Jan Soubusta

Measurement of the influence of dispersion on white-light interferometry.

White-light interferometry is a well-established method for measuring the height profiles of samples with rough as well as with smooth surfaces. Because white-light interferometry uses broadband light sources, the problem of dispersion arises. Because the optical paths in the two interferometer arms cannot be balanced for all wavelengths, the white-light correlogram is distorted, which interferes with its evaluation. We investigate the influence of setup parameters on the shape of the correlogram. Calculated values are compared with experimental results.

Theoretical measurement uncertainty of white-light interferometry on rough surfaces

A great advantage of the white-light interferometry is that it can be used for profile objects with a rough surface. A speckle pattern that arises in the image plane allows one to observethe interference; however, this pattern is also the source of the measurement uncertainty. We derive the theoretical limits of the longitudinal uncertainty by virtue of the first-order statistics of thespeckle pattern. It is shown that this uncertainty depends on the surface roughness of the measured object only; it does not depend on the setup parameters.

Resource-efficient linear-optical quantum router

All-linear-optical scheme for fully featured quantum router is presented. This device directs the signal photonic qubit according to the state of one control photonic qubit. In the introduction we formulate the list of requirements imposed on a fully quantum router. Then we describe our proposal showing the exact principle of operation on a linear-optical scheme. Subsequently we provide generalization of the scheme in order to optimize the success probability by means of a tunable controlled-phase gate. At the end, we show how one can modify the device to route multiple signal qubits using the same control qubit.

Experimental phase-covariant cloning of polarization states of single photons

The experimental realization of optimal symmetric phase-covariant

Fiber-optics implementation of an asymmetric phase-covariant quantum cloner

1\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2

Several experimental realizations of symmetric phase-covariant quantum cloners of single-photon qubits

cloning of qubit states is presented. The qubits are represented by polarization states of photons generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The experiment is based on the interference of two photons on a custom-made beam splitter with different splitting ratios for vertical and horizontal polarization components. From the measured data we have estimated the implemented cloning transformation using the maximum-likelihood method. The result shows that the realized transformation is very close to the ideal one and the map fidelity reaches 94%.

Experimental implementation of the optimal linear-optical controlled phase gate.

We present the experimental realization of optimal symmetric and asymmetric phase-covariant 1-->2 cloning of qubit states using fiber optics. The state of each qubit is encoded into a single photon which can propagate through two optical fibers. The operation of our device is based on one- and two-photon interference. We have demonstrated the creation of two copies for a wide range of qubit states from the equator of the Bloch sphere. The measured fidelities of both copies are close to the theoretical values and they surpass the theoretical maximum obtainable with the universal cloner.

Quantum cryptography using a photon source based on postselection from entangled two-photon states

We compare several optical implementations of phase-covariant cloning machines. The experiments are based on copying of the polarization state of a single photon in bulk optics by a special unbalanced beam splitter or by a balanced beam splitter accompanied by a state filtering. Also the all-fiber-based setup is discussed, where the information is encoded into spatial modes, i.e., the photon can propagate through two optical fibers. Each of the four implementations possesses some advantages and disadvantages that are discussed.

Entanglement-based linear-optical qubit amplifier

We report on the first experimental realization of optimal linear-optical controlled phase gates for arbitrary phases. The realized scheme is entirely flexible in that the phase shift can be tuned to any given value. All such controlled phase gates are optimal in the sense that they operate at the maximum possible success probabilities that are achievable within the framework of postselected linear-optical implementations with vacuum ancillas. The quantum gate is implemented by using bulk optical elements and polarization encoding of qubit states. We have experimentally explored the remarkable observation that the optimum success probability is not monotone in the phase.

Experimental realization of linear-optical partial swap gates.

A photon source based on postselection from entangled photon pairs produced by parametric frequency down-conversion is suggested. Its ability to provide good approximations of single-photon states is examined. Application of this source in quantum cryptography for quantum key distribution is discussed. Advantages of the source compared to other currently used sources are clarified. Future prospects of the photon source are outlined.