Search

Anyons, particles displaying a fractional exchange statistics intermediate between bosons and fermions, play a central role in the fractional quantum Hall effect and various spin lattice models, and have been proposed for topological quantum computing schemes due to their resilience to noise. Here we use parametric down-conversion in an integrated semiconductor chip to generate biphoton states simulating anyonic particle statistics, in a reconfigurable manner. Our scheme exploits the frequency entanglement of the photon pairs, which is directly controlled through the spatial shaping of the pump beam. These results, demonstrated at room temperature and telecom wavelength on a chip-integrated platform, pave the way to the practical implementation of quantum simulation tasks with tailored particle statistics., 8 pages

We employ SPDC in an AlGaAs chip to engineer the wavefunction and exchange statistics of photon pairs directly at the generation stage. We simulate fermions, anyons, and we generate hybrid frequency-polarization entangled states for applications in quantum information.

We present our results on the generation and manipulation of high dimensional quantum frequency states of light generated with AlGaAs chips working in the telecom band at room temperature. In the case of devices based on a collinear phase matching scheme we propose a method to generate and control the symmetry of broadband biphoton frequency combs, exploiting the interplay of cavity effects and relative temporal delay between the two photons of each pair. In the case of devices based on a transverse pump configuration we demonstrate that engineering the spatial properties of the pump beam allows to produce frequency-anticorrelated, correlated and separable states, and to control the parity of the biphoton wavefunction to induce either bosonic or fermionic particle statistics. These results open promising perspectives for communication and computation protocols exploiting high-dimensional quantum states, as well as for the quantum simulation of fermionic problems with photons on an integrated platform.

High-dimensional entangled states of light provide novel possibilities for quantum information, from fundamental tests of quantum mechanics to enhanced computation and communication protocols. In this context, the frequency degree of freedom is particular attractive thanks to its robustness to propagation in optical fibers and its capability to convey large scale of quantum information into a single spatial mode. This provides a strong incentive for the development of efficient and scalable methods for the generation and the manipulation of frequency-encoded quantum states. Nonlinear parametric processes are powerful tools to generate such states, but up to now the manipulation of the generated frequency states has been carried out mostly by post-manipulation, which demands complex and bulk-like experimental setups. Direct production of on-demand frequency-states at the generation stage, and if possible using a chip-based source, is crucial in view of practical and scalable applications for quantum information technologies. Here we use an integrated semiconductor chip to engineer the wavefunction and exchange statistics of frequency-entangled photon pairs directly at the generation stage, without post-manipulation. Tuning the pump spatial intensity allows to produce frequency-anticorrelated, correlated and separable states, while tuning the spatial phase enables to switch between symmetric and antisymmetric spectral wavefunctions, leading respectively to bosonic and fermionic behaviors of the photons. We also demonstrate the generation of non-Gaussian entanglement in the continuous variables formed by the frequency and time degrees of freedom of the photon pairs. These results, obtained at room temperature and telecom wavelength, and with a chip-based source, open promising perspectives for the quantum simulation of fermionic problems with photons on an integrated platform, as well as for communication and computation protocols exploiting antisymmetric high-dimensional quantum states.