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Bell state measurement is vital to quantum information technology. Conventional linear optical elements, however, cannot fully distinguish all polarization Bell states without assisting of additional degrees of freedom. Leveraging on a pair of binary-pixel metasurfaces, we demonstrate direct measurement of all four polarization Bell states. Each metasurface is designed to produce two output modes that linearly superpose three Bell states in the coincidence counting measurement. By rotating the polarizers, the coincidence counting measurement achieves a tunable anticorrelation between one and the other two Bell states, achieving Bell state detection efficiency of 75% in a single measurement. Complete and deterministic Bell state measurement is further realized by performing two measurements. Our work shows the advantage of utilization of metasurfaces in quantum detection schemes and is of great applicative interest for quantum dense coding, entanglement swapping, quantum teleportation protocols, and novel quantum information processing tasks.

We theoretically propose a multidimensional high-harmonic echo spectroscopy technique which utilizes strong optical fields to resolve coherent electron dynamics spanning an energy range of multiple electronvolts. Using our recently developed semi-perturbative approach, we can describe the coherent valence electron dynamics driven by a sequence of phase-matched and well-separated short few-cycle strong infrared laser pulses. The recombination of tunnel-ionized electrons by each pulse coherently populates the valence states of a molecule, which allows for a direct observation of its dynamics via the high harmonic echo signal. The broad bandwidth of the effective dipole between valence states originated from the strong-field excitation results in nontrivial ultra-delayed partial rephasing echo, which is not observed in standard two-dimensional optical spectroscopic techniques in a two-level molecular systems. We demonstrate the results of simulations for the anionic molecular system and show that the ultrafast valence electron dynamics can be well captured with femtosecond resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bell state measurement is vital to quantum information technology. Conventional linear optical elements, however, cannot fully distinguish all polarization Bell states without assisting of additional degrees of freedom. Leveraging on a pair of binary-pixel metasurfaces, we demonstrate direct measurement of all four polarization Bell states. Each metasurface is designed to produce two output modes that linearly superpose three Bell states in the coincidence counting measurement. By rotating the polarizers, the coincidence counting measurement achieves a tunable anticorrelation between one and the other two Bell states, achieving Bell state detection efficiency of 75% in a single measurement. Complete and deterministic Bell state measurement is further realized by performing two measurements. Our work shows the advantage of utilization of metasurfaces in quantum detection schemes and is of great applicative interest for quantum dense coding, entanglement swapping, quantum teleportation protocols, and novel quantum information processing tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrasensitive spectroscopy is an essential component in mid-infrared (MIR) technology. However, the drawbacks of MIR detectors pose challenges to robust MIR spectroscopy at the single-photon level. We propose an MIR single-photon frequency upconversion spectroscopy nonlocally mapping the MIR information to the time domain. Broadband MIR photons from spontaneous parametric downconversion are frequency-upconverted to the near-infrared band with quantum correlation preservation. Via the group delay of fiber, the MIR spectral information within a 1.18-micrometer bandwidth of 2.76 to 3.94 micrometers is then successfully projected to arrival times of correlated photon pairs. Under the conditions of 6.4 × 106 photons per second illumination, the transmission spectra of polymers with single-photon sensitivity are demonstrated using single-pixel detectors. The developed approach circumvents scanning and frequency selection instability, which stands out for its inherent compatibility for evolving environments and scalability for various wavelengths. Because of its high sensitivity and robustness, characterization of biochemical samples and weak measurement of quantum systems are possible to foresee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrasensitive spectroscopy is an essential component in mid-infrared (MIR) technology. However, the drawbacks of MIR detectors pose challenges to robust MIR spectroscopy at the single-photon level. We propose an MIR single-photon frequency upconversion spectroscopy nonlocally mapping the MIR information to the time domain. Broadband MIR photons from spontaneous parametric downconversion are frequency-upconverted to the near-infrared band with quantum correlation preservation. Via the group delay of fiber, the MIR spectral information within a 1.18-micrometer bandwidth of 2.76 to 3.94 micrometers is then successfully projected to arrival times of correlated photon pairs. Under the conditions of 6.4 × 10 6 photons per second illumination, the transmission spectra of polymers with single-photon sensitivity are demonstrated using single-pixel detectors. The developed approach circumvents scanning and frequency selection instability, which stands out for its inherent compatibility for evolving environments and scalability for various wavelengths. Because of its high sensitivity and robustness, characterization of biochemical samples and weak measurement of quantum systems are possible to foresee.