Polarization-Frequency Hyperentangled Photon Generation and Characterization

Photonic hyperentanglement involves pairs of photons entangled in multiple degrees of freedom (DoF), which hold promise for quantum communication protocols. However, the frequency DoF has received less attention due to constraints in evaluating such hyperentangled states. This technology provides scalable approaches capable of generating photons entangled in both frequency and polarization DoFs while enabling comprehensive state characterization. Additionally, this hyperentangled photon source supports wavelengths across the optical fiber communication band (1530 nm - 1625 nm), making it highly suitable for integration into existing fiber-optic networks.

Description

This technology generates ultrabroadband photon pairs with simultaneous entanglement in polarization and frequency bins. This innovation facilitates full quantum state tomography (QST) of hyperentangled states across both polarization and frequency degrees of freedom. The technology is unique in that it combines polarization projections and electro-optic frequency mixing sequentially. This method empowers thorough exploration of the complete two-photon polarization and frequency Hilbert space, enabling complete state reconstruction without pre-existing constraints. It has been successfully applied to hyperentangled systems of up to 36 dimensions, with potential scalability to even higher dimensions. This advancement significantly broadens the horizons of hyperentanglement generation and manipulation, offering substantial promise for quantum networking, including applications like dense coding and entanglement distillation within wavelength-multiplexed quantum networks.

Benefits

• Inherently versatile. Both degrees of freedom can be used for encoding quantum information.
• Ultrabroadband: Potentially can link many users in a quantum network.
• Can prepare more complex, higher-dimensional hyperentangled states, opening up possibilities for advanced quantum applications.

Applications and Industries

• Fiber optics
• Optics and Photonics
• Quantum communication
• Quantum networks
• Entangled photon sources

Contact

To learn more about this technology, email partnerships@ornl.gov or call 865-574-1051.