Programmable multiphoton quantum interference in a single spatial mode

Author(s)
Lorenzo Carosini, Virginia Oddi, Francesco Giorgino, Lena M. Hansen, Benoit Seron, Simone Piacentini, Tobias Guggemos, Iris Agresti, Juan C. Loredo, Philip Walther
Abstract

The interference of nonclassical states of light enables quantum-enhanced applications reaching from metrology to computation. Most commonly, the polarization or spatial location of single photons are used as addressable degrees of freedom for turning these applications into praxis. However, the scale-up for the processing of a large number of photons of these architectures is very resource-demanding due to the rapidly increasing number of components, such as optical elements, photon sources, and detectors. Here, we demonstrate a resource-efficient architecture for multiphoton processing based on time-bin encoding in a single spatial mode. We use an efficient quantum dot single-photon source and a fast programmable time-bin interferometer to observe the interference of up to eight photons in 16 modes, all recorded only with one detector, thus considerably reducing the physical overhead previously needed for achieving equivalent tasks. Our results can form the basis for a future universal photonics quantum processor operating in a single spatial mode.

Organisation(s)
Quantum Optics, Quantum Nanophysics and Quantum Information, Research Network Quantum Aspects of Space Time
External organisation(s)
Politecnico di Milano, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Institute of Genetics and Biophysics "Adriano Buzzati-Traverso", CNR, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW)
Journal
Science Advances
Volume
10
No. of pages
9
ISSN
2375-2548
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj0993
Publication date
04-2024
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
102040 Quantum computing, 103026 Quantum optics
ASJC Scopus subject areas
General
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/cb0dd76b-ab5a-4c79-8ffd-a94f33b6de19