Uday Saha

Trapped ions are one of the leading candidates for scalable and long-distance quantum networks because of their long qubit coherence time, high fidelity single- and two-qubit gates, and their ability to generate photons entangled with the qubit state of the ion. One method for creating ion-photon entanglement is to exploit optically transitions from the P_(1/2) to S_(1/2) levels, which naturally emit spin-photon entangled states. But these optical transitions typically lie in the ultra-violet and visible wavelength regimes. These wavelengths exhibit significant fiber-optic propagation loss, thereby limiting the transfer of quantum information to tens of meters. Quantum frequency conversion is essential to convert these photons to telecom wavelengths so that they can propagate over long distances in fiber-based networks, as well as for compatibility with the vast number of telecom-based opto-electronic components. Here, we generate O-band telecom photons via a low noise quantum frequency conversion scheme from photons emitted from the P_(1/2) to S_(1/2) dipole transition of a trapped barium ion. We use a two-stage quantum frequency conversion scheme to achieve a frequency shift of 375.4 THz between the input visible photon and the output telecom photon achieving a conversion efficiency of 11%. We attain a signal-to-background ratio of over 100 for the converted O-band telecom photon with background noise less than 15 counts/sec. These results are an important step toward achieving trapped ion quantum networks over long distances for distributed quantum computing and quantum communication.

Trapped ions are promising candidates for nodes of a scalable quantum network due to their long-lived qubit coherence times and high-fidelity single and two-qubit gates. Future quantum networks based on trapped ions will require a scalable way to route photons between different nodes. Photonic integrated circuits from fabrication foundries provide a compact solution to this problem. However, these circuits typically operate at telecommunication wavelengths which are incompatible with the strong dipole emissions of trapped ions. In this work, we demonstrate the routing of single photons from a trapped ion using a photonic integrated circuit. We employ quantum frequency conversion to match the emission of the ion to the operating wavelength of a foundry-fabricated silicon nitride photonic integrated circuit, achieving a total transmission of 31$\pm$0.9% through the device. Using programmable phase shifters, we switch the single photons between the output channels of the circuit and also demonstrate a 50/50 beam splitting condition. These results constitute an important step towards programmable routing and entanglement distribution in large-scale quantum networks and distributed quantum computers.

Trapped ions are excellent candidates for quantum computing and quantum networks because of their long coherence times, ability to generate entangled photons as well as high fidelity single- and two-qubit gates. To scale up trapped ion quantum computing, we need a Bell-state analyzer on a reconfigurable platform that can herald high fidelity entanglement between ions. In this work, we design a photonic Bell-state analyzer on a reconfigurable thin film lithium niobate platform for polarization-encoded qubits. We optimize the device to achieve high fidelity entanglement between two trapped ions and find >99% fidelity. The proposed device can scale up trapped ion quantum computing as well as other optically active spin qubits, such as color centers in diamond, quantum dots, and rare-earth ions.

Fiber-based quantum networks require photons at telecommunications wavelengths to interconnect qubits separated by long distances. Trapped ions are leading candidates for quantum networking with high-fidelity two-qubit gates, long coherence times, and the ability to readily emit photons entangled with the ion's internal qubit states. However, trapped ions typically emit photons at wavelengths incompatible with telecommunications fiber. Here, we demonstrate frequency conversion of visible photons, emitted from the S-P dipole transition of a trapped Ba+ ion, into the telecommunications C-band. These results are an important step towards enabling a long-distance trapped ion quantum internet.