Engineering Photon Sources for Practical Quantum Information Processing

: If you liked it then you should have put a ring on it

Abstract

Integrated quantum photonics offers a promising route to the realisation of universal fault-tolerant quantum computers. Much progress has been made on the theoretical aspects of a future quantum information processor, reducing both error thresholds and circuit complexity. Currently, engineering efforts are focused on integrating the most valuable technologies for a photonic quantum computer; pure single-photon sources, low-loss phase shifters and passive
circuit components, as well as efficient single-photon detectors and corresponding electronics.
Here, we present efforts to target the former under the constraints imposed by the latter. We engineer the spectral correlations of photons produced by a heralded single-photon source, such that they produce photons in pure quantum states (99.1±0.1 % purity), and enable additional optimisation using temporal shaping of the pump field. Our source also has a high intrinsic
heralding efficiency (94.0 ± 2.9 %) and produces photon pairs at a rate (4.4 ± 0.1 MHz mW−2) which is an order of magnitude better than previously predicted by the literature for a resonant source of this purity. Additionally, we present tomographic methodologies that fully describe the photonic quantum states that we produce, without the use of analytical models, and as a means of verifying the quantum states we create, entitled – "Quantum-referenced Spontaneous
Emission Tomography" (Q-SpET). We also design reconfigurable photonic circuits that can be operated at cryogenic temperatures, with zero static power consumption, entitled – "Cladding Layer Manipulation" (CLM). These devices function as on-chip phase shifters, enabling the local reconfiguration of circuit elements using established technologies but removing the need for active power consumption to maintain the reconfigured circuit. These devices are capable of
an Lπ = 12.3 ± 0.3 µm, a ∼7x reduction in length when compared to the thermo-optic phaseshifters used throughout this thesis. Finally, we investigate how pure photon sources operate as part of larger circuits within the typical design rules of photonic quantum circuits. Using this information to accurately model all of the spurious contributions to the final photonic quantum
state, which we call a form of nonlinear noise. This noise can decrease source purity to below 40 %, significantly affecting the fidelity of Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, and subsequently, our ability to reliably create fundamental resources for photonic quantum computers. All of this contributes to our design of a fundamental building block for integrated quantum photonic processors, the functionality of which can be predicted at scale, under the conditions imposed by the rest of the processor.

Date of Award	3 Oct 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Sponsors	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Supervisor	Jorge Barreto (Supervisor), John G Rarity (Supervisor) & Imad Faruque (Supervisor)