Showing papers on "Beam splitter published in 2022"

Quantum microscopy based on Hong–Ou–Mandel interference

Abstract: Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) interference—the bunching of indistinguishable photons at a beamsplitter—is a staple of quantum optics and lies at the heart of many quantum sensing approaches and recent optical quantum computers. Here we report a full-field, scan-free quantum imaging technique that exploits HOM interference to reconstruct the surface depth profile of transparent samples. We demonstrate the ability to retrieve images with micrometre-scale depth features with photon flux as small as seven photon pairs per frame. Using a single-photon avalanche diode camera, we measure both bunched and anti-bunched photon-pair distributions at the output of an HOM interferometer, which are combined to provide a lower-noise image of the sample. This approach demonstrates the possibility of HOM microscopy as a tool for the label-free imaging of transparent samples in the very low photon regime. Hong–Ou–Mandel interference enables depth-resolved quantum imaging at very low light levels.

Configurable topological beam splitting via antichiral gyromagnetic photonic crystal

Abstract: Antichiral gyromagnetic photonic crystal (GPC) in a honeycomb lattice with the two interpenetrating triangular sublattices A and B magnetically biased in opposite directions can realize antichiral one-way edge states propagating along the same direction at its two parallel edges. Here, we report the construction and observation of topological beam splitting with the easily adjustable right-to-left ratio in an antichiral GPC. The splitter is compact and configurable, has high transmission efficiency, and allows for multi-channel utilization, crosstalk-proof, and robust against defects and obstacles. This magnificent performance is attributed to the peculiar property that antichiral one-way edge states exist only at zigzag edge but not at armchair edge of antichiral GPC. When we combine two rectangular antichiral GPCs holding left- and right-propagating antichiral one-way edge states respectively, bidirectionally radiating one-way edge states at two parallel zigzag edges can be achieved. Our observations can enrich the understanding of fundamental physics and expand topological photonic applications.

Accurate Self-Configuration of Rectangular Multiport Interferometers

Abstract: Multiport interferometers based on integrated beamsplitter meshes are widely used in photonic technologies. While the rectangular mesh is favored for its compactness and uniformity, its geometry resists conventional self-configuration approaches, which are essential to programming large meshes in the presence of fabrication error. Here, we present a configuration algorithm, related to the $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2$ block decomposition of a unitary matrix, that overcomes this limitation. Our proposed algorithm is robust to errors, requires no prior knowledge of the process variations, and relies only on external sources and detectors. We show that self-configuration using this technique reduces the effect of fabrication errors by the same quadratic factor observed in triangular meshes. This relaxes a significant limit to the size of multiport interferometers, removing a major roadblock to the scaling of optical quantum and machine-learning hardware.

Free-Space Optical Merging via Meta-Grating Inverse-Design.

Abstract: Despite various advances in achieving arbitrary optics steering, one of the longstanding challenges is to achieve optical merging for combining multidirectional beams through single-time reflection/transmission in free space. Typically, dual-directional beam merging is conducted by combining half-transmission and half-reflection using beam splitters; however, it leads to a bulky system with stray light and low merging efficiency. The difficulty of free-space beam merging lies in imparting respective distinct wavevectors to different directional beams. Herein, we originally proposed and successfully demonstrated the free-space optical merging (FOM) functionality based on the inverse-designed meta-grating architecture in the visible regime. By utilizing the inverse problem solver, two proposed meta-grating schemes experimentally enable merging of dual-directional beams into the same outgoing angle for the first time merely through single-time reflection. We envision that the creation of free-space merging performance can be widely applicable to the future optical system and facilitate the miniature optical devices and integration.

Controllable Dynamic Single‐ and Dual‐Channel Graphene Q‐Switching in a Beam‐Splitter‐Type Channel Waveguide Laser

Abstract: Direct inscription of structures by femtosecond‐laser pulses facilitates the flexible fabrication of diverse optical channel waveguides in dielectric laser gain media. Among them, beam‐splitter‐type waveguide lasers have been recently studied; however, there is a lack of investigations on the effect of unique characteristics of such waveguides, such as controlled splitting ratios of output powers and selectable excitation of individual channels, for pulsed laser operation. Here, dynamic single‐ and dual‐channel graphene Q‐switching of an Yb:YAG waveguide consisting of one input and two output channels is demonstrated by controlling the power‐splitting ratio. Single‐channel Q‐switched operation, exhibiting typical Q‐switched pulses, is achieved by interaction between the graphene saturable absorber and the desired one of the two channels. When both channels exceed the Q‐switching threshold, dual‐channel Q‐switching generates a pulse train that simultaneously combines the separately Q‐switched pulses induced from each channel under excitation with a single pump source. At a fixed power‐splitting ratio, the pulsed mode can be dynamically switched between the single‐ and dual‐channel Q‐switched operations by varying the pump power. The beam‐splitter‐type waveguide laser demonstrated in this study can be further developed for multiple‐channel Q‐switching, high‐repetition‐rate mode‐locking, and on‐chip dual‐comb sources advantageous for diverse applications in optical communication, metrology, and sensing.

Subwavelength-Structure-Assisted Ultracompact Polarization-Handling Components on Silicon

Abstract: Silicon photonic integrated circuits with the abilities of large-scale integration and low-cost fabrication are one of the most promising technologies for various emerging applications. For silicon photonic integrated circuits, which are usually polarization-sensitive, polarization-handling is of critical importance as a key manipulation of light. Basically, ultracompact polarization-handling devices with high performances in a broad band are highly desired. In this paper, a review is given for recent progresses of high-performance silicon polarization-handling devices assisted with subwavelength structures (SWSs), which introduce more degrees of freedom (DoFs) in design. In Section II, the fundamental of both regular and disordered SWSs with different DoFs is introduced and discussed. Different kinds of polarization-handling devices are presented in Section III, including polarizers, polarization beam splitters, polarization rotators/polarization-splitter-rotators, dual-polarization devices. Finally, the challenges and the opportunities of silicon polarization-handling devices are discussed in Section IV.

Fidelity Restorable Universal Linear Optics

Abstract: Universal multiport interferometers that can be programmed to perform any unitary or linear transformation turn into an important building block for both classical and quantum photonics. These interferometers typically utilize the mathematical framework of U(2) unitary matrix decomposition techniques and comprise a mesh of 2 × 2 beam splitters and phase shifters. All of them are, however, inherently fidelity limited as their U(2)‐based deployment approach leads to imbalanced path losses without supporting any fidelity restoration mechanism. Herein, a novel Universal Generalized Mach–Zehnder Interferometer (UGMZI) architecture is presented that migrates from U(2) decomposition techniques and adopts a recursive U(N) decomposition, exploiting cascaded size‐augmenting N × N beam splitters and phase shifters. The design can natively support fidelity restoration and safeguard absolute fidelity, while outperforming the state‐of‐the‐art designs also with respect to phase‐error‐induced fidelity performance properties. Finally, it is demonstrated that its fidelity restoration properties turn the design into the optimal architecture for constructing any real/complex‐valued matrix via the singular value decomposition (SVD) scheme.

Ideal Quantum Teleamplification up to a Selected Energy Cutoff Using Linear Optics

Abstract: We introduce a linear optical technique that can implement ideal quantum teleamplification up to the nth Fock state, where n can be any positive integer. Here teleamplification consists of both quantum teleportation and noiseless linear amplification (NLA). This simple protocol consists of a beam splitter and an (n+1) splitter, with n ancillary photons and detection of n photons. For a given target fidelity, our technique improves success probability and physical resource costs by orders of magnitude over current alternative teleportation and NLA schemes. We show how this protocol can also be used as a loss-tolerant quantum relay for entanglement distribution and distillation.

High-Performance Polarization-Independent Beam Splitters and MZI in Silicon Carbide Integrated Platforms for Single-Photon Manipulation

Abstract: Siliconcarbide (SiC), having various intrinsic color centers, is a highly promising optical material for making monolithic quantum integrated photonic circuits, by combining the single-photon sources with the integrated photonic components in SiC integrated platforms. Based on this quantum-material platform, we propose polarization-independent 1 × 2 and 2 × 2 multimode interference based beam splitters and Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZI) for single-photon manipulation with unknown polarization states. We experimentally demonstrate that these devices exhibit excellent performances with incident light at both high power ( $>$ −10 dBm) and ultra-low power ( $< $ −100 dBm). The 1 × 2 and 2 × 2 beam splitters have low average loss of 1 dB and 1.5 dB, with a wide bandwidth of $>$ 100 nm and $>$ 70 nm, respectively. The MZI exhibits high transmittance, with a visibility of 98.3% and 97.6% for the high-power measurement and an even higher visibility of 99.0 $\pm$ 0.4% and 98.7 $\pm$ 0.6% for the ultra-low power measurement, for the TE and TM polarizations, respectively.

Single-photon nonlocality in quantum networks

Abstract: The state obtained when a single photon impinges on a balanced beamsplitter is often known as single-photon entangled and its nonlocal properties have been the subject of intense debates in the quantum optics and foundations communities. It is however clear that a standard Bell test made only of passive optical elements cannot reveal the nonlocality of this state. We show that the nonlocality of single-photon entangled states can nevertheless be revealed in a quantum network made only of beamsplitters and photodetectors. In our protocol, three single-photon entangled states are distributed in a triangle network, introducing indeterminacy in the photons' paths and creating nonlocal correlations without the need for measurements choices. We discuss a concrete experimental realisation and provide numerical evidence of the tolerance of our protocol to standard noise sources. Our results show that single-photon entanglement may constitute a promising solution to generate genuine network-nonlocal correlations useful for Bell-based quantum information protocols.

Optimal phase sensitivity of an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Abstract: In this paper we address the problem of optimizing an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer, for a given pure input state and considering a specific detection scheme. While the optimum transmission coefficient of the first beam splitter can be uniquely determined via the quantum Fisher information only [Phys. Rev. A 105, 012604 (2022)], the second beam splitter transmission coefficient is detection-scheme dependent, too. We systematically give analytic solutions for the optimum transmission coefficient of the second beam splitter for three types of widely used detection schemes. We provide detailed examples including both Gaussian and non-Gaussian input states, showing when an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer can outperform its balanced counterpart in terms of phase sensitivity.

Dissipation-driven entanglement between two microwave fields in a four-mode hybrid cavity optomechanical system.

Abstract: The generation and manipulation of highly pure and strongly entangled steady state in a quantum system are vital tasks in the standard continuous-variable teleportation protocol. Especially, the manipulation implemented in integrated devices is even more crucial in practical quantum information applications. Here we propose an effective approach for creating steady-state entanglement between two microwave fields in a four-mode hybrid cavity optomechanical system. The entanglement can be achieved by combining the processes of three beam-splitter interactions and two parametric-amplifier interactions. Due to the dissipation-driven and cavity cooling processes, the entanglement obtained can go far beyond the entanglement limit based on coherent parametric coupling. Moreover, our proposal allows the engineered bath to cool both Bogoliubov modes almost simultaneously. In this way, a highly pure and strongly entangled steady state of two microwave modes is obtained. Our finding may be significant for using the hybrid opto-electro-mechanical system fabricated on chips in various quantum tasks, where the strong and pure entanglement is an important resource.

650 GHz Imaging as Alignment Verification for Millimeter Wave Corneal Reflectometry

Abstract: A system concept for online alignment verification of millimeter-wave, corneal reflectometry is presented. The system utilizes beam scanning to generate magnitude-only reflectivity maps of the cornea at 650 GHz and compares these images to a precomputed/measured template map to confirm/reject sufficient alignment. A system utilizing five off-axis parabolic mirrors, a thin film beam splitter, and two-axis galvanometric mirror was designed, simulated, and evaluated with geometric and physical optics. Simulation results informed the construction of a demonstrator system which was tested with a reference reflector. Similarity metrics computed with the aligned template and 26 misaligned positions, distributed on a 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm x 0.5 mm mesh, demonstrated sufficient misalignment detection sensitivity in 23 out of 26 positions. The results show that positional accuracy on the order of 0.5 mm is possible using 0.462 mm wavelength radiation due to the perturbation of coupling efficiency via beam distortion and beam walk-off.

Exploitation of geometric and propagation phases for spin-dependent rational-multiple complete phase modulation using dielectric metasurfaces

Abstract: Metasurfaces have drawn considerable attention in manipulation of electromagnetic waves due to their exotic subwavelength footprints. Regardless of immense progress of polarization-dependent flat optics, the realization of on-device switchable complete phase multiplication is still missing from design multifunctional devices. Here, by combining geometric and propagation phases, a generalized design principle is proposed that can achieve switchable integer or fractional multiple complete phase modulation in transmitted circularly cross-polarized light by switching the handedness of incident polarization. As a proof of concept, two types of spin-dependent bifunctional wavefront manipulating devices, including switchable beam splitter/beam deflector and spin-to-orbital angular momentum converter designs are numerically realized. It is believed that the proposed single-cell spin-switchable rational-multiple complete-phase-modulation design principle based on combined propagation and geometric phases has great potential to underpin the development of meta-optics-based multifunctional operations in the field of integrated optics, imaging, and optical communication.

Tunable partial polarization beam splitter and optomechanically induced Faraday effect

Abstract: Polarization beam splitter (PBS) is a crucial photonic element to separately extract transverse-electric (TE) and transverse-magnetic (TM) polarizations from the propagating light fields. Here, we propose a concise, continuously tunable and all-optical partial PBS in the vector optomechanical system which contains two orthogonal polarized cavity modes with degenerate frequency. The results show that one can manipulate the polarization states of different output fields by tuning the polarization angle of the pumping field and the system function as partial PBS when the pump laser polarizes vertically or horizontally. As a significant application of the tunable PBS, we propose a scheme of implementing quantum walks in resonator arrays without the aid of other auxiliary systems. Furthermore, we investigate the optomechanically induced Faraday effect in the vector optomechanical system which enables arbitrary tailoring of the input lights and the behaviors of polarization angles of the output fields in the under couple, critical couple, and over couple regimes. Our findings prove the optomechanical system is a potential platform to manipulate the polarization states in multimode resonators and boost the process of applications related to polarization modulation.

Ultra-broadband Pancharatnam-Berry phase metasurface for arbitrary rotation of linear polarization and beam splitter.

Abstract: A systematic study of a robust angular tolerance ultra-broadband metasurface for arbitrary rotation of linear polarization is demonstrated. The proposed method combines the spin-dependent Pancharatnam-Berry phase and the generalized Snell's law to achieve an arbitrary angle linear polarization rotator and beam splitter. Numerical results of one terahertz example show that a 90° polarization rotator has a polarization conversion ratio of more than 90% from 1.3 to 2.3 THz in the ultra-broadband range. This method represents a significant advance in versatile, flexible design and performance compared to previously reported birefringent material wave plates, grating structures, and multi-resonance-based polarization rotators.

Recoverable and rewritable waveguide beam splitters fabricated by tailored femtosecond laser writing of lithium tantalate crystal

Abstract: We report on an integrated 1 × 5 beam splitter based on optical waveguides with type I and type II modifications of femtosecond laser (fs-laser) writing in lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) crystal. The cladding waveguides consisting of type-II modified tracks are used for optical signal transmission, photon crosstalk reduction, and mode field regulation. The single-line waveguides with type I modification are utilized for light beam splitting. Type-I single-line waveguides are with relatively weak thermal stability, which are utilized to produce a recoverable and rewritable optical beam splitter, and the structure still possesses good transmission properties after the reconstruction. Especially, the type-I modified waveguides can be rewritten in very short time (1–2 min). The beam splitter shows good performance in outputting programmable optical signals, which provides a possible strategy for the development of erasable photonic data processors.

Entangling remote qubits using the single-photon protocol: an in-depth theoretical and experimental study

Abstract: The generation of entanglement between remote matter qubits has developed into a key capability for fundamental investigations as well as for emerging quantum technologies. In the single-photon, protocol entanglement is heralded by generation of qubit-photon entangled states and subsequent detection of a single photon behind a beam splitter. In this work we perform a detailed theoretical and experimental investigation of this protocol and its various sources of infidelity. We develop an extensive theoretical model and subsequently tailor it to our experimental setting, based on nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. Experimentally, we verify the model by generating remote states for varying phase and amplitudes of the initial qubit superposition states and varying optical phase difference of the photons arriving at the beam splitter. We show that a static frequency offset between the optical transitions of the qubits leads to an entangled state phase that depends on the photon detection time. We find that the implementation of a Charge-Resonance check on the nitrogen-vacancy center yields transform-limited linewidths. Moreover, we measure the probability of double optical excitation, a significant source of infidelity, as a function of the power of the excitation pulse. Finally, we find that imperfect optical excitation can lead to a detection-arm-dependent entangled state fidelity and rate. The conclusion presented here are not specific to the nitrogen-vacancy centers used to carry out the experiments, and are therefore readily applicable to other qubit platforms.

Optically Controlled Terahertz Dynamic Beam Splitter with Adjustable Split Ratio

Abstract: The beam splitter is an important functional device due to its ability to steer the propagation of electromagnetic waves. The split-ratio-variable splitter is of significance for optical, terahertz and microwave systems. Here, we are the first (to our knowledge) to propose an optically controlled dynamic beam splitter with adjustable split ratio in the terahertz region. Based on the metasurface containing two sets of reversed phase-gradient supercells, we split the terahertz wave into two symmetrical beams. Associated with the reconfigurable pump laser pattern programmed with the spatial light modulator, dynamic modulation of the split ratio varying from 1:1 to 15:1 is achieved. Meanwhile, the beam splitter works at a split angle of 36° for each beam. Additionally, we obtain an exponential relationship between the split ratio and the illumination proportion, which can be used as theoretical guidance for beam splitting with an arbitrary split ratio. Our novel beam splitter shows an outstanding level of performance in terms of the adjustable split ratio and stable split angles and can be used as an advanced method to develop active functional devices applied to terahertz systems and communications.

Spin-Polarizing Electron Beam Splitter from Crossed Graphene Nanoribbons

Abstract: Junctions composed of two crossed graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) have been theoretically proposed as electron beam splitters where incoming electron waves in one GNR can be split coherently into propagating waves in \emph{two} outgoing terminals with nearly equal amplitude and zero back-scattering. Here we scrutinize this effect for devices composed of narrow zigzag GNRs taking explicitly into account the role of Coulomb repulsion that leads to spin-polarized edge states within mean-field theory. We show that the beam-splitting effect survives the opening of the well-known correlation gap and, more strikingly, that a \emph{spin-dependent} scattering potential emerges which spin-polarizes the transmitted electrons in the two outputs. A near-perfect polarization can be achieved by joining several junctions in series. Our findings suggest that GNRs are interesting building blocks in spintronics and quantum technologies with applications for interferometry and entanglement.

Recoverable and rewritable waveguide beam splitters fabricated by tailored femtosecond laser writing of lithium tantalate crystal

Abstract: We report on an integrated 1 × 5 beam splitter based on optical waveguides with type I and type II modifications of femtosecond laser (fs-laser) writing in lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) crystal. The cladding waveguides consisting of type-II modified tracks are used for optical signal transmission, photon crosstalk reduction, and mode field regulation. The single-line waveguides with type I modification are utilized for light beam splitting. Type-I single-line waveguides are with relatively weak thermal stability, which are utilized to produce a recoverable and rewritable optical beam splitter, and the structure still possesses good transmission properties after the reconstruction. Especially, the type-I modified waveguides can be rewritten in very short time (1–2 min). The beam splitter shows good performance in outputting programmable optical signals, which provides a possible strategy for the development of erasable photonic data processors.

Controlled quantum teleportation between discrete and continuous physical systems

Abstract: Quantum teleportation of an unknown state basing on the interaction between discrete-valued states (DV) and continuous-valued states (CV) presented a particular challenge in quantum technologies. Here we consider the problem of controlled quantum teleportation of an amplitude-matched CV qubit, encoded by a coherent state of a varied phase as a superposition of the vacuum- and single-photon optical states among two distant partners Alice and Bob, with the consent of controller, Charlie. To achieve this task, we use an hybrid tripartite entangled state (interaction between the discrete and continuous variables states) as the quantum resource where the coherent part belongs to Alice, while the single-photon belongs to Bob and Charlie and the CV qubit is at the disposal of Alice. The discrete-continuous interaction is realized on highly transmissive beam-splitter. We have shown that the perfectly of teleportation fidelity depends on the phase difference between the phase of the state to teleport and the phase of the sender’s mode, we found that for a difference which approaches 0 or π, near perfect controlled quantum teleportation can be obtained in terms of the fidelity and independently of the amplitude α and the squeezing parameter ζ. Experimentally, this proposed scheme has been implemented using linear optical components such as beam splitter, phase shifters and photon counters.

Observation-dependent suppression and enhancement of two-photon coincidences by tailored losses

Abstract: The uncanny ability of multiple particles to interfere with one another is one of the core principles of quantum mechanics, and serves as foundation for quantum information processing. In particular, the interplay of constructive and destructive interference with the characteristic exchange statistics of indistinguishable particles give rise to the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect, where the bunching of bosons can lead to a perfect suppression of two-particle coincidences between the output ports of a balanced beam splitter. Conversely, in the case of two fermions, anti-bunching can systematically enhance these coincidences up to twice the baseline value of distinguishable particles. As such, the respective emergence of dips or peaks in the HOM experiment may at first glance appear to be indicative of the bosonic/fermionic nature of the incident particles. In this work, we demonstrate experimentally that the two-particle coincidence statistics of two bosons can instead be seamlessly tuned from the expected case of suppression to substantial enhancement by an appropriate choice of the observation basis. To this end, our photonic setting leverages birefringent polarization couplers to selectively introduce dissipation in the photons polarization degree of freedom. Notably, the mechanism underpinning this this highly unusual behaviour does not act on the individual phases accumulated by pairs of particles along specific paths, but instead allows them to jointly evade losses, while indistinguishable photons are prevented from being simultaneously detected in orthogonal modes. Our findings reveal a new approach to harnessing non-Hermitian settings for the manipulation of multi-particle quantum states and as functional elements in quantum simulation and information processing.

All-Photonic Architecture for Scalable Quantum Computing with Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger States

Abstract: Linear optical quantum computing is beset by the lack of deterministic entangling operations besides photon loss. Motivated by advancements at the experimental front in deterministic generation of various kinds of multiphoton entangled states, we propose an architecture for linear-optical quantum computing that harnesses the availability of three-photon Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states. Our architecture and its subvariants use polarized photons in GHZ states, polarization beam splitters, delay lines, optical switches, and on-off detectors. We concatenate the topological quantum error-correction code with three-qubit repetition codes and estimate that our architecture can tolerate a remarkably high photon-loss rate of 11.5%; this makes a drastic change that is at least an order higher than those of known proposals. Furthermore, considering three-photon GHZ states as resources, we estimate the resource overheads to perform gate operations with an accuracy of 10−6(10−15) to be 2.07×106(5.03×107). Compared to other all-photonic schemes, our architecture is also resource efficient. In addition, the resource overhead can be even further improved if larger GHZ states are available. Given its striking enhancement in the photon-loss threshold and the recent progress in generating multiphoton entanglement, our scheme moves scalable photonic quantum computing a step closer to reality.2 MoreReceived 30 September 2021Revised 28 February 2022Accepted 21 June 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PRXQuantum.3.030309Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasMeasurement-based quantum computingQuantum computationQuantum error correctionTopological quantum computingQuantum InformationAtomic, Molecular & Optical

High-On-Off-Ratio Beam-Splitter Interaction for Gates on Bosonically Encoded Qubits

Abstract: Encoding a qubit in a high quality superconducting microwave cavity offers the opportunity to perform the first layer of error correction in a single device, but presents a challenge: how can quantum oscillators be controlled while introducing a minimal number of additional error channels? We focus on the two-qubit portion of this control problem by using a 3-wave mixing coupling element to engineer a programmable beamsplitter interaction between two bosonic modes separated by more than an octave in frequency, without introducing major additional sources of decoherence. Combining this with single-oscillator control provided by a dispersively coupled transmon provides a framework for quantum control of multiple encoded qubits. The beamsplitter interaction $g_\text{bs}$ is fast relative to the timescale of oscillator decoherence, enabling over $10^3$ beamsplitter operations per coherence time, and approaching the typical rate of the dispersive coupling $\chi$ used for individual oscillator control. Further, the programmable coupling is engineered without adding unwanted interactions between the oscillators, as evidenced by the high on-off ratio of the operations, which can exceed $10^5$. We then introduce a new protocol to realize a hybrid controlled-SWAP operation in the regime $g_{bs}\approx\chi$, in which a transmon provides the control bit for the SWAP of two bosonic modes. Finally, we use this gate in a SWAP test to project a pair of bosonic qubits into a Bell state with measurement-corrected fidelity of $95.5\% \pm 0.2\%$.

All-dielectric metasurface designs for spin-tunable beam splitting via simultaneous manipulation of propagation and geometric phases.

Abstract: Metasurfaces offer diverse wavefront control by manipulating amplitude, phase, and polarization of light which is beneficial to design subwavelength scaled integrated photonic devices. Metasurfaces based tunable circular polarization (CP) beam splitting is one functionality of interest in polarization control. Here, we propose and numerically realize metasurface based spin tunable beam splitter which splits the incoming CP beam into two different directions and tune the splitting angles by switching the handedness of incident light polarization. The proposed design approach has potential in applications such as optical communication, multiplexing, and imaging.

Plasmonic loss-mitigating broadband adiabatic polarizing beam splitter

Abstract: The intriguing analogy between quantum physics and optics has inspired the design of unconventional integrated photonics devices. In this paper, we numerically demonstrate a broadband integrated polarization beam splitter (PBS) by implementing the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) technique in a three-waveguide plasmonic system. Our proposed PBS exhibits >250 nm transverse-magnetic (TM) bandwidth with <-40 dB extinction and >150 nm transverse-electric (TE) bandwidth with <-20 dB extinction, covering the entire S-, C-, and L-bands and part of the E-band. Moreover, near-lossless light transfer is achieved in our system despite the incorporation of a plasmonic hybrid waveguide because of the unique loss mitigating feature of the STIRAP scheme. Through this approach, various broadband integrated devices that were previously impossible can be realized, which will allow innovation in integrated optics.

Engineering strong beamsplitter interaction between bosonic modes via quantum optimal control theory

Abstract: In continuous-variable quantum computing with qubits encoded in the infinite-dimensional Hilbert space of bosonic modes, it is a difficult task to realize strong and on-demand interactions between the qubits. One option is to engineer a beamsplitter interaction for photons in two superconducting cavities by driving an intermediate superconducting circuit with two continuous-wave drives, as demonstrated in a recent experiment. Here, we show how quantum optimal control theory (OCT) can be used in a systematic way to improve the beamsplitter interaction between the two cavities. We find that replacing the two-tone protocol by a three-tone protocol accelerates the effective beamsplitter rate between the two cavities. The third tone's amplitude and frequency are determined by gradient-free optimization and make use of cavity-transmon sideband couplings. We show how to further improve the three-tone protocol via gradient-based optimization while keeping the optimized drives experimentally feasible. Our work exemplifies how to use OCT to systematically improve practical protocols in quantum information applications.

Plate laser beam splitter with mixture-based quarter-wave coating design

Abstract: Plate laser beam splitter (PLBS) coatings for intensity-splitting in high-power laser applications face increasing requirements, where the challenge is to simultaneously satisfy a given transmittance (T)/reflectivity (R) intensity-splitting ratio with a certain bandwidth, and a high laser damage threshold (LIDT). Traditionally, a given T/R ratio is achieved by using a non-quarter-wave design. We propose a quarter-wave design strategy for arbitrary T/R ratios by using mixture layers with tunable refractive index (n) and optical bandgap as high-n layers. Two quarter-wave PLBS coatings based on HfO2–Al2O3 mixture with a designed T/R ratio of 50:50 are experimentally demonstrated and compared with the traditional PLBS coating. The mixture-based PLBS coating shows good spectral performance, low surface roughness, and high LIDT. For an s-polarized 8 ns pulse laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm, a mixture-based PLBS coating design can improve LIDT by a factor of ∼ 2 with a slightly wider bandwidth. This tunable mixture-based PLBS coating design strategy provides support for the increasingly high output power of high-power laser systems.