Emulation of Coherent Absorption of Quantum Light in a Programmable Linear Photonic Circuit

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2510.02541v2
• Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2025 12:41:06 GMT
• Title: Emulation of Coherent Absorption of Quantum Light in a Programmable Linear Photonic Circuit
• Authors: Govind Krishna, Jun Gao, Sam O Brien, Rohan Yadgirkar, Venkatesh Deenadayalan, Stefan Preble, Val Zwiller, Ali W. Elshaari,
• Abstract summary: Non-Hermitian quantum systems offer powerful tools for manipulating quantum states through engineered loss.<n>We demonstrate a fully programmable implementation of nonunitary transformations that emulate coherent absorption of quantum light.<n>The experiment integrates quantum state generation, programmable photonic circuitry, and photon-number-resolving detection.
• Score: 2.7586838672301934
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Abstract: Non-Hermitian quantum systems, governed by nonunitary evolution, offer powerful tools for manipulating quantum states through engineered loss. A prime example is coherent absorption, where quantum states undergo phase-dependent partial or complete absorption in a lossy medium. Here, we demonstrate a fully programmable implementation of nonunitary transformations that emulate coherent absorption of quantum light using a programmable integrated linear photonic circuit, with loss introduced via coupling to an ancilla mode [Phys. Rev. X 8, 021017; 2018]. Probing the circuit with a single-photon dual-rail state reveals phase-controlled coherent tunability between perfect transmission and perfect absorption. A two-photon NOON state input, by contrast, exhibits switching between deterministic single-photon and probabilistic two-photon absorption. Across a range of input phases and circuit configurations, we observe nonclassical effects such as anti-coalescence and bunching, along with continuous and coherent tuning of output Fock state probability amplitudes. Classical Fisher information analysis reveals phase sensitivity peaks of 1 for single-photon states and 3.4 for NOON states, the latter exceeding the shot-noise limit of 2 and approaching the Heisenberg limit of 4 for two-photon states. The experiment integrates quantum state generation, programmable photonic circuitry, and photon-number-resolving detection, establishing ancilla-assisted circuits as powerful tools for programmable quantum state engineering, filtering, multiplexed sensing, and nonunitary quantum simulation.

Related papers

• Dynamic stimulated emission for deterministic addition and subtraction of propagating photons [0.6157382820537719]
  We introduce the concept of textitdynamic stimulated emission, whereby a quantum emitter undergoes stimulated emission with a time-dependent coupling.<n>We show that for both two- and three-level emitters, this process can be used to deterministically add or subtract a photon to a single propagating optical mode.<n>Our protocols provide a path towards integrating quantum emitters to construct efficient sources of single-mode non-Gaussian light beyond single photons.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-12-10T14:57:58Z)
• Rabi oscillations of a monolayer quantum emitter driven through its excited state [37.796192954999675]
  We study Rabi oscillations emerging in a WSe2 monolayer-based quantum dot.<n>The resulting exciton ground state population can be controlled by varying driving pulse area and detuning.<n>Our results pave the way towards the coherent control of quantum emitters in atomically thin semiconductors.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-10-27T11:18:38Z)
• Nonclassical Driven-Dissipative Dynamics in Collective Quantum Optics [51.56484100374058]
  We study ensembles of interacting quantum emitters coherently driven by a laser field and coupled to photonic structures.<n>We find that off-resonant virtual states may gain population through dissipation, redefining their role in open systems.<n>Our models address challenges like inhomogeneous broadening and decoherence, demonstrating the feasibility of harnessing cooperative light-matter effects for quantum technologies.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-09-12T20:01:55Z)
• Deterministic Control of Photon-Number Probabilities via Phase-Controlled Quantum Interference [0.0]
  We report an all-linear-optical protocol that converts a single-photon emitter into a deterministic generator of vacuum--single-photon--two-photon states.<n>A fully quantum-mechanical, discrete time-bin model maps these results onto the tailored photon statistics.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-08-21T08:32:03Z)
• Multi-phonon Fock state heralding with single-photon detection [0.0]
  We show how single-photon detection can herald selected multi-phonon Fock states, even in the presence of optical losses. We also present an approach for quantum tomography of the heralded phonon states.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-07-26T22:51:53Z)
• Passive photonic CZ gate with two-level emitters in chiral multi-mode waveguide QED [41.94295877935867]
  We design a passive conditional gate between co-propagating photons using an array of only two-level emitters. The key resource is to harness the effective photon-photon interaction induced by the chiral coupling of the emitter array to two waveguide modes. We show how to harness this non-linear phase shift to engineer a conditional, deterministic photonic gate in different qubit encodings.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-07-08T18:00:25Z)
• On-chip quantum interference between independent lithium niobate-on-insulator photon-pair sources [35.310629519009204]
  A lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) integrated photonic circuit generates a two-photon path-entangled state, and a programmable interferometer for quantum interference. We generate entangled photons with $sim2.3times108$ pairs/s/mW brightness and perform quantum interference experiments on the chip with $96.8pm3.6%$ visibility. Our results provide a path towards large-scale integrated quantum photonics including efficient photon-pair generation and programmable circuits for applications such as boson sampling and quantum communications.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-04-12T10:24:43Z)
• Strong coupling between a single photon and a photon pair [43.14346227009377]
  We report an experimental observation of the strong coupling between a single photon and a photon pair in an ultrastrongly-coupled circuit-QED system. Results represent a key step towards a new regime of quantum nonlinear optics.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-01-05T10:23:14Z)
• Violation of Bell inequality by photon scattering on a two-level emitter [4.810881229568956]
  Entanglement, the non-local correlations present in quantum systems, is a curious feature of quantum mechanics and the fuel of quantum technology. We show how a single two-level emitter deterministically coupled to light in a nanophotonic waveguide is used to realize genuine photonic quantum entanglement for excitation at the single photon level.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-06-22T11:01:24Z)
• Experimental realization of deterministic and selective photon addition in a bosonic mode assisted by an ancillary qubit [33.7054351451505]
  Bosonic quantum error correcting codes are primarily designed to protect against single-photon loss.<n>Error correction requires a recovery operation that maps the error states -- which have opposite parity -- back onto the code states.<n>Here, we realize a collection of photon-number-selective, simultaneous photon addition operations on a bosonic mode.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-12-22T23:32:21Z)
• Integrated Quantum Optical Phase Sensor [48.7576911714538]
  We present a photonic integrated circuit fabricated in thin-film lithium niobate. We use the second-order nonlinearity to produce a squeezed state at the same frequency as the pump light and realize circuit control and sensing with electro-optics. We anticipate that on-chip photonic systems like this, which operate with low power and integrate all of the needed functionality on a single die, will open new opportunities for quantum optical sensing.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-12-19T18:46:33Z)
• Experimental Realization and Characterization of Stabilized Pair Coherent States [4.486044407450978]
  PCS is an interesting class of non-Gaussian continuous-variable entangled state. PCS is at the heart of a promising quantum error correction code: the pair cat code. We report an experimental demonstration of the pair coherent state of microwave photons in two superconducting cavities.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-09-23T15:24:25Z)
• Scalable multiphoton quantum metrology with neither pre- nor post-selected measurements [0.0]
  We experimentally demonstrate a scalable protocol for quantum-enhanced optical phase estimation. The robustness of two-mode squeezed vacuum states against loss allows us to outperform schemes based on N00N states. Our work is important for quantum technologies that rely on multiphoton interference.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-11-04T18:11:33Z)
• Engineering continuous and discrete variable quantum vortex states by nonlocal photon subtraction in a reconfigurable photonic chip [0.0]
  We study the production of entangled two- and N-mode quantum states of light in optical waveguides. We propose a quantum photonic circuit that produces a reconfigurable superposition of photon subtraction on two single-mode squeezed states.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-04-11T11:11:16Z)

This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.

This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.