Quantum controlled-phase-flip gate between a flying optical photon and a Rydberg atomic ensemble

All-optical quantum information processing via a single-step Rydberg blockade gate

One of the critical elements in the realization of the quantum internet are deterministic two-photon gates. This CZ photonic gate also completes a set of universal gates for all-optical quantum information processing. This article discusses an approach to realize a high fidelity CZ photonic gate by storing both control and target photons within an atomic ensemble using non-Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) followed by a fast, single-step Rydberg excitation with global lasers. The proposed scheme operates by relative intensity modulation of two lasers used in Rydberg excitation. Circumventing the conventional π-gap-π schemes, the proposed operation features continuous laser protection of the Rydberg atoms from the environment noise. The complete spatial overlap of stored photons inside the blockade radius optimizes the optical depth and simplifies the experiment. The coherent operation here is performed in the region that was dissipative in the previous Rydberg EIT schemes. Encountering the main imperfection sources, i.e., the spontaneous emission of the Rydberg and intermediate levels, population rotation errors, Doppler broadening of the transition lines, storage/retrieval efficiency, and atomic thermal motion induced decoherence, this article concludes that with realistic experimental parameters 99.7% fidelity is achievable.

Single-photon transistor based on cavity electromagnetically induced transparency with Rydberg atomic ensemble

A scheme is presented to realize a single-photon transistor based on cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) with Rydberg atomic ensemble. By combining the advantages of the cavity-enhanced interaction and Rydberg blockade, we achieve a high gain single-photon transistor. The numerical calculation shows that by using one single gate photon more than one thousand source photons can be switched.

Induced Cavities for Photonic Quantum Gates

Effective cavities can be optically induced in atomic media and employed to strengthen optical nonlinearities. Here we study the integration of induced cavities with a photonic quantum gate based on Rydberg blockade. Accounting for loss in the atomic medium, we calculate the corresponding finesse and gate infidelity. Our analysis shows that the conventional limits imposed by the blockade optical depth are mitigated by the induced cavity in long media, thus establishing the total optical depth of the medium as a complementary resource.

Large conditional single-photon cross-phase modulation

Deterministic optical quantum logic requires a nonlinear quantum process that alters the phase of a quantum optical state by π through interaction with only one photon. Here, we demonstrate a large conditional cross-phase modulation between a signal field, stored inside an atomic quantum memory, and a control photon that traverses a high-finesse optical cavity containing the atomic memory. This approach avoids fundamental limitations associated with multimode effects for traveling optical photons. We measure a conditional cross-phase shift of [Formula: see text] (and up to [Formula: see text] by postselection on photons that remain in the system longer than average) between the retrieved signal and control photons, and confirm deterministic entanglement between the signal and control modes by extracting a positive concurrence. By upgrading to a state-of-the-art cavity, our system can reach a coherent phase shift of π at low loss, enabling deterministic and universal photonic quantum logic.