Zhongzhong Qin

Experimental generation of multiple quantum correlated beams from hot rubidium vapor.

Quantum correlations and entanglement shared among multiple quantum modes are important for both fundamental science and the future development of quantum technologies. This development will also require an efficient quantum interface between multimode quantum light sources and atomic ensembles, which makes it necessary to implement multimode quantum light sources that match the atomic transitions. Here, we report on such a source that provides a method for generating quantum correlated beams that can be extended to a large number of modes by using multiple four-wave mixing (FWM) processes in hot rubidium vapor. Experimentally, we show that two cascaded FWM processes produce strong quantum correlations between three bright beams but not between any two of them. In addition, the intensity-difference squeezing is enhanced with the cascaded system to -7.0±0.1  dB from the -5.5±0.1/-4.5±0.1  dB squeezing obtained with only one FWM process. One of the main advantages of our system is that as the number of quantum modes increases, so does the total degree of quantum correlations. The proposed method is also immune to phase instabilities due to its phase insensitive nature, can easily be extended to multiple modes, and has potential applications in the production of multiple quantum correlated images.

Compact diode-laser-pumped quantum light source based on four-wave mixing in hot rubidium vapor

Using a nondegenerate four-wave mixing process in hot rubidium vapor, we demonstrate a compact diode-laser-pumped system for the generation of intensity-difference squeezing down to 8 kHz with a maximum squeezing of -7 dB. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of kilohertz-level intensity-difference squeezing using a semiconductor laser as the pump source. This scheme is of interest for experiments involving atomic ensembles, quantum communications, and precision measurements. The diode-laser-pumped system would extend the range of possible applications for squeezing due to its low cost, ease of operation, and ease of integration.

Complete temporal characterization of a single photon

A convenient scheme for characterizing the temporal properties of a single photon looks set to aid experiments in quantum optics. An international team of scientists from Canada, China, USA, Uruguay and Russia says that this approach can be used to determine the complete mode structure of a photon, in particular, the real and imaginary parts of its temporal density matrix. This information is important for quantum communication experiments for which it is often critical to match photon modes. The characterization scheme, which the researchers term polychromatic optical heterodyne tomography, works by collecting autocorrelation data of homodyne photocurrent at multiple local oscillator frequencies. The team says that tests of the technique with single photons generated by four-wave mixing in an atomic vapour agree well with theoretical predictions.

Generation and tomography of arbitrary optical qubits using transient collective atomic excitations

We demonstrate the preparation of heralded Fock-basis qubits (a|0〉+b|1〉) from transient collective spin excitations in a hot atomic vapor. The preparation event is heralded by Raman-scattered photons in a four-wave mixing process seeded by a weak coherent optical excitation. The amplitude and phase of the seed field allow arbitrary control over the qubit coefficients. The qubit state is characterized using balanced homodyne tomography.

Ultralow-light-level all-optical transistor in rubidium vapor

An all-optical transistor (AOT) is a device in which one light beam can efficiently manipulate another. It is the foundational component of an all-optical communication network. An AOT that can operate at ultralow light levels is especially attractive for its potential application in the quantum information field. Here, we demonstrate an AOT driven by a weak light beam with an energy density of 2.5 × 10−5 photons/(λ2/2π) (corresponding to 6  yJ/(λ2/2π) and about 800 total photons) using the double-Λ four-wave mixing process in hot rubidium vapor. This makes it a promising candidate for ultralow-light-level optical communication and quantum information science.

Swapping of Gaussian Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering is a quantum mechanical phenomenon that allows one party to steer the state of a distant party by exploiting their shared entanglement. It has potential applications in secure quantum communication. In this paper, we present two swapping schemes of Gaussian EPR steering, single-channel and dual-channel schemes, by the technique of entanglement swapping. Two space-separated independent EPR steering states without a direct interaction present EPR steering after deterministic swapping. By comparing the EPR steering of the single-channel and dual-channel schemes, we show that the transmission distance of the single-channel scheme is much longer than that of the symmetric dual-channel scheme. Different from entanglement swapping, one-way EPR steering is presented after swapping over lossy channels. The most interesting thing is that the change of the EPR steering direction is observed in the dual-channel scheme. We also show that excess noise in a quantum channel will shorten the transmission distance of the swapping, even leading to the sudden death of EPR steering. The presented schemes provide a technical reference for remote quantum communications with EPR steering.

Manipulating the direction of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering exhibits an inherent asymmetric feature that differs from both entanglement and Bell nonlocality, which leads to one-way EPR steering. Although this oneway EPR steering phenomenon has been experimentally observed, the schemes to manipulate the direction of EPR steering have not been investigated thoroughly. In this paper, we propose and experimentally demonstrate three schemes to manipulate the direction of EPR steering, either by varying the noise on one party of a two-mode squeezed state (TMSS) or transmitting the TMSS in a noisy channel. The dependence of the direction of EPR steering on the noise and transmission efficiency in the quantum channel is analyzed. The experimental results show that the direction of EPR steering of the TMSS can be changed in the presented schemes. Our work is helpful in understanding the fundamental asymmetry of quantum nonlocality and has potential applications in future asymmetric quantum information processing.

Experimental observation of quantum correlations in four-wave mixing with a conical pump

Generation of multimode quantum states has drawn much attention recently due to its importance for both fundamental science and the future development of quantum technologies. Here, by using a four-wave mixing process with a conical pump beam, we have experimentally observed about -3.8  dB of intensity-difference squeezing between a single-axial probe beam and a conical conjugate beam. The multi-spatial-mode nature of the generated quantum-correlated beams has been shown by comparing the variation tendencies of the intensity-difference noise of the probe and conjugate beams under global attenuation and local cutting attenuation. Due to its compactness, phase-insensitive nature, and easy scalability, our scheme may find potential applications in quantum imaging, quantum information processing, and quantum metrology.

Quantification of quantum steering in a Gaussian Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger state

Abstract As one of the most intriguing features of quantum mechanics, Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen (EPR) steering is a useful resource for secure quantum networks. Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) state plays important role in quantum communication network. By reconstructing the covariance matrix of a continuous variable tripartite GHZ state, we fully quantify the amount of bipartite steering under Gaussian measurements. We demonstrate that the (1+1)-mode steerability is not exist in the tripartite GHZ state, only the collectively steerability exist between the (1+2)-mode and (2+1)-mode partitions. These properties confirm that the tripartite GHZ state is a perfect resource for quantum secret sharing protocol. We also demonstrate one-way EPR steering of the GHZ state under Gaussian measurements, and experimentally verify the introduced monogamy relations for Gaussian steerability. Our experiment provides reference for using EPR steering in Gaussian GHZ states as a valuable resource for multiparty quantum information tasks.

Deterministic quantum teleportation through fiber channels

The deterministic teleportation of optical modes over a 6.0-km fiber channel is realized with continuous variable entanglement. Quantum teleportation, which is the transfer of an unknown quantum state from one station to another over a certain distance with the help of nonlocal entanglement shared by a sender and a receiver, has been widely used as a fundamental element in quantum communication and quantum computation. Optical fibers are crucial information channels, but teleportation of continuous variable optical modes through fibers has not been realized so far. Here, we experimentally demonstrate deterministic quantum teleportation of an optical coherent state through fiber channels. Two sub-modes of an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entangled state are distributed to a sender and a receiver through a 3.0-km fiber, which acts as a quantum resource. The deterministic teleportation of optical modes over a fiber channel of 6.0 km is realized. A fidelity of 0.62 ± 0.03 is achieved for the retrieved quantum state, which breaks through the classical limit of 1/2. Our work provides a feasible scheme to implement deterministic quantum teleportation in communication networks.