Controllable quantum information masking based on a single photon
Phys. Rev. A 113, 012611 – Published 13 January, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/nmy8-68qv
Abstract
Quantum information masking (QIM) refers to the complete transfer of information contained in a single qubit to entanglement, while ensuring that no single qubit contains the original information. In this paper, we theoretically prove the feasibility of single-photon QIM, and experimentally demonstrate that the information of a single qubit can be transformed into the entanglement between different degrees of freedom of a single photon. Unlike conventional methods, our single-photon scheme can switch between the information masking mode and the direct communication mode, which facilitates the construction of integrated quantum masking machines.
