Orbital angular momentum based intra- and interparticle entangled states generated via a quantum dot source

Engineering single-photon states endowed with orbital angular momentum (OAM) is a powerful toolfor quantum information photonic implementations. Indeed, due to its unbounded nature, OAM is suitable forencoding qudits, allowing a single carrier to transport a large amount of information. Most of the experimentalplatforms employ spontaneous parametric down-conversion processes to generate single photons, evenif this approach is intrinsically probabilistic, leading to scalability issues for an increasing number of qudits.Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have been used to get over these limitations by producing on-demand pure and indistinguishable single-photon states, although only recently they have been exploitedto create OAM modes. Our work employs a bright QD single-photon source to generate a complete set ofquantum states for information processing with OAM-endowed photons. We first study hybrid intraparticleentanglement between OAM and polarization degrees of freedom of a single photon whose preparationwas certified by means of Hong–Ou–Mandel visibility. Then, we investigate hybrid interparticle OAM-based entanglement by exploiting a probabilistic entangling gate. The performance of our approach isassessed by performing quantum state tomography and violating Bell inequalities. Our results pave theway for the use of deterministic sources for the on-demand generation of photonic high-dimensionalquantum states.

Laser ablation and structuring of CdZnTe with femtosecond laser pulses

We report an experimental investigation on laser ablation and associated surface structuring of CdZnTe by femtosecond Ti:Sa laser pulses(laser wavelengthλ≈800 nm,≈35 fs,10 Hz),in air.By exploiting different static irradiation conditions,the fluence threshold and the incubation effect in CdZnTe are estimated.Interestingly,surface treatment with a low laser fluence(laser pulse energy E≈5-10_μJ)and number of shots(5<N<50)show the formation of well-defined cracks in the central part of the shallow crater,which is likely associated to a different thermal expansion coefficients of Te inclusions and matrix during the sample heating and cooling processes ensuing femtosecond laser irradiation.Irradiation with a larger number of pulses(N≈500,1000)with higher pulse energies(E≈30-50μJ)results in the formation of welldefined laser-induced periodic surface structures(LIPSS)in the outskirts of the main crater,where the local fluence is well below the material ablation threshold.Both low spatial frequency and high spatial frequency LIPSS perpendicular to the laser polarization are found together and separately depending on the irradiation condition.These are ascribed to a process of progressive aggregation of randomly distributed nanoparticles produced during laser ablation of the deep crater in the region of the target irradiated by a fluence below the ablation threshold with many laser pulses.

Observatory science with eXTP

In this White Paper we present the potential of the enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry(eXTP) mission for studies related to Observatory Science targets. These include flaring stars, supernova remnants, accreting white dwarfs, low and high mass X-ray binaries, radio quiet and radio loud active galactic nuclei, tidal disruption events, and gamma-ray bursts. eXTP will be excellently suited to study one common aspect of these objects: their often transient nature. Developed by an international Consortium led by the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Science, the eXTP mission is expected to be launched in the mid 2020s.