Linda Sansoni

Two-Particle Bosonic-Fermionic Quantum Walk via Integrated Photonics

Quantum walk represents one of the most promising resources for the simulation of physical quantum systems, and has also emerged as an alternative to the standard circuit model for quantum computing. Here we investigate how the particle statistics, either bosonic or fermionic, influences a two-particle discrete quantum walk. Such an experiment has been realized by exploiting polarization entanglement to simulate the bunching-antibunching feature of noninteracting bosons and fermions. To this scope a novel three-dimensional geometry for the waveguide circuit is introduced, which allows accurate polarization independent behavior, maintaining remarkable control on both phase and balancement.

Integrated photonic quantum gates for polarization qubits

The ability to manipulate quantum states of light by integrated devices may open new perspectives both for fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and for novel technological applications. However, the technology for handling polarization-encoded qubits, the most commonly adopted approach, is still missing in quantum optical circuits. Here we demonstrate the first integrated photonic controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate for polarization-encoded qubits. This result has been enabled by the integration, based on femtosecond laser waveguide writing, of partially polarizing beam splitters on a glass chip. We characterize the logical truth table of the quantum gate demonstrating its high fidelity to the expected one. In addition, we show the ability of this gate to transform separable states into entangled ones and vice versa. Finally, the full accessibility of our device is exploited to carry out a complete characterization of the CNOT gate through a quantum process tomography.

Anderson localization of entangled photons in an integrated quantum walk

Researchers observe Anderson localization for pairs of polarization-entangled photons in a discrete quantum walk affected by position-dependent disorder. By exploiting polarization entanglement of photons to simulate different quantum statistics, they experimentally investigate the interplay between the Anderson localization mechanism and the bosonic/fermionic symmetry of the wave function.

Polarization entangled state measurement on a chip

We report the realization of an integrated beam splitter able to support polarization-encoded qubits. Using this device, we demonstrate quantum interference with polarization-entangled states and singlet state projection.

Polarization entangled states measurement on a chip

The emerging strategy to overcome the limitations of bulk quantum optics consists of taking advantage of the robustness and compactness achievable by the integrated waveguide technology. Here we report the realization of a directional coupler, fabricated by femtosecond laser waveguide writing, acting as an integrated beam splitter able to support polarization encoded qubits. This maskless and single step technique allows to realize circular transverse waveguide profiles able to support the propagation of Gaussian modes with any polarization state. Using this device, we demonstrate the quantum interference with polarization entangled states.

Rotated waveplates in integrated waveguide optics

Giacomo Corrielli, 2 Andrea Crespi, 2 Roberto Osellame, 2, ∗ Riccardo Geremia, Roberta Ramponi, 2 Linda Sansoni, Andrea Santinelli, Paolo Mataloni, 4 and Fabio Sciarrino 4, † Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFN-CNR), Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, I-00185 Roma, Italy Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (INO-CNR), Largo Enrico Fermi 6, I-50125 Firenze, ItalyControlling and manipulating the polarization state of a light beam is crucial in applications ranging from optical sensing to optical communications, both in the classical and quantum regime, and ultimately whenever interference phenomena are to be exploited. In addition, many of these applications present severe requirements of phase stability and greatly benefit from a monolithic integrated-optics approach. However, integrated devices that allow arbitrary transformations of the polarization state are very difficult to produce with conventional lithographic technologies. Here we demonstrate waveguide-based optical waveplates, with arbitrarily rotated birefringence axis, fabricated by femtosecond laser pulses. To validate our approach, we exploit this component to realize a compact device for the quantum state tomography of two polarization-entangled photons. This work opens perspectives for integrated manipulation of polarization-encoded information with relevant applications ranging from integrated polarimetric sensing to quantum key distribution.

Experimental generation and characterization of single-photon hybrid ququarts based on polarization and orbital angular momentum encoding

High-dimensional quantum states, or qudits, represent a promising resource in the quantum information field. Here we present the experimental generation of four-dimensional quantum states, or ququarts, encoded in the polarization and orbital angular momen

Demonstration of coherent time-frequency Schmidt mode selection using dispersion-engineered frequency conversion

Time-frequency Schmidt (TFS) modes of ultrafast quantum states are naturally compatible with high bit-rate integrated quantum communication networks. Thus they offer an attractive alternative for the realization of high dimensional quantum optics. Here, we present a quantum pulse gate based on dispersion-engineered ultrafast frequency conversion in a nonlinear optical waveguide, which is a key element for harnessing the potential of TFS modes. We experimentally retrieve the modal spectral-temporal structure of our device and demonstrate a single-mode operation fidelity of 80\%, which is limited by experimental shortcomings. In addition, we retrieve a conversion efficiency of 87.7\% with a high signal-to-noise ratio of 8.8 when operating the quantum pulse gate at the single-photon level.

General Rules for Bosonic Bunching in Multimode Interferometers

We perform a comprehensive set of experiments that characterize bosonic bunching of up to three photons in interferometers of up to 16 modes. Our experiments verify two rules that govern bosonic bunching. The first rule, obtained recently, predicts the average behavior of the bunching probability and is known as the bosonic birthday paradox. The second rule is new and establishes a n!-factor quantum enhancement for the probability that all n bosons bunch in a single output mode, with respect to the case of distinguishable bosons. In addition to its fundamental importance in phenomena such as Bose-Einstein condensation, bosonic bunching can be exploited in applications such as linear optical quantum computing and quantum-enhanced metrology.

Experimental quantum process tomography of non-trace-preserving maps

The ability of fully reconstructing quantum maps is a fundamental task of quantum information, in particular when coupling with the environment and experimental imperfections of devices are taken into account. In this context, we carry out a quantum process tomography approach for a set of non-trace-preserving maps. We introduce an operator P to characterize the state-dependent probability of success for the process under investigation. We also evaluate the result of approximating the process with a trace-preserving one.