We experimentally investigate a cascade of temperature-compensated unequal-path interferometers that can be used to measure frequency states in a high-dimensional quantum distribution system. In particular, we demonstrate that commercially available interferometers have sufficient environmental isolation so that they maintain an interference visibility greater than 98.5% at a wavelength of 1550 nm over extended periods with only moderate passive control of the interferometer temperature ($<\pm 0.50°\mathrm{C}$). Specifically, we characterize two interferometers that have matched delays: one with a free spectral range of 2.5 GHz and the other with 1.25 GHz. We find that the relative path of these interferometers drifts less than 3 nm over a period of 1 h during which the temperature fluctuates by $<\pm 0.10°\mathrm{C}$. When we purposely heat the interferometers over a temperature range of $20–50°\mathrm{C}$, we measure a path-length shift of $26\pm 9\mathrm{nm}/°\mathrm{C}$ for the 2.5-GHz interferometer. For the 1.25-GHz interferometer, the path-length shift is nonlinear and is locally equal to zero at a temperature of $37.1°\mathrm{C}$ and is $50\pm 17\mathrm{nm}/°\mathrm{C}$ at $22°\mathrm{C}$. With these devices, we realize a proof-of-concept quantum key distribution experiment and achieve quantum bit error rates of 1.94% and 3.69% in time and frequency basis, respectively, at a quantum channel loss of 14 dB.

We present a generic system of three bosonic modes coupled parametrically with a time-varying coupling modulated by a combination of two pump harmonics, and we show how this system provides the minimal platform for realizing nonreciprocal couplings that can lead to gainless photon circulation, and phase-preserving or phase-sensitive directional amplification. Explicit frequency-dependent calculations within this minimal paradigm highlight the separation of amplification and directionality bandwidths, a feature generic to such schemes. We also study the influence of counterrotating interactions that can adversely affect directionality and the associated bandwidth; we find that these effects can be mitigated by suitably designing the properties of the auxiliary mode that plays the role of an engineered reservoir to the amplification mode space.

Measurement of multiple Andreev Reflection (MAR) in a Josephson junction made from an InAs quantum well heterostructure with epitaxial aluminum is used to quantify a highly transparent effective semiconductor-superconductor interface with near-unity transmission. The observed temperature dependence of MAR does not follow a conventional BCS form but instead agrees with a model in which the density of states in the quantum well acquires an effective induced gap, in our case, $180\mu \mathrm{eV}$, close to that of the epitaxial superconductor, indicating an intimate contact between Al and the InAs heterostructure. The carrier density dependence of MAR is investigated using a depletion gate revealing the subband structure of the semiconductor quantum well, consistent with magnetotransport experiments of the bare InAs performed on the same wafer.

In this article, we devise and demonstrate experimentally a polarization-dependent diffractive bifocal vortex lens operating via the Pancharatnam-Berry phase. The interaction between the incident beam and the bifocal vortex lens establishes nonseparable spin and orbital angular-momentum photon states. The components of the nonseparable state associated with different couplings of spin and orbital angular momentum can be sorted by the bifocality of the lens. A theoretical model of the device is developed using Fresnel’s diffraction. The device is simply, efficiently, and economically realized from the optical setup using the underlying physics of Pancharatnam-Berry-phase polarization holography. The measured transmittance and diffraction efficiency of the fabricated device is high—up to 90% and 91%, respectively. Various applications of the polarization bifocal vortex lens in the field of orbital angular-momentum lasing and optical manipulation are discussed. Thus, the bifocal vortex lens can have significant impact on classical and quantum optics, as well as theoretical physics.

Single-photon sources are an integral part of various quantum technologies, and solid-state quantum emitters at room temperature appear to be a promising implementation. We couple the fluorescence of individual silicon-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds to a tunable optical microcavity to demonstrate a single-photon source with high efficiency, increased emission rate, and improved spectral purity compared to the intrinsic emitter properties. We use a fiber-based microcavity with a mode volume as small as $3.4{\lambda }^3$ and a quality factor of $1.9\times 10^4$ and observe an effective Purcell factor of up to 9.2. Furthermore, we study modifications of the internal rate dynamics and propose a rate model that closely agrees with the measurements. We observe lifetime changes of up to 31%, limited by the finite quantum efficiency of the emitters studied here. With improved materials, our achieved parameters predict single-photon rates beyond 1 GHz.

We present a model study of an alternative implementation of a two-port Hall-effect microwave gyrator. Our setup involves three electrodes, one of which acts as a common ground for the others. Based on the capacitive-coupling model of Viola and DiVincenzo, we analyze the performance of the device and we predict that ideal gyration can be achieved at specific frequencies. Interestingly, the impedance of the three-terminal gyrator can be made arbitrarily small for certain coupling strengths, so that no auxiliary impedance matching is required. Although the bandwidth of the device shrinks as the impedance decreases, it can be improved by reducing the magnetic field; it can be realistically increased up to 150 MHz at $50\mathrm{\Omega }$ by working at the filling factor $\nu =10$. We also examine the effects of the parasitic capacitive coupling between electrodes and we find that, although, in general, they strongly influence the response of device, their effect is negligible at low impedance. Finally, we analyze an interferometric implementation of a circulator, which incorporates the gyrator in a Mach-Zender–like construction. Perfect circulation in both directions can be achieved, depending on frequency and on the details of the interferometer.

We report on the design and implementation of a field-programmable Josephson amplifier (FPJA)—a compact and lossless superconducting circuit that can be programmed in situ by a set of microwave drives to perform reciprocal and nonreciprocal frequency conversion and amplification. In this work, we demonstrate four modes of operation: frequency conversion (transmission of $-0.5$ dB, reflection of $-30$ dB), circulation (transmission of $-0.5$ dB, reflection of $-30$ dB, isolation of 30 dB), phase-preserving amplification (gain $>20\mathrm{dB}$, one photon of added noise) and directional phase-preserving amplification (reflection of $-10$ dB, forward gain of 18 dB, reverse isolation of 8 dB, one photon of added noise). The system exhibits quantitative agreement with the theoretical prediction. Based on a gradiometric superconducting quantum-interference device with $\mathrm{Nb}/\mathrm{Al}\text{−}\mathrm{Al}{\mathrm{O}}_x/\mathrm{Nb}$ Josephson junctions, the FPJA is first-order insensitive to flux noise and can be operated without magnetic shielding at low temperature. Owing to its flexible design and compatibility with existing superconducting fabrication techniques, the FPJA offers a straightforward route toward on-chip integration with superconducting quantum circuits such as qubits and microwave optomechanical systems.

We report on the implementation of quantum frequency conversion between infrared and ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths by using single-stage up-conversion in a periodically poled potassium-titanyl-phosphate waveguide. Because of the monolithic waveguide design, we manage to transfer a telecommunication-band input photon to the wavelength of the ionic dipole transition of ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ at 369.5 nm. The external (internal) conversion efficiency is around 5% (10%). The high-energy pump used in this converter introduces a spontaneous parametric down-conversion process, which is a cause for noise in the UV mode. Using this process, we show that the converter preserves nonclassical correlations in the up-conversion process, rendering this miniaturized interface a source for quantum states of light in the UV.

Acoustic-wave devices provide a promising chip-scale platform for efficiently coupling radio frequency (rf) and optical fields. Here, we use an integrated piezo-optomechanical circuit platform that exploits both the piezoelectric and photoelastic coupling mechanisms to link 2.4-GHz rf waves to 194-THz (1550 nm) optical waves, through coupling to propagating and localized 2.4-GHz acoustic waves. We demonstrate acousto-optic modulation, resonant in both the optical and mechanical domains, in which waveforms encoded on the rf carrier are mapped to the optical field. We also show optoacoustic gating, in which the application of modulated optical pulses interferometrically gates the transmission of propagating acoustic pulses. The time-domain characteristics of this system under both pulsed rf and pulsed optical excitation are considered in the context of the different physical pathways involved in driving the acoustic waves, and modeled through the coupled mode equations of cavity optomechanics.

We theoretically and experimentally introduce the concept of the local density of states (LDOS) associated with propagative surface plasmons (PSPs) launched along a structured thin gold film (a concept we call PSP LDOS). The alternative method couples a near-field optical microscope, in either the classical or the quantum regime of excitation, to a far-field leakage-radiation microscope. This method allows for selecting and collecting a very narrow portion of the directional SP wave vectors, thereby offering sufficient resolution to probe the collimation efficiency of a SP beam for a source near the focal point of a Bragg parabolic reflector. We are able to build and image the PSP LDOS in a fully integrated quantum SP launcher by depositing a diamond nanocrystal hosting nitrogen-vacancy centers at the focal point of the mirror. Our demonstration of the PSP LDOS with quantized SPs offers alternative prospects in the field of quantum plasmonics.

We construct a microwave detector based on the voltage switching of an underdamped Josephson junction that is positioned at a current antinode of a $\lambda /4$ coplanar waveguide resonator. By measuring the switching current and the transmission through a waveguide capacitively coupled to the resonator at different drive frequencies and temperatures, we are able to fully characterize the system and assess its detection efficiency and sensitivity. Testing the detector by applying a classical microwave field with the strength of a single photon yields a sensitivity parameter of 0.5, in qualitative agreement with theoretical calculations.

We describe a simple method of interleaving a classical and quantum signal in a secure communication system at a single wavelength. The system transmits data encrypted via a one-time pad on a classical signal and produces a single-photon reflection of the encrypted signal. This attenuated signal can be used to observe eavesdroppers and produce fresh secret bits. The system can be secured against eavesdroppers, detect simple tampering or classical bit errors, produces more secret bits than it consumes, and does not require any entanglement or complex wavelength division multiplexing, thus, making continuous secure two-way communication via one-time pads practical.

Through the theoretical study of electron spin lifetime in the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) confined near the surface of doped Si, we highlight a dominant spin-relaxation mechanism induced by the impurity central-cell potential near an interface via intervalley electron scattering. At low temperatures and with modest doping, this Yafet spin-flip mechanism can become more important than the D’yakonov-Perel’ spin relaxation arising from the structural Rashba or Dresselhaus spin-orbit-coupling field. As the leading-order impurity-induced spin flip happens only between two nonopposing valleys in Si, 2DEG systems in Si MOSFETs or SiGe heterostructures are a natural platform to test and utilize this spin-relaxation mechanism due to the valley splitting near the interface and the tunability by electrical gating or applied stress. Our proposed alternative spin-relaxation mechanism may explain part of the spin-relaxation contribution to Si-based 2DEG systems, and it should have spintronic applications in Si-based devices.

Significant successes have recently been reported in the study of the generation of a spectrally pure state in group-velocity-matched (GVM) nonlinear crystals. However, the GVM condition can be realized only in limited kinds of crystals and at limited wavelengths. Here, we investigate pure-state generation in the isomorphs of the PPKTP crystal: i.e., periodically poled RTP, KTA, RTA, and CTA crystals. By numerical simulation, we find that these crystals from the KTP family can generate pure photons with high spectral purity (over 0.8), wide tunability (more than 400 nm), and reasonable nonlinearity at a variety of wavelengths (from 1300 to 2100 nm). It is also discovered that the PPCTA crystal may achieve a purity of 0.97 at 1506 nm. This study may provide more and better choices for quantum-state engineering at telecom wavelengths.

The rapid progress seen in the development of quantum-coherent devices for information processing has motivated serious consideration of quantum computer architecture and organization. One topic which remains open for investigation and optimization relates to the design of the classical-quantum interface, where control operations on individual qubits are applied according to higher-level algorithms; accommodating competing demands on performance and scalability remains a major outstanding challenge. In this work, we present a resource-efficient, scalable framework for the implementation of embedded physical layer classical controllers for quantum-information systems. Design drivers and key functionalities are introduced, leading to the selection of Walsh functions as an effective functional basis for both programing and controller hardware implementation. This approach leverages the simplicity of real-time Walsh-function generation in classical digital hardware, and the fact that a wide variety of physical layer controls, such as dynamic error suppression, are known to fall within the Walsh family. We experimentally implement a real-time field-programmable-gate-array-based Walsh controller producing Walsh timing signals and Walsh-synthesized analog waveforms appropriate for critical tasks in error-resistant quantum control and noise characterization. These demonstrations represent the first step towards a unified framework for the realization of physical layer controls compatible with large-scale quantum-information processing.

A challenge for constructing large circuits of superconducting qubits is to balance addressability, coherence, and coupling strength. High coherence can be attained by building circuits from fixed-frequency qubits; however, leading techniques cannot couple qubits that are far detuned. Here, we introduce a method based on a tunable bus which allows for the coupling of two fixed-frequency qubits even at large detunings. By parametrically oscillating the bus at the qubit-qubit detuning we enable a resonant exchange ($XX+YY$) interaction. We use this interaction to implement a 183-ns two-qubit iswap gate between qubits separated in frequency by 854 MHz, with a measured average fidelity of 0.9823(4) from interleaved randomized benchmarking. This gate may be an enabling technology for surface-code circuits and for analog quantum simulation.

We combine the fields of heuristic optimization and optimal stopping. We propose a strategy for benchmarking randomized optimization algorithms that minimizes the expected total cost for obtaining a good solution with an optimal number of calls to the solver. To do so, rather than letting the objective function alone define a cost to be minimized, we introduce a further cost-per-call of the algorithm. We show that this problem can be formulated using optimal stopping theory. The expected cost is a flexible figure of merit for benchmarking probabilistic solvers that can be computed when the optimal solution is not known and that avoids the biases and arbitrariness that affect other measures. The optimal stopping formulation of benchmarking directly leads to a real-time optimal-utilization strategy for probabilistic optimizers with practical impact. We apply our formulation to benchmark simulated annealing on a class of maximum-2-satisfiability (MAX2SAT) problems. We also compare the performance of a D-Wave 2X quantum annealer to the Hamze-Freitas-Selby (HFS) solver, a specialized classical heuristic algorithm designed for low-tree-width graphs. On a set of frustrated-loop instances with planted solutions defined on up to $N=1098$ variables, the D-Wave device is 2 orders of magnitude faster than the HFS solver, and, modulo known caveats related to suboptimal annealing times, exhibits identical scaling with problem size.

We demonstrate a 12-quantum-dot device fabricated on an undoped Si/SiGe heterostructure as a proof of concept for a scalable, linear gate architecture for semiconductor quantum dots. The device consists of nine quantum dots in a linear array and three single-quantum-dot charge sensors. We show reproducible single-quantum-dot charging and orbital energies, with standard deviations less than 20% relative to the mean across the nine-dot array. The single-quantum-dot charge sensors have a charge sensitivity of $8.2\times {10}^{-4}e/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ and allow for the investigation of real-time charge dynamics. As a demonstration of the versatility of this device, we use single-shot readout to measure the spin-relaxation time $T_1=170\mathrm{ms}$ at a magnetic field $B=1\mathrm{T}$. By reconfiguring the device, we form two capacitively coupled double quantum dots and extract a mutual charging energy of $200\mu \mathrm{eV}$, which indicates that 50-GHz two-qubit gate-operation speeds are feasible.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has enormous applications. Two-dimensional NMR is an essential technique to characterize correlations between nuclei and, hence, molecule structures. Towards the ultimate goal of single-molecule NMR, dynamical-decoupling- (DD) enhanced diamond quantum sensing enables the detection of single nuclear spins and nanoscale NMR. However, there is still the lack of a standard method in DD-based quantum sensing to characterize correlations between nuclear spins in single molecules. Here we present a scheme of two-dimensional DD-based quantum sensing, as a universal method for correlation spectroscopy of single molecules. We design two-dimensional DD sequences composed of two sets of periodic DD sequences with different periods, which can be independently set to match two different transition frequencies for resonant DD. We find that under the resonant DD condition the sensor coherence patterns, as functions of the two independent pulse numbers of DD subsequences, can fully determine different types of correlations between nuclear spin transitions. This work offers a systematic approach to correlation spectroscopy for single-molecule NMR.

Optical microcavities are a powerful tool for enhancing the fluorescence of individual quantum emitters. However, the broad emission spectra encountered in the solid state at room temperature limit the influence of a cavity, calling for an ultrasmall mode volume. We demonstrate Purcell-enhanced single-photon emission from nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds coupled to a tunable fiber-based microcavity with a mode volume down to $1.0{\lambda }^3$. We record cavity-enhanced fluorescence images and study several single emitters with one cavity. The Purcell effect is evidenced by enhanced fluorescence collection and tunable lifetime modification, and we infer an effective Purcell factor of up to 2. Furthermore, we show an alternative regime for light confinement, where a Fabry-Perot mode is combined with additional mode confinement by the nanocrystal itself. Simulations predict effective Purcell factors of up to 11 for nitrogen-vacancy centers and 63 for silicon-vacancy centers, holding promise for bright single-photon sources and efficient spin readout under ambient conditions.