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Enhanced manipulation and analysis of bio-particles using light confined in nano-scale dielectric structures has proceeded apace in the last several years. Small mode volumes, along with the lack of a need for bulky optical elements give advantages in sensitivity and scalability relative to conventional optical manipulation. However, manipulation of lipid vesicles (liposomes) remains difficult, particularly in the sub-micron diameter regime. Here we demonstrate the optical trapping and transport of sub-micron diameter liposomes along an optical nanofiber using the nanofiber mode’s evanescent field. We find that nanofiber diameters below a nominal diffraction limit give optimal results. Our results pave the way for integrated optical transport and analysis of liposome-like bio-particles, as well as their coupling to nano-optical resonators.

Recently, much research concerning the combination of nano-scale waveguides with nano-crystals and other nano-particles has been reported because of possible applications in the field of quantum information and communication. The most useful and convenient method to verify the nature of such systems is optical detection. However, due to the diffraction limit, optical identification of characteristics such as particle type, particle position, etc., is difficult or impossible. However, if such particles are placed on a waveguide, the coupling of scattered light to the waveguide-guided modes can reveal the information about the particles. Here we consider how illumination with light of arbitrary polarization can reveal the difference between isotropic and non-isotropic nano-particles placed on the surface of an optical nanofiber. Specifically, we measure the polarization response function of gold nano-rods (GNRs) on an optical nanofiber surface and show that it is qualitatively different to that for gold nano-spheres (GNSs). This experimental technique provides a simple new tool for the optical characterization of hybrid nano-optical devices.

Tailoring spectral properties of photon pairs is of great importance for optical quantum information and measurement applications. High-resolution spectral measurement is a key technique for engineering spectral properties of photons, making them ideal for various quantum applications. Here we demonstrate spectral measurements and optimization of frequency-entangled photon pairs produced via spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC), utilizing frequency-resolved sum-frequency generation (SFG), the reverse process of SPDC. A joint phase-matching spectrum of a nonlinear crystal around 1580 nm is captured with a 40 pm resolution and a > 40 dB signal-to-noise ratio, which is significantly improved compared to traditional frequency-resolved coincidence measurements. Moreover, our scheme is applicable to collinear degenerate sources whose characterization is difficult with previously demonstrated stimulated difference frequency generation (DFG). We also illustrate that the observed phase-matching function is useful for finding an optimal pump spectrum to maximize the spectral indistinguishability of SPDC photons. We expect that our precise spectral characterization technique will be useful tool for characterizing and tailoring SPDC sources for a wide range of optical quantum applications.

We develop a transient photoinduced Kerr rotation spectroscopy technique using a heterodyne detection scheme to study spin dynamics of microscopic quantum states in solids, such as single quantum dots and spin helixes. The use of the heterodyne beat note signal generated by the interference of the frequency-shifted probe and reference pulses realizes the Kerr rotation measurements in combination with micro-spectroscopy, even when the probe pulse propagates collinearly with the strong pump pulse, which resonantly excites the probing state. In addition, the interference gives an optical amplification of the Kerr signal, which provides a clear observation of the photoinduced spin dynamics by the weak probe intensity. Here, we present results of Kerr rotation measurements for a single quantum dot exciton, which shows a maximum rotation angle of few µrad.

Two port optical devices couple light to either port dependent on the input photon state. An important class of two-port devices is that of evanescently-coupled interfaces where chirality of photon coupling can lead to important technological applications. Here, we perform a fundamental characterization of such an interface, reconstructing the two-port polarization response over the surface of the Poincaré sphere for an optical nanofibre. From this result, we derive a chirality measure which is universal, obeying a one parameter scaling law independent of the exact parameters of the nanofibre and wavelength of light. Additionally, we note that the polarization response differs qualitatively for single and multiple coupled emitters, with possible implications for sensing and the characterization of waveguide coupled spins.

Single-photon sources are essential tools for quantum information technology and testing the foundations of quantum theory. To date, single-photon sources which emit purely polarized single photons (e.g. horizontal polarization and vertical polarization) have been realized in various ways. On the other hand, single-photon sources which emit completely unpolarized single photons are also important for applications such as realizing hardware random number generators and testing the foundations of quantum theory such as the error-disturbance relation for mixed states [1, 2] which are quantum states of unpolarized polarization states. Here, we present a dynamically and statically unpolarized single-photon source using a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond. In particular, we demonstrate a new method for evaluation of dynamical unpolarization using the second order correlation function [3].

Optical fibres have proved to be an important medium for manipulating and generating light in applications including soliton transmission1, light amplification2, all-optical switching3 and supercontinuum generation4. In the quantum regime, fibres may prove useful for ultralow-power all-optical signal processing5 and quantum information processing6. Here, we demonstrate the first experimental observation of optical nonlinearity at the single-photon level in an optical fibre. Taking advantage of the large nonlinearity and managed dispersion of photonic crystal fibres7,8, we report very small (1 × 10−7 to ∼1 × 10−8 rad) conditional phase shifts induced by weak coherent pulses that contain one or less than one photon per pulse on average. We discuss the feasibility of quantum information processing using optical fibres, taking into account the observed Kerr nonlinearity, accompanied by ultrafast response time and low induced loss. The tiny phase changes introduced by nonlinear optics performed at the single-photon level is reported in a photonic crystal fibre with carefully designed nonlinear and dispersion properties. The approach may prove useful in future quantum information processing schemes.

We report on the experimental generation of an entangled state with a spectrally pure heralded single-photon state and a weak coherent state. By choosing group-velocity matching in the nonlinear crystal, our system for producing entangled photons was 60 times brighter than that in the earlier experiment [Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 240401 (2003)], with no need of bandpass filters. This entanglement system is useful for quantum information protocols that require indistinguishable photons from independent sources., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

Entanglement is one of the essential resources in quantum information and communication technology (QICT). The entanglement thus far explored and applied to QICT has been pure and distillable entanglement. Yet there is another type of entanglement, called 'bound entanglement', which is not distillable by local operations and classical communication (LOCC). We demonstrate the experimental 'activation' of the bound entanglement held in the four-qubit Smolin state, unleashing its immanent entanglement in distillable form, with the help of auxiliary two-qubit entanglement and LOCC. We anticipate that it opens the way to a new class of QICT applications that utilize more general classes of entanglement than ever, including bound entanglement., 6pages, 6figures

We present an experiment of nonclassical interference between an intrinsically pure heralded single-photon state and a weak coherent state. Our experiment demonstrates that, without the use of bandpass filters, spectrally pure single photons can have high-visibility ($89.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5%$) interference with photons from a weak coherent field. Our scheme lays the groundwork for future experiments requiring quantum interference between photons in nonclassical states and those in coherent states.

We report the experimental demonstration of four-photon quantum interference using telecom-wavelength photons. Realization of multi-photon quantum interference is essential to linear optics quantum information processing and measurement-based quantum computing. We have developed a source that efficiently emits photon pairs in a pure spectrotemporal mode at a telecom wavelength region, and have demonstrated the quantum interference exhibiting the reduced fringe intervals that correspond to the reduced de Broglie wavelength of up to the four photon `NOON' state. Our result should open a path to practical quantum information processing using telecom-wavelength photons., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

Many proposed quantum information processing schemes rely on electron spin as the basic (quantum) unit of information. For this approach, careful preparation and read-out of the electron spin state, which can be done optically, are essential operations. Since coherence of the spin state is a manifestation of its quantum nature, both the preparation and read-out should be spin coherent. The traditional technique to measure spin coherence, based on the magneto-optical Kerr effect, measures spin population by the rotation of the reflected light polarization, but it requires an extra step of spin manipulation to project a measurement onto a fixed basis which is defined by the direction of the probe light beam. Kosaka et al. have developed a more straightforward and general scheme still based on Kerr rotation but modified so that a spin projection measurement can be done on an arbitrary set of basis states. This allows them to perform a direct tomographic measurement of electron spin precession in a semiconductor structure. The authors propose that the developed scheme offers a universal tool for performing preparation and read-out of a spin quantum state in a solid. A more straightforward and general scheme to measure electron spin coherence based on Kerr rotation but modified so that a spin projection measurement can be done on an arbitrary set of basis states has been developed. This allows a direct tomographic measurement of electron spin precession in a semiconductor structure, and offers a universal tool for performing preparation and read-out of a spin quantum state in a solid. Spin is a fundamental property of electrons, with an important role in information storage1,2,3,4. For spin-based quantum information technology, preparation and read-out of the electron spin state are essential functions5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13. Coherence of the spin state is a manifestation of its quantum nature, so both the preparation and read-out should be spin-coherent. However, the traditional spin measurement technique based on Kerr rotation, which measures spin population using the rotation of the reflected light polarization that is due to the magneto-optical Kerr effect, requires an extra step of spin manipulation or precession to infer the spin coherence14,15,16,17,18,19,20. Here we describe a technique that generalizes the traditional Kerr rotation approach to enable us to measure the electron spin coherence directly without needing to manipulate the spin dynamics, which allows for a spin projection measurement on an arbitrary set of basis states. Because this technique enables spin state tomography, we call it tomographic Kerr rotation. We demonstrate that the polarization coherence of light is transferred to the spin coherence of electrons, and confirm this by applying the tomographic Kerr rotation method to semiconductor quantum wells with precessing and non-precessing electrons. Spin state transfer and tomography offers a tool for performing basis-independent preparation and read-out of a spin quantum state in a solid.

We propose a novel scheme to generate polarization entanglement from spatially-correlated photon pairs. We experimentally realized a scheme by means of a spatial correlation effect in a spontaneous parametric down-conversion and a modified Michelson interferometer. The scheme we propose in this paper can be interpreted as a conversion process from spatial correlation to polarization entanglement., 4 pages, 4 figures

We develop a theory to analyze the decoherence effect in a charged qubit array system with photon echo signals in the multiwave mixing configuration. We present how the decoherence suppression effect by the {\it bang-bang} control with the $\pi$ pulses can be demonstrated in laboratory by using a bulk ensemble of exciton qubits and optical pulses whose pulse area is even smaller than $\pi$. Analysis is made on the time-integated multiwave mixing signals diffracted into certain phase matching directions from a bulk ensemble. Depending on the pulse interval conditions, the cross over from the decoherence acceleration regime to the decoherence suppression regime, which is a peculiar feature of the coherent interaction between a qubit and the reservoir bosons, may be observed in the time-integated multiwave mixing signals in the realistic case including inhomogeneous broadening effect. Our analysis will successfully be applied to precise estimation of the reservoir parameters from experimental data of the direction resolved signal intensities obtained in the multiwave mixing technique., Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures

Spin is a quantum property of electrons. For spin-based quantum information technology, preparation and read-out of the electron spin state should be spin coherent. We demonstrate that the polarization coher ence of light can be transferred to the spin coherence of electrons in a semiconductor quantum nanostructure [1], and the prepared coherence of the electron spin can also be read out with light by the developed tomographic Kerr rotation method [2]. We also demonstrate that a single photon is efficiently converted (~27%) into a single electron trapped in a gate-defined quantum dot, where the g-factor of electrons is tuned to zero, and the charge state is detected with an adjacent quantum point contact without destructing the spin state [3]. We further demonstrate that the spin coherence of a single electron trapped in one of double quantum dots is electrically manipulated with a microwave applied to the gate and read out via the Pauli spin blockade phenomenon [4]. These demonstrations were carried out in a condition where the up/down spin basis states of electrons remain ed degenerated under an in-plain magnetic field. As this condition ensures the energy conservation between photons and electrons, the entire Poincare sphere representing polarization states of photons can be mapped onto the Bloch sphere representing spin polar ization states of electrons. We theoretically showed that relative spin coherence of two electrons can be also measured with the help of spin-flip tunneling of electrons between the dots [5]. Full Bell state measurement is also possible by the single -spin manipulation and Pauli spin blockade [6]. All of these functions are needed to build all semiconductor quantum repeaters and distributed quantum computers.

We demonstrate that the superposition of light polarization states is coherently transferred to electron spins in a semiconductor quantum well. By using time-resolved Kerr rotation we observe the initial phase of Larmor precession of electron spins whose coherence is transferred from light. To break the electron-hole spin entanglement, we utilized the big discrepancy between the transverse g-factors of electrons and light holes. The result encourages us to make a quantum media converter between flying photon qubits and stationary electron spin qubits in semiconductors., Comment: 4 pages. Submitted to Physical Review Letters

The authors demonstrate polarization transfer from a photon to an electron spin intermediated by a light-hole exciton in a GaAs∕AlGaAs quantum well, which has an engineered electron g factor of less than 0.01 for an in-plane magnetic field. Negative spin polarization was clearly observed at the selective excitation of the light-hole exciton from two-color time-resolved Kerr rotation. This demonstration is a necessary step towards demonstrating coherence transfer from a photon to an electron spin, which is necessary for building a quantum repeater used for long distance quantum communications.