Quantum photonic network on chip

We provide an overview of quantum photonic network on chip. We begin from the discussion of the pros and cons of several material platforms for engineering quantum photonic chips. Then we introduce and analyze the basic building blocks and functional units of quantum photonic integrated circuits. In the main part of this review, we focus on the generation and manipulation of quantum states of light on chip and are particularly interested in some applications of advanced integrated circuits with different functionalities for quantum information processing, including quantum communication, quantum computing, and quantum simulation. We emphasize that developing fully integrated quantum photonic chip which contains sources of quantum light, integrate circuits, modulators, quantum storage, and detectors are promising approaches for future quantum photonic technologies. Recent achievements in the large scale photonic chips for linear optical computing are also included. Finally, we illustrate the challenges toward high performance quantum information processing devices and conclude with promising perspectives in this field.

Secure quantum dialogue based on single-photon

In this paper a quantum dialogue scheme is proposed by using N batches of single photons. The same secret message is encoded on each batch of single photons by the sender with two different unitary operations, and then the N batches of single photons are sent to the receiver. After eavesdropping check, the message is encoded on the one remaining batch by the receiver. It is shown that the intercept-and-resend attack and coupling auxiliary modes attack can be resisted more efficiently, because the photons are sent only once in our quantum dialogue scheme.

Modification of the spontaneous emission of quantum dots near the surface of a three-dimensional colloidal photonic crystal

This paper demonstrates experimentally and numerically that a significant modification of spontaneous emission rate can be achieved near the surface of a three-dimensional photonic crystal. In experiments, semiconductor coreshell quantum dots are intentionally confined in a thin polymer film on which a three-dimensional colloidal photonic crystal is fabricated. The spontaneous emission rate of quantum dots is characterised by conventional and time-resolved photoluminescence （PL） measurements. The modification of the spontaneous emission rate, which is reflected in the change of spectral shape and PL lifetime, is clearly observed. While an obvious increase in the PL lifetime is found at most wavelengths in the band gap, a significant reduction in the PL lifetime by one order of magnitude is observed at the short-wavelength band edge. Numerical simulation reveals a periodic modulation of spontaneous emission rate with decreasing modulation strength when an emitter is moved away from the surface of the photonic crystal. It is supported by the fact that the modification of spontaneous emission rate is not pronounced for quantum dots distributed in a thick polymer film where both enhancement and suppression are present simultaneously. This finding provides a simple and effective way for improving the performance of light emitting devices.

Economical quantum secure direct communication network with single photons

In this paper a scheme for quantum secure direct communication （QSDC） network is proposed with a sequence of polarized single photons. The single photons are prepared originally in the same state （0） by the servers on the network, which will reduce the difficulty for the legitimate users to check eavesdropping largely. The users code the information on the single photons with two unitary operations which do not change their measuring bases. Some decoy photons, which are produced by operating the sample photons with a Hadamard, are used for preventing a potentially dishonest server from eavesdropping the quantum lines freely. This scheme is an economical one as it is the easiest way for QSDC network communication securely.

A scheme for two-photon lasing with two coupled flux qubits in circuit quantum electrodynamics

We theoretically study the system of a superconducting transmission line resonator coupled to two interacting super- conducting flux qubits. It is shown that under certain conditions the resonator mode can be tuned to two-photon resonance between the ground state and the highest excited state while the middle excited states are far-off resonance. Furthermore, we study the steady-state properties of the flux qubits and resonator, such as the photon statistics, the spectrum and squeezing of the resonator, and demonstrate that two-photon laser can be implemented with current experimental technology.

Influence of multi-photon pulses on practical differential-phase-shift quantum key distribution

The influence of multi-photon pulses on practical differcBtial-phase-shift quantum key distribution （DPS-Qt（D） is analysed. We have estimated the information which Eve obtained by PNS （photon-number splitting） attack and BS （beam splitting） attack. The result indicates that the PNS attack and BS attack will not limit the transmission distance as long as we select an appropriate mean photon number. Also, the maximum mean photon number under BS attack in practical DPS-QKD system and the set of practical assumptions about Eve＇s capabilities are presented.

Activation of silicon quantum dots and coupling between the active centre and the defect state of the photonic crystal in a nanolaser

A new nanolaser concept using silicon quantum dots （QDs） is proposed. The conduction band opened by the quantum confinement effect gives the pumping levels. Localized states in the gap due to some surface bonds on Si QDs can be formed for the activation of emission. An inversion of population can be generated between the localized states and the valence band in a QD fabricated by using a nanosecond pulse laser. Coupling between the active centres formed by localized states and the defect states of the two-dimensional （2D） photonic crystal can be used to select the model in the nanolaser.

Strain tunable quantum dot based non-classical photon sources

Semiconductor quantum dots are leading candidates for the on-demand generation of single photons and entangled photon pairs.High photon quality and indistinguishability of photons from different sources are critical for quantum information applications.The inability to grow perfectly identical quantum dots with ideal optical properties necessitates the application of post-growth tuning techniques via e.g.temperature,electric,magnetic or strain fields.In this review,we summarize the state-of-the-art and highlight the advantages of strain tunable non-classical photon sources based on epitaxial quantum dots.Using piezoelectric crystals like PMN-PT,the wavelength of single photons and entangled photon pairs emitted by InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots can be tuned reversibly.Combining with quantum light-emitting diodes simultaneously allows for electrical triggering and the tuning of wavelength or exciton fine structure.Emission from light hole exciton can be tuned,and quantum dot containing nanostructure such as nanowires have been piezo-integrated.To ensure the indistinguishability of photons from distant emitters,the wavelength drift caused by piezo creep can be compensated by frequency feedback,which is verified by two-photon interference with photons from two stabilized sources.Therefore,strain tuning proves to be a flexible and reliable tool for the development of scalable quantum dots-based non-classical photon sources.

Entangled-photons generation with quantum dots

Entanglement between particles is a crucial resource in quantum information processing, an important example of which is the exploitation of entangled photons in quantum communication protocols. Among the different available sources of entangled photons, semiconductor quantum dots （QDs） excel owing to their deterministic emission properties, potential for electrical injections, and direct compatibility with semiconductor manufacturing techniques. Despite the great promises, QD-based sources at＇e far from being ideal. In particular, such sources present several critical issues, which require the overcoming of challenges pertaining to spectral tunability, entanglement fidelity, photon indistinguishability and brightness. In this article, we will discuss the potential solutions to these problems and review the recent progress in the field.

Quantum frequency down-conversion of single photons at 1552 nm from single InAs quantum dot

Near-infrared single photon sources in telecommunication bands, especially at 1550 nm, are required for long-distance quantum communication. Here a down-conversion quantum interface is implemented, where the single photons emitted from single In As quantum dot at 864 nm is down converted to 1552 nm by using a fiber-coupled periodically poled lithium niobate（PPLN） waveguide and a 1.95 μmm pump laser, and the frequency conversion efficiency is ~40%. The singlephoton purity of quantum dot emission is preserved during the down-conversion process, i.e., g^（（2））（0）, only 0.22 at 1552 nm.This present technique advances the Ⅲ-Ⅴ semiconductor quantum dots as a promising platform for long-distance quantum communication.

Broadrange tunable slow and fast light in quantum dot photonic crystal structure

Slow and fast light processes, based on both structural and material dispersions, are realized in a wide tuning range in this article. Coherent population oscillations （CPO） in electrically tunable quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers lead to a variable group index ranging from the background index （nbgd） to^30. A photonic crystal waveguide is then dispersion engineered and a group index of 260 with the normalized delay-bandwidth product （NDBP） of 0.65 is achieved in the proposed waveguide. Using comprehensive numerical simulations, we show that a considerable enhancement of slow light effect can be achieved by combining both the material and the structural dispersions in the proposed active QDPCW structure. We compare our developed FDTD results with analytical results and show that there is good agreement between the results, which demonstrates that the proposed electrically-tunable slow light idea is obtainable in the QDPCW structure. We achieve a total group index in a wide tuning range from nbgd to^1500 at the operation bandwidth, which shows a significant enhancement compared with the schemes based only on material or structural dispersions. The tuning range and also NDBP of the slow light scheme are much larger than those of the electrically tunable CPO process.

Resonant cavity-enhanced quantum dot field-effect transistor as a single-photon detector

A resonant cavity-enhanced （RCE） quantum dot （QD） field-effect transistor （RCEQDFET） is designed for single- photon detection in this paper. Adding distributed Bragg reflection （DBR） mirrors to the single-photon detector （SPD）, we improve the light absorption efficiency of the SPD. The effects of the reflectivity of the mirrors, the thickness and light absorption coefficient of the absorbing layer on the detector＇s light absorption efficiency are investigated, and the resonant cavity is determined by using the air/semiconductor interface as the mirror on the top. Through analyzing the relationship between the refractive index of AlxGal_xAs and A1 component, we choose A1As/Alo.15Gao.85As as the material of the mirror on the bottom. The pairs of A1As/Alo.15Gao.85As film are further determined to be 21 by calculating the reflectivity of the mirror. The detector is fabricated from semiconductor heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The reflection spectrum, photoluminescence （PL） spectrum, photocurrent response, and channel current of the detector are tested and the results show that the RCEQDFET-SPD designed in this paper has better performances in photonic response and wavelength selection.

The quantum features of the photon statistics a semiconductor microcavity

The quantum features of the temporal photon statistics of an exciton-cavity coupled system in a quantum-well semiconductor microcavity are investigated analytically. Under the secular approximation, if the nonlinear interactions, i.e. the exciton-exciton coupling and the phase-space filling, are much weaker than the exciton-photon interaction, the evolution of the Fano factor shows that the distribution of the photon numbers exhibits the feature of collapses-revivals （CRs）, and the relevant revival time may be adjusted by several factors such as the total particle number, the detuning, and the nonlinear coupling strengths, etc. Especially, the ideal maximum antibunching with the minimum value 0 of the Fano factor occurs periodically for such a situation, with the dissipation of exciton-polariton being ignored.

Micropillar Cavity Design for 1.55-μm Quantum-Dot Single-Photon Sources

The 1.55-μm quantum-dot (QD) micropillar cavities are strongly required as single photon sources (SPSs) for silica-fiber-based quantum information processing. Theoretical analysis shows that the adiabatic distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) structure may greatly improve the quality of a micropillar cavity. An InGaAsP/InP micropillar cavity is originally difficult, but it becomes more likely usable with inserted tapered (thickness decreased towards the center) distributed DBRs. Simulation turns out that, incorporating adiabatically tapered DBRs, a Si/SiO2- InP hybrid micropillar cavity, which enables weakly coupling InAs/InP quantum dots (QDs), can even well satisfy strong coupling at a smaller diameter. Certainly, not only the tapered structure, other adiabatic designs, e.g., both DBR layers getting thicker and one thicker one thinner, also improve the quality, reduce the diameter, and degrade the fabrication difficulty of Si/SiO2-InP hybrid micropillar cavities. Furthermore, the problem of the thin epitaxial semiconductor layer can also be greatly resolved by inserting adiabatic InGaAsP/InP DBRs. With tapered DBRs, the InGaAsP/InP-air-aperture micro-pillar cavity serves as an efficient, coherent, and monolithically producible 1.55-μm single-photon source (SPS). The adiabatic design is thus an effective way to obtain prospective candidates for 1.55-μm QD SPSs.

Preparation of multi-photon Fock states and quantum entanglement properties in circuit QED

We demonstrate the controllable generation of multi-photon Fock states in circuit quantum electrodynamics （circuit QED）. The external bias flux regulated by a counter can effectively adjust the bias time on each superconducting flux qubit so that each flux qubit can pass in turn through the circuit cavity and thereby avoid the effect of decoherence. We further investigate the quantum correlation dynamics of coupling superconducting qubits in a Fock state. The results reveal that the lower the photon number of the light field in the number state, the stronger the interaction between qubits is, then the more beneficial to maintaining entanglement between qubits it will be.

Photon pair source via two coupling single quantum emitters

We study the two coupling two-level single molecules driven by an external field as a photon pair source. The probability of emitting two photons, P2, is employed to describe the photon pair source quality in a short time, and the correlation coefficient RAB is employed to describe the photon pair source quality in a long time limit. The results demonstrate that the coupling single quantum emitters can be considered as a stable photon pair source.

Effects of photon addition on the quantum nonlocality of squeezed entangled coherent states

Effects of photon addition on the quantum nonlocality of squeezed entangled coherent states for Bell-inequality tests are studied theoretically. By utilizing the method of photon-parity measurement, it is found that photon addition can always increase the degrees of Bell violations within a certain parameter range. A possible scheme for generating photon-added squeezed entangled coherent states is proposed.

Photon counting statistics in single multi-level quantum system

We theoretically study the statistics of photon emission of single multi-level quantum system by employing the generating functions approach developed recently. The generalized decay constants are included in single multi-level quantum system with quasi-degenerated levels in this work although they are normally neglected in the absence of （quasi-）degeneracies in multi-level quantum system within the rotating wave approximation. The quantum beats, the line shapes and the Mandel＇s Q parameters, etc. are studied.

Quantum interference between heralded single photon state and coherent state

Balanced homodyne detection has been introduced as a reliable technique of reconstructing the quantum state of a single photon Fock state, which is based on coupling the single photon state and a strong coherent local oscillator in a beam splitter and detecting the field quadrature at the output ports separately. The main challenge associated with a tomographic characterization of the single photon state is mode matching between the single photon state and the local oscillator. Utilizing the heralded single photon generated by the spontaneous parametric process, the multi-mode theoretical model of quantum interference between the single photon state and the coherent state in the fiber beam splitter is established.Moreover, the analytical expressions of the temporal-mode matching coefficient and interference visibility and relationship between the two parameters are shown. In the experimental scheme, the interference visibility under various temporalmode matching coefficients is demonstrated, which is almost accordant with the theoretical value. Our work explores the principle of temporal-mode matching between the single photon state and the coherent photon state, originated from a local oscillator, and could provide guidance for designing the high-performance balanced homodyne detection system.

Quantum analysis on the four-photon interference

We present a theory for quantum interference of four photons generated by spontaneous parametric downconversion. Detailed investigation of the dependence of fourfold coincidence count rate on time delay between the incident and the reflective pump laser pulses is carried out. Gaussian type dependence is found, and good agreement between our theoretical results and experimental data reported in the literature is achieved.