Two-photon Interference Visibility Research Articles

Long-distance quantum communication through any number of entanglement-swapping operations

We develop a theory and accompanying mathematical model for quantum communication via any number of intermediate entanglement-swapping operations and solve numerically for up to three intermediate entanglement-swapping operations. Our model yields two-photon interference visibilities postselected on photon counts at the intermediate entanglement-swapping stations. Realistic experimental conditions are accommodated through the parametric down-conversion rate, photon-counter efficiencies and dark-count rates, and instrument and transmission losses. We calculate achievable quantum communication distances such that two-photon interference visibility exceeds the Bell-inequality threshold.

Two-photon interference from remote quantum dots with inhomogeneously broadened linewidths

In this paper, we study the influence of quasiresonant and nonresonant excitation on the interference properties of single photons emitted from quantum dots (QDs). The quasiresonant excitation scheme leads to an increase of interference visibility of photons emitted from the same QD to 69% compared to 12% for nonresonant excitation. Furthermore, we demonstrate quantum interference of photons emitted from separate QDs which are simultaneously excited into their $p$ shell. We can readily extract a two-photon interference visibility as high as (39 \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{} 2)% for nonpostselected coincidences exceeding the predicted value based on coherence and radiative decay times of the quantum dot emission ($\ensuremath{\sim}$25%). We account for this observation by treating the emission of both quantum dots as inhomogeneously broadened ensembles of Fourier-limited photons and observe good congruence between experiment and model.

Indistinguishable Tunable Single Photons Emitted by Spin-Flip Raman Transitions in InGaAs Quantum Dots

This Letter reports all-optically tunable and highly indistinguishable single Raman photons from a driven single quantum dot spin. The frequency, linewidth, and lifetime of the Raman photons are tunable by varying the driving field power and detuning. Under continuous-wave excitation, subnatural linewidth single photons from off-resonant Raman scattering show an indistinguishability of 0.98(3). Under π pulse excitation, spin- and time-tagged Raman fluorescence photons show an almost vanishing multiphoton emission probability of 0.01(2) and a two-photon quantum interference visibility of 0.95(3). Lastly, Hong-Ou-Mandel interference is demonstrated between two single photons emitted from remote, independent quantum dots with an unprecedented visibility of 0.87(4).

Direct Generation of Polarization-Entangled Photon Pairs in a Poled Fiber

We experimentally demonstrate the direct generation of polarization-entangled photon pairs in an optical fiber at room temperature by exploiting type-II phase-matched spontaneous parametric down-conversion. A second-order nonlinearity is artificially induced in the 17-cm-long weakly birefringent step-index fiber through the process of thermal poling, and quasi-phase-matching allows for the generation of entangled photons in the 1.5-micron telecom band when the fiber is pumped at 775 nm. A greater-than 80:1 coincidence-to-accidental ratio is achieved, limited mainly by multiphoton pair generation. Without the need to subtract accidentals or to compensate for walk-off, the raw two-photon interference visibility is found to be better than 95%, and violation of Bell's inequality is observed by more than 18 standard deviations. This makes for a truly alignment-free, plug-and-play source of polarization-entangled photon pairs.

Evaluation of polarization entanglement generated by spontaneous parametric downconversion using photon number counting

Spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) is widely used to generate entangled photon pairs; however, multi-pair emissions degrade the quality of the entanglement. We numerically evaluate polarization-entangled photon pairs created by SPDC. The effects of multi-pair emission events on the visibility of two-photon interference and on the fidelity (the probability overlap for ideal and real states) are analyzed using single-photon detectors that can count the number of incoming photons and discard multiphoton events. Compared with conventional threshold single-photon detectors, photon-number resolving single-photon detectors have higher fidelity for the same or lower visibility.

Operating quantum waveguide circuits with superconducting single-photon detectors

Advanced quantum information science and technology (QIST) applications place exacting demands on optical components. Quantum waveguide circuits offer a route to scalable QIST on a chip. Superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) provide infrared single-photon sensitivity combined with low dark counts and picosecond timing resolution. In this study, we bring these two technologies together. Using SSPDs we observe a two-photon interference visibility of 92.3±1.0% in a silica-on-silicon waveguide directional coupler at λ=804 nm—higher than that measured with silicon detectors (89.9±0.3%). We further operated controlled-NOT gate and quantum metrology circuits with SSPDs. These demonstrations present a clear path to telecom-wavelength quantum waveguide circuits.

A single-crystal source of path/polarization entanglement at non-degenerate wavelengths

We demonstrate a bright, narrowband, compact, quasi-phase-matched single-crystal source generating path-polarization-entangled photon pairs at 810 nm and 1550 nm at a maximum rate of 3 × 106 s−1 THz−1 mW−1 after coupling to single-mode fiber, and with two-photon interference visibility above 90%. While the source can already be used to implement quantum communication protocols such as quantum key distribution, this work is also instrumental for narrowband applications such as entanglement transfer from photonic to atomic qubits, or entanglement of photons from independent sources.

Effects of multiple pairs on visibility measurements of entangled photons generated by spontaneous parametric processes

Entangled photon-pair sources based on spontaneous parametric processes are widely used in photonic quantum information experiments. In this paper, we clarify the relationship between average photon-pair number and the visibility of two-photon interference (TPI) using those entanglement sources. We consider sources that generate distinguishable and indistinguishable entangled photon pairs, assuming coincidence measurements that use threshold detectors. We present formulas for the TPI visibility of a polarization entanglement that take account of all the high-order multi-pair emission events. Moreover, we show that the formulas can be approximated with simple functions of the average pair number when the photon collection efficiency is small. As a result, we reveal that an indistinguishable entangled pair provides better visibility than a distinguishable one.

A single-crystal source of path-polarization entangled photons at non-degenerate wavelengths

We demonstrate a bright, narrowband, compact, quasi-phase-matched single-crystal source generating path-polarization-entangled photon pairs at 810 nm and 1550 nm at a maximum rate of 3 x 10(6) s(-1) THz(-1) mW(-1) after coupling to single-mode fiber, and with two-photon interference visibility above 90%. While the source can already be used to implement quantum communication protocols such as quantum key distribution, this work is also instrumental for narrowband applications such as entanglement transfer from photonic to atomic qubits, or entanglement of photons from independent sources.

Generation of high-flux hyperentangled photon pairs using a microstructure-fiber Sagnac interferometer

We demonstrate generation of hyperentangled (time-bin and polarization) photon pairs via four-wave mixing in a microstructure-fiber Sagnac interferometer. The two-photon interference visibility in the time-bin (polarization) degree of freedom is $88%\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2%$ $(84%\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1%)$ without subtraction of accidental coincidences, and Bell's inequality is violated by 27 standard deviations at a $1\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{kHz}$ coincidence rate.

Experimental Interference of Independent Photons

Interference of photons emerging from independent sources is essential for modern quantum-information processing schemes, above all quantum repeaters and linear-optics quantum computers. We report an observation of nonclassical interference of two single photons originating from two independent, separated sources, which were actively synchronized with a rms timing jitter of 260 fs. The resulting (two-photon) interference visibility was (83+/-4)%.

Long-distance distribution of time-bin entanglement generated in a cooled fiber

This paper reports the first demonstration of the generation and distribution of time-bin entangled photon pairs in the 1.5-microm band using spontaneous four-wave mixing in a cooled fiber. Noise photons induced by spontaneous Raman scattering were suppressed by cooling a dispersion shifted fiber with liquid nitrogen, which resulted in a significant improvement in the visibility of two-photon interference. By using this scheme, time-bin entangled qubits were successfully distributed over 60 km of optical fiber with a visibility of 76%, which was obtained without removing accidental coincidences.

Influence of exciton dynamics on the interference of two photons from a microcavity single-photon source

One- and two-photon interference visibilities observed with the exciton emission from a quantum dot microcavity single-photon source are sensitive to the excitation conditions. In particular, the coherence time of the source is reduced with increasing pump power or excitation of the barrier layers. Furthermore, the two-photon interference visibility is affected by a long lived population of the biexciton state in the dot. This suggests that two-photon interference may be improved by controlling the exciton dynamics in the dot or by improved temporal resolution of the detection set-up.

Violation of Bell Inequalities by Photons More Than 10 km Apart

A Franson-type test of Bell inequalities by photons 10.9 km apart is presented. Energy-time entangled photon pairs are measured using two-channel analyzers, leading to a violation of the inequalities by 16 standard deviations without subtracting accidental coincidences. Subtracting them, a two-photon interference visibility of $95.5%$ is observed, demonstrating that distances up to 10 km have no significant effect on entanglement. This sets quantum cryptography with photon pairs as a practical competitor to the schemes based on weak pulses.