Experimental results on parametric optical processes in saturable ytterbium-doped fibers (YDFs) at the wavelength of 1064 nm are reported. Significant photoinduced change of the refractive index under saturation of the fiber- optical absorption in the near-infrared range enables us to consider this medium as an effective optical Kerr ( chi 000 ) medium. For pumping, it needs continuous-wave Nd:YAG laser power of 10-mW scale, but the saturation process has the characteristic time <= 1 ms, governed by the metastable level lifetime in YDF. We investigate the nearly degenerate collinear configuration of the optical parametric amplification (OPA). Here we focus on unidirectional transformation of the initial amplitude modulation in the incident pump wave to the output phase modulation as a manifestation of OPA in a narrowband case. This effect results from the conventional coupled-wave equations for the signal and idler waves-if one considers them as the modulation sidebands. It can also be treated as a result of the self-phase modulation of the periodically modulated pump in the Kerr medium. OPA gain of about 0.64 with the net gain approximate to 0.29 was experimentally estimated for the utilized 2-m-long YDF in the frequency band approximate to 200 Hz. (c) 2024 Optica Publishing Group

We present experimental advances in comparative studies of optical parametric amplification (OPA) in microstructured fused silica solid-core fibers and hollow-core fibers filled with acetylene (C2H2). Both media exhibit third-order nonlinearity, enabling the OPA process in collinear configurations with a high spatial concentration of light power. In the former, non-resonant case, we investigated the parametric amplification via four-wave mixing (FWM) with a degenerate pump by picosecond laser pulses centered at a wavelength of 737 nm. This process ensured the generation of the correlated signal/idler photon pairs that could be parametrically amplified in a similar nonlinear micro-structured fiber. For the resonant acetylene-filled fibers, we present an experimental evaluation of the OPA gain in a degenerate collinear FWM at 1530 nm near the P9 acetylene absorption line. We specifically studied the transformation of amplitude modulation in the quasi-continuous W-scale input pump wave to output phase modulation and vice versa. Our research compares OPA efficiencies and the potential to generate squeezed and entangled light states in resonant and non- resonant fiber-based media.

We present a design for an integrated single-qubit quantum gate based on the third order nonlinear process of difference frequency generation. A theoretical model is presented for the transformation of the qubit with device-external parameters.

The purpose of this tutorial paper is to present a broad overview of photon-pair generation through the spontaneous four wave mixing (SFWM) process in optical fibers. Progress in optical fiber technology means that today we have at our disposal a wide variety of types of fiber, which together with the fact that SFWM uses two pump fields, implies a truly remarkable versatility in the resulting possible photon-pair properties. We discuss how the interplay of the frequency, transverse mode, and polarization degrees of freedom, the first linked to the latter two through fiber dispersion, leads to interesting entanglement properties both in individual degrees of freedom and also permitting hybrid and hyper entanglement in combinations of degrees of freedom. This tutorial covers methods for photon pair factorability, frequency tunability, and SFWM bandwidth control, the effect of frequency non-degenerate and counter-propagating pumps, as well methods for characterizing photon pairs generated in optical fibers.

This work presents a feasible design of an integrated photonic circuit performing as a device for single-qubit preparation and rotations through the third-order nonlinear process of difference frequency generation (DFG) and defined in the temporal mode basis. The first stage of our circuit includes the generation of heralded single photons by spontaneous four-wave mixing in a micro-ring cavity engineered for delivering a single-photon state in a unique temporal mode. The second stage comprises the implementation of DFG in a spiral waveguide with controlled dispersion properties for reaching color qubit preparation fidelity close to unity. We present the generalized rotation operator related to the DFG process, a methodology for the device design, and qubit preparation fidelity results as a function of user-accessible parameters.

The hybrid atoms-cell site entanglement in a one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) topological insulator with first and second neighbor hopping in space representation of finite chains is analyzed. The geometrical phase is calculated by the Resta electric polarization and the entanglement in the atomic basis by the Schmidt number. A relation between entanglement and the topological phase transitions (TPT) is given since the Schmidt number has local critical points of maximal entangled (ME) states in the singularities of the geometrical phase. States with second neighbors have higher entanglement than first-neighbors hopping. The general conditions to produce ME hybrid Bell states and the localization-entanglement relation are given.

In this work we experimentally demonstrate a photon-pair source with correlations in the frequency and polarization degrees of freedom. We base our source on the spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) process in a photonic crystal fiber. We show theoretically that the two-photon state is the coherent superposition of up to six distinct SFWM processes, each corresponding to a distinct combination of polarizations for the four waves involved and giving rise to an energy-conserving pair of peaks. Our experimental measurements, both in terms of single and coincidence counts, confirm the presence of these pairs of peaks, while we also present related numerical simulations with excellent experiment-theory agreement. We explicitly show how the pump frequency and polarization may be used to effectively control the signal-idler photon-pair properties, defining which of the six processes can participate in the overall two-photon state and at which optical frequencies. We analyze the signal-idler correlations in frequency and polarization, and in terms of fiber characterization, we input the SFWM-peak experimental data into a genetic algorithm which successfully predicts the values of the parameters that characterize the fiber cross section, as well as predict the particular SFWM process associated with a given pair of peaks. We believe our work will help advance the exploitation of photon-pair correlations in the frequency and polarization degrees of freedom.

This paper presents a study of the phasematching properties of the third-order parametric down-conversion process in multimode optical fibers with a step-index profile. Through this process, entangled photon triplets can be generated in the spontaneous regime. We show that phasematching is achieved in a wide range of fiber geometries, provided that the pump field propagates in a higher-order mode. Furthermore, we show the nonlinear coefficient and the absolute emitted flux for each source configuration, evaluated from expressions derived by us in previous theoretical studies concerning the spontaneous and stimulated emission regimes.

We present a study on preparing and manipulating path-like temporal-mode (TM) qubits based on third-order nonlinear interactions. Specifically, we consider the process of frequency conversion via difference frequency generation. To prepare a qubit, we aim to use Gaussian input states to a nonlinear waveguide. The coupling between the input state and a specific TM is maximized, obtaining qubits prepared with fidelities close to one. TMs evolve linearly within the medium; therefore, it is possible to define rotations around any axis contained in the GH plane, allowing spanning the full Bloch sphere in two steps. Particularly, we present a method to obtain any of the Pauli quantum gates by varying geometric or user-accessible parameters in a given experimental configuration. Our study allows for experimentally feasible proposals capable of controllable arbitrary qubit transformations. © 2021 Optical Society of America

A proposal for the implementation of single-qubit quantum gates based on a third order nonlinear process in integrated quantum circuits is presented.

In this work, we propose the generation of a hybrid entangled resource (HER) and its further application in a quantum teleportation scheme from an experimentally feasible point of view. The source for HER preparation is based on the four-wave mixing process in a photonic crystal fiber, from which one party of its output bipartite state is used to herald a single photon or a single photon added coherent state. From the heralded state and linear optics, the HER is created. In the proposed teleportation protocol, Bob uses the HER to teleport qubits with different spectral properties. Bob makes a Bell measurement in the single photon basis and characterizes the scheme with its average quantum teleportation fidelity. Fidelities close to one are expected for qubits in a wide spectral range. The work also includes a discussion about the fidelity dependence on the geometrical properties of the medium through which the HER is generated. An important remark is that no spectral filtering is employed in the heralding process, which emphasizes the feasibility of this scheme without compromising photon flux.

We study the process of seeded, or stimulated, third-order parametric down-conversion, as an extension of our previous work on spontaneous parametric downconversion (TOSPDC). We present general expressions for the spectra and throughputs expected for the cases where the seed field or fields overlap either only one or two of the TOSPDC modes, and also allow for both pump and seed to be either monochromatic or pulsed. We present a numerical study for a particular source design, showing that doubly-overlapped seeding can lead to a considerably greater generated flux as compared with singly-overlapped seeding. We furthermore show that doubly-overlapped seeding permits stimulated emission tomography for the reconstruction of the three-photon TOSPDC joint spectral intensity. We hope that our work will guide future experimental efforts based on the process of third-order parametric downconversion.

We present a study on the preparation and manipulation of path-like temporal-mode qubits based on third-order nonlinear materials. Our study allows for experimentally feasible proposals, capable of controllable arbitrary qubit transformations.

We present a physical model of spin quantum teleportation protocol (QTP) in a triple quantum dot array using a genetic algorithm approach. The information to teleport is spin-coded in one electron confined in a single quantum dot (SQD). The remaining double quantum dot (DQD) system has just an electron with spin that includes spin–orbit interaction. Charge and spin of the electron get hybridized with the site occupancy having two intrinsic quantum degrees of freedom. The DQD is prepared in a hybrid spin–orbit entangled (HES) Bell-like state with tunneling and site energies as time-dependent control parameters that are optimized by means of genetic algorithms (GAs). The hybrid entangled resources that we obtained allow spin-charge quantum state teleportation with a fidelity of 0.9972 and are used as a resource channel to establish the QT protocol. The spin state of the electron in the SQD interacts with the DQD spin–orbit entangled channel via a modulated exchange interaction to emulate Alice’s joint measurement required for QT with GA parameter control. A charge detection measurement in one of the DQD systems is sufficient to have the spin state teleported up to a unitary transformation. A specific joint measurement and unitary transformation were selected to test the protocol, and we obtain fidelity of 0.99 for the QTP. The quantum circuit models for both the spin–orbit entangled state and the teleportation are determined from the analysis of the stages of the controlled quantum dynamics obtained from the GA approach.

We present a quantum teleportation protocol based on a hybrid entangled resource (HER) obtained with heralded photons and coherent states. High efficiency of teleportation can be obtained by adjusting spectral detection windows.

We study quantum correlations and discord in a bipartite continuous variable hybrid system formed by linear combinations of coherent states \(\mathinner {|{\alpha }\rangle }\) and single photon-added coherent states of the form \(\mathinner {|{\psi }\rangle }_{\text {dp(pa)}}= \mathcal {N}/\sqrt{2} (\hat{a}^\dagger \mathinner {|{\alpha }\rangle }_a\mathinner {|{\alpha }\rangle }_b \pm \hat{b}^\dagger \mathinner {|{\alpha }\rangle }_a\mathinner {|{\alpha }\rangle }_b)\). We stablish a relationship between the quantum discord with a local observable (the quadrature variance for one subsystem) under the influence of scattering and phase fluctuation noise. For the pure states the quantum correlations are characterized by means of measurement induced disturbance (MID) with simultaneous quadrature measurements. In a scenario where homodyne conditional measurements are available we show that the MID provides an easy way to select optimal phases to obtain information of the maximal correlations in the channels. The quantum correlations of these entangled states with channel losses are quantitatively characterized with the quantum discord (QD) with a displaced qubit projector. We observe that as scattering increases, QD decreases monotonically. At the same time for the state \(\mathinner {|{\psi }\rangle }_{\text {dp}}\), QD is more resistant to high phase fluctuations when the average photon number \(n_0\) is bigger than zero, but if phase fluctuations are low, QD is more resistant if \(n_0=0\). For the dp model with scattering, we obtain an analytical expression of the QD as a function of the observable quadrature variance in a local subsystem. This relation allows us to have a way to obtain the degree of QD in the channel by just measuring a local property observable such as the quadrature variance. For the other model this relation still exists but is explored numerically. This relation is an important result that allows to identify quantum processing capabilities in terms of just local observables.

We study the degree of entanglement of arbitrary superpositions of m , n photon-added coherent states (PACS) |ψ⟩∝ u |α,m⟩|β,n ⟩+ v |β,n⟩|α,m⟩ using the concurrence and obtain the general conditions for maximal entanglement. We show that photon addition process can be identified as an entanglement enhancer operation for superpositions of coherent states (SCS). Specifically for the known bipartite positive SCS: |ψ⟩∝|α⟩_a|-α⟩_b + |-α⟩_a|α⟩_b whose entanglement tends to zero for α→ 0 , can be maximal if al least one photon is added in a subsystem. A full family of maximally entangled PACS is also presented. We also analyzed the decoherence effects in the entangled PACS induced by a simple depolarizing channel . We find that robustness against depolarization is increased by adding photons to the coherent states of the superposition. We obtain the dependence of the critical depolarization p_crit for null entanglement as a function of m,n, α and β .

We have designed and implemented a photon-pair source, based on the spontaneous four wave mixing (SFWM) process in a few-mode fiber, in a geometry which permits multiple, simultaneous SFWM processes, each associated with a distinct combination of transverse modes for the four participating waves. In our source: i) each process is group-velocity-matched so that it is, by design, nearly-factorable and ii) the spectral separation between neighboring processes is greater than the marginal spectral width of each process. Consequently, there is a direct correspondence between the joint amplitude of each process and each of the Schmidt mode pairs of the overall two-photon state. Our approach permits hybrid entanglement in discrete frequency and in transverse mode, whereby control of the number of supported fiber transverse modes allows scalability to higher dimensions while spectral filtering may be used for straightforward Schmidt mode discrimination.

We present a theoretical and experimental study of the generation of photon pairs through the process of spontaneous four wave mixing (SFWM) in a few-mode, birefringent fiber. Under these conditions, multiple SFWM processes are in fact possible, each associated with a different combination of transverse modes for the four waves involved. We show that in the weakly guiding regime, for which the propagation modes may be well approximated by linearly polarized modes, the departure from circular symmetry due to the fiber birefringence translates into conservation rules which retain elements from azimuthal and rectangular symmetries: both OAM and parity must be conserved for a process to be viable. We have implemented a SFWM source based on a "bow-tie" birefringent fiber, and have measured for a collection of pump wavelengths the SFWM spectra of each of the signal and idler photons in coincidence with its partner photon. We have used this information, together with knowledge of the transverse modes into which the signal and idler photons are emitted, as input for a genetic algorithm which accomplishes two tasks: i) the identification of the particular SFWM processes which are present in the source, and ii) the characterization of the fiber used.

We present a physical example model of how Quantum Control with genetic algorithms is applied to implement the quantum superdense code protocol. We studied a model consisting of two quantum dots with an electron with spin, including spin-orbit interaction. The electron and the spin get hybridized with the site acquiring two degrees of freedom, spin and charge. The system has tunneling and site energies as time dependent control parameters that are optimized by means of genetic algorithms to prepare a hybrid Bell-like state used as a transmission channel. This state is transformed to obtain any state of the four Bell basis as required by superdense protocol to transmit two bits of classical information. The control process protocol is equivalent to implement one of the quantum gates in the charge subsystem. Fidelities larger than 99.5% are achieved for the hybrid entangled state preparation and the superdense operations.