in Nonlinear Quantum Photonic Circuits.

We develop a general nonperturbative formalism and propose a specific scheme for maximally efficient generation of biphoton states by parametric decay of single photons. We show that the well-known critical coupling concept of integrated optics can be generalized to the nonlinear coupling of quantized photon modes to describe the nonperturbative optimal regime of a single-photon nonlinearity and establish a fundamental upper limit on the nonlinear generation efficiency of quantum-correlated photons, which approaches unity for low enough absorption losses.

On-chip interference of scattering from two individual molecules

Integrated photonic circuits offer a promising route for studying coherent cooperative effects of a controlled collection of quantum emitters. However, spectral inhomogeneities, decoherence, and material incompatibilities in the solid state make this a nontrivial task. Here, we demonstrate efficient coupling of a pair of Fourier-limited organic molecules embedded in a polyethylene film to a TiO2 microdisc resonator on a glass chip. Moreover, we tune the resonance frequencies of the emitters with respect to that of the microresonator by employing nanofabricated electrodes. For two molecules separated by a distance of about 8 µm and an optical phase difference of about π/2, we report on a large collective extinction of the incident light in the forward direction and the destructive interference of its scattering in the backward direction. Our work sets the ground for coherent coupling of several quantum emitters via a common mode and realization of polymer-based hybrid quantum photonic circuits.

Quantum Photonic Circuits Integrated with Color Centers in Designer Nanodiamonds.

Diamond has emerged as a leading host material for solid-state quantum emitters, quantum memories, and quantum sensors. However, the challenges in fabricating photonic devices in diamond have limited its potential for use in quantum technologies. While various hybrid integration approaches have been developed for coupling diamond color centers with photonic devices defined in a heterogeneous material, these methods suffer from either large insertion loss at the material interface or evanescent light-matter coupling. Here, we present a new technique that enables the deterministic assembly of diamond color centers in a silicon nitride photonic circuit. Using this technique, we observe Purcell enhancement of silicon vacancy centers coupled to a silicon nitride ring resonator. Our hybrid integration approach has the potential for achieving the maximum possible light-matter interaction strength while maintaining low insertion loss and paves the way toward scalable manufacturing of large-scale quantum photonic circuits integrated with high-quality quantum emitters and spins.

A hybrid integrated quantum key distribution transceiver chip

Quantum photonic technologies, such as quantum key distribution, are already benefiting greatly from the rise of integrated photonics. However, the flexibility in design of these systems is often restricted by the properties of the integration material platforms. Here, we overcome this choice by using hybrid integration of ultra-low-loss silicon nitride waveguides with indium phosphide electro-optic modulators to produce high-performance quantum key distribution transceiver chips. Access to the best properties of both materials allows us to achieve active encoding and decoding of photonic qubits on-chip at GHz speeds and with sub-1% quantum bit error rates over long fibre distances. We demonstrate bidirectional secure bit rates of 1.82 Mbps over 10 dB channel attenuation and positive secure key rates out to 250 km of fibre. The results support the imminent utility of hybrid integration for quantum photonic circuits and the wider field of photonics.

Quantum dots for photonic quantum information technology

The generation, manipulation, storage, and detection of single photons play a central role in emerging photonic quantum information technology. Individual photons serve as flying qubits and transmit the relevant quantum information at high speed and with low losses, for example between individual nodes of quantum networks. Due to the laws of quantum mechanics, the associated quantum communication is fundamentally tap-proof, which explains the enormous interest in this modern information technology. On the other hand, stationary qubits or photonic states in quantum computers can potentially lead to enormous increases in performance through parallel data processing, to outperform classical computers in specific tasks when quantum advantage is achieved. In this review, we discuss in depth the great potential of semiconductor quantum dots in photonic quantum information technology. In this context, quantum dots form a key resource for the implementation of quantum communication networks and photonic quantum computers, because they can generate single photons on demand. Moreover, these solid-state quantum emitters are compatible with the mature semiconductor technology, so that they can be integrated comparatively easily into nanophotonic structures such as resonators and waveguide systems, which form the basis for quantum light sources and integrated photonic quantum circuits. After a thematic introduction, we present modern numerical methods and theoretical approaches to device design and the physical description of quantum dot devices. We then introduce modern methods and technical solutions for the epitaxial growth and for the deterministic nanoprocessing of quantum devices based on semiconductor quantum dots. Furthermore, we highlight the most promising device concepts for quantum light sources and photonic quantum circuits that include single quantum dots as active elements and discuss applications of these novel devices in photonic quantum information technology. We close with an overview of open issues and an outlook on future developments.

Enhanced second-harmonic generation in strained germanium-on-insulator microdisks for integrated quantum photonic technologies.

Quantum photonic circuits have recently attracted much attention owing to the potential to achieve exceptional performance improvements over conventional classical electronic circuits. Second-order χ(2) nonlinear processes play an important role in the realization of several key quantum photonic components. However, owing to their centrosymmetric nature, CMOS-compatible materials including silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) traditionally do not possess the χ(2) response. Recently, second-harmonic generation (SHG) that requires the χ(2) response was reported in Ge, but no attempts at enhancing the SHG signal have been conducted and proven experimentally. Herein, we demonstrate the effect of strain on SHG from Ge by depositing a silicon nitride (Si3N4) stressor layer on Ge-on-insulator (GOI) microdisks. This approach allows the deformation of the centrosymmetric unit cell structure of Ge, which can further enhance the χ(2) nonlinear susceptibility for SHG emission. The experimental observation of SHG under femtosecond optical pumping indicates a clear trend of enhancement in SHG signals with increasing strain. Such improvements boost conversion efficiencies by 300% when compared to the control counterpart. This technique paves the way toward realizing a CMOS-compatible material with nonlinear characteristics, presenting unforeseen opportunities for its integration in the semiconductor industry.