Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Efficient quantum computing using coherent photon conversion

Nature volume 478, pages 360–363 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Single photons are excellent quantum information carriers: they were used in the earliest demonstrations of entanglement1 and in the production of the highest-quality entanglement reported so far2,3. However, current schemes for preparing, processing and measuring them are inefficient. For example, down-conversion provides heralded, but randomly timed, single photons4, and linear optics gates are inherently probabilistic5. Here we introduce a deterministic process—coherent photon conversion (CPC)—that provides a new way to generate and process complex, multiquanta states for photonic quantum information applications. The technique uses classically pumped nonlinearities to induce coherent oscillations between orthogonal states of multiple quantum excitations. One example of CPC, based on a pumped four-wave-mixing interaction, is shown to yield a single, versatile process that provides a full set of photonic quantum processing tools. This set satisfies the DiVincenzo criteria for a scalable quantum computing architecture6, including deterministic multiqubit entanglement gates (based on a novel form of photon–photon interaction), high-quality heralded single- and multiphoton states free from higher-order imperfections, and robust, high-efficiency detection. It can also be used to produce heralded multiphoton entanglement, create optically switchable quantum circuits and implement an improved form of down-conversion with reduced higher-order effects. Such tools are valuable building blocks for many quantum-enabled technologies. Finally, using photonic crystal fibres we experimentally demonstrate quantum correlations arising from a four-colour nonlinear process suitable for CPC and use these measurements to study the feasibility of reaching the deterministic regime with current technology4,7. Our scheme, which is based on interacting bosonic fields, is not restricted to optical systems but could also be implemented in optomechanical, electromechanical and superconducting systems8,9,10,11,12 with extremely strong intrinsic nonlinearities. Furthermore, exploiting higher-order nonlinearities with multiple pump fields yields a mechanism for multiparty mediation of the complex, coherent dynamics.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Satisfying the DiVincenzo criteria with CPC.
Figure 2: Heralded single-photon source.
Figure 3: Experimental set-up.
Figure 4: Experimental results.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Clauser, J. F. & Shimony, A. Bell’s theorem: experimental tests and implications. Rep. Prog. Phys. 41, 1881–1927 (1978)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Barreiro, J. T., Langford, N. K., Peters, N. A. & Kwiat, P. G. Generation of hyperentangled photon pairs. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 260501 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Fedrizzi, A., Herbst, T., Poppe, A., Jennewein, T. & Zeilinger, A. A wavelength-tunable fiber-coupled source of narrowband entangled photons. Opt. Express 15, 15377–15386 (2007)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Cohen, O. et al. Tailored photon-pair generation in optical fibers. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 123603 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Knill, E., Laflamme, R. & Milburn, G. J. A scheme for efficient quantum computation with linear optics. Nature 409, 46–52 (2001)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. DiVincenzo, D. P. & Loss, D. Quantum information is physical. Superlattices Microstruct. 23, 419–432 (1998)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Fulconis, J., Alibart, O., Wadsworth, W. J., Russell, P. S. & Rarity, J. G. High brightness single mode source of correlated photon pairs using a photonic crystal fiber. Opt. Lett. 13, 7572–7582 (2005)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Holmes, C. A. & Milburn, G. J. Parametric self pulsing in a quantum opto-mechanical system. Fortschr. Phys. 57, 1052–1063 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Chang, D. E., Safavi-Naeini, A. H., Hafezi, M. & Painter, O. Slowing and stopping light using an optomechanical crystal array. N. J. Phys. 13, 023003 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Thompson, J. D. et al. Strong dispersive coupling of a high-finesse cavity to a micromechanical membrane. Nature 452, 72–75 (2008)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Moon, K. & Girvin, S. M. Theory of microwave parametric down-conversion and squeezing using circuit QED. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 140504 (2005)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Marquardt, F. Efficient on-chip source of microwave photon pairs in superconducting circuit QED. Phys. Rev. B 76, 205416 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Kok, P. et al. Linear optical quantum computing with photonic qubits. Rev. Mod. Phys. 79, 135–174 (2007)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Raussendorf, R. & Briegel, H. J. A one-way quantum computer. Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5188–5191 (2001)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Walther, P. et al. Experimental one-way quantum computing. Nature 434, 169–176 (2005)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Prevedel, R. et al. High-speed linear optics quantum computing using active feed-forward. Nature 445, 65–69 (2007)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Munro, W. J., Nemoto, K., Beausoleil, R. G. & Spiller, T. P. High-efficiency quantum-nondemolition single-photon-number-resolving detector. Phys. Rev. A 71, 033819 (2005)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Nemoto, K. & Munro, W. J. Nearly deterministic linear optical controlled-NOT gate. Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 250502 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Franson, J. D., Jacobs, B. C. & Pittman, T. B. Quantum computing using single photons and the Zeno effect. Phys. Rev. A 70, 062302 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Shapiro, J. H. & Razavi, M. Continuous-time cross-phase modulation and quantum computation. N. J. Phys. 9, 16 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Leung, P. M., Munro, W. J., Nemoto, K. & Ralph, T. C. Spectral effects of strong χ(2) nonlinearity for quantum processing. Phys. Rev. A 79, 042307 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Berry, M. V. Quantal phase factors accompanying adiabatic changes. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 392, 45–57 (1984)

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  23. Pancharatnam, S. Generalized theory of interference, and its applications—i. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. A 44, 247–262 (1956)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  24. Rauch, H. et al. Verification of coherent spinor rotation of fermions. Phys. Lett. A 54, 425–427 (1975)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. VanDevender, A. P. & Kwiat, P. G. High-speed transparent switch via frequency upconversion. Opt. Express 15, 4677–4683 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Koshino, K. Down-conversion of a single photon with unit efficiency. Phys. Rev. A 79, 013804 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. Shor, P. W. Scheme for reducing decoherence in quantum computer memory. Phys. Rev. A 52, R2493–R2496 (1995)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Zeilinger, A., Horne, M. A. & Greenberger, D. M. in Proc. Squeezed States Quantum Uncertainty (eds Han, D., Kim, Y. S. & Zachary, W. W. ) 73–81 (NASA Conference Publication 3135, NASA, 1992)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Barbieri, M. et al. Parametric downconversion and optical quantum gates: twos company, fours a crowd. J. Mod. Opt. 56, 209–214 (2009)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. Eggleton, B. J., Luther-Davies, B. & Richardson, K. Chalcogenide photonics. Nature Photon. 5, 141–148 (2011)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge discussions with T. Jennewein, A. Fedrizzi, D. R. Austin, T. Paterek, B. J. Smith, W. J. Wadsworth, M. Halder, J. G. Rarity, F. Verstraete and A. G. White. This work was supported by the ERC (Advanced Grant QIT4QAD), the Austrian Science Fund (grant F4007 and an Erwin Schroedinger Fellowship), the EC (QU-ESSENCE and QAP), the Vienna Doctoral Program on Complex Quantum Systems, the John Templeton Foundation and in part by the Japanese FIRST programme and the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria

    N. K. Langford, S. Ramelow, R. Prevedel, G. J. Milburn & A. Zeilinger

  2. Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Boltzmanngasse 3, A-1090 Vienna, Austria

    N. K. Langford, S. Ramelow & A. Zeilinger

  3. Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK

    N. K. Langford

  4. Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada

    R. Prevedel

  5. National Institute of Informatics, 2-1-2 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8430, Japan

    W. J. Munro

  6. NTT Basic Research Laboratories, NTT Corporation, 3-1 Morinosato-Wakamiya, Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan

    W. J. Munro

  7. Centre for Engineered Quantum Systems, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072 Queensland, Australia

    G. J. Milburn

Authors
  1. N. K. Langford
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S. Ramelow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. Prevedel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. W. J. Munro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. G. J. Milburn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. A. Zeilinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

N.K.L. and S.R. conceived the original theory and developed it with A.Z., G.J.M. and W.J.M. N.K.L., S.R., R.P. and A.Z. designed the experiment and N.K.L., S.R. and R.P. performed the experiment and carried out the data analysis. All authors contributed to writing the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to N. K. Langford or A. Zeilinger.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

The file contains Supplementary Text and Data, Supplementary Figures 1-4 with legends, Supplementary Table 1 and additional references. (PDF 361 kb)

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Langford, N., Ramelow, S., Prevedel, R. et al. Efficient quantum computing using coherent photon conversion. Nature 478, 360–363 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10463

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10463

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing