Broadband quadrature-squeezed vacuum and nonclassical photon number correlations from a nanophotonic device.

We report demonstrations of both quadrature-squeezed vacuum and photon number difference squeezing generated in an integrated nanophotonic device. Squeezed light is generated via strongly driven spontaneous four-wave mixing below threshold in silicon nitride microring resonators. The generated light is characterized with both homodyne detection and direct measurements of photon statistics using photon number-resolving transition-edge sensors. We measure 1.0(1) decibels of broadband quadrature squeezing (~4 decibels inferred on-chip) and 1.5(3) decibels of photon number difference squeezing (~7 decibels inferred on-chip). Nearly single temporal mode operation is achieved, with measured raw unheralded second-order correlations g (2) as high as 1.95(1). Multiphoton events of over 10 photons are directly detected with rates exceeding any previous quantum optical demonstration using integrated nanophotonics. These results will have an enabling impact on scaling continuous variable quantum technology.

Truncated Nonlinear Interferometry for Quantum-Enhanced Atomic Force Microscopy.

Nonlinear interferometers that replace beam splitters in Mach-Zehnder interferometers with nonlinear amplifiers for quantum-enhanced phase measurements have drawn increasing interest in recent years, but practical quantum sensors based on nonlinear interferometry remain an outstanding challenge. Here, we demonstrate the first practical application of nonlinear interferometry by measuring the displacement of an atomic force microscope microcantilever with quantum noise reduction of up to 3 dB below the standard quantum limit, corresponding to a quantum-enhanced measurement of beam displacement of 1.7 fm/sqrt[Hz]. Further, we minimize photon backaction noise while taking advantage of quantum noise reduction by transducing the cantilever displacement signal with a weak squeezed state while using dual homodyne detection with a higher power local oscillator. This approach may enable quantum-enhanced broadband, high-speed scanning probe microscopy.

Cloud Quantum Computing of an Atomic Nucleus.

We report a quantum simulation of the deuteron binding energy on quantum processors accessed via cloud servers. We use a Hamiltonian from pionless effective field theory at leading order. We design a low-depth version of the unitary coupled-cluster ansatz, use the variational quantum eigensolver algorithm, and compute the binding energy to within a few percent. Our work is the first step towards scalable nuclear structure computations on a quantum processor via the cloud, and it sheds light on how to map scientific computing applications onto nascent quantum devices.

Nonlinear optical magnetometry with accessible in situ optical squeezing.

We demonstrate compact and accessible squeezed-light magnetometry using four-wave mixing in a single hot rubidium vapor cell. The strong intrinsic coherence of the four-wave mixing process results in nonlinear magneto-optical rotation (NMOR) on each mode of a two-mode relative-intensity squeezed state. This framework enables 4.7 dB of quantum noise reduction while the opposing polarization rotation signals of the probe and conjugate fields add to increase the total signal to noise ratio.

Toward real-time quantum imaging with a single pixel camera.

We present a workbench for the study of real-time quantum imaging by measuring the frame-by-frame quantum noise reduction of multi-spatial-mode twin beams generated by four wave mixing in Rb vapor. Exploiting the multiple spatial modes of this squeezed light source, we utilize spatial light modulators to selectively pass macropixels of quantum correlated modes from each of the twin beams to a high quantum efficiency balanced detector. In low-light-level imaging applications, the ability to measure the quantum correlations between individual spatial modes and macropixels of spatial modes with a single pixel camera will facilitate compressive quantum imaging with sensitivity below the photon shot noise limit.

Extraordinary optical transmission of multimode quantum correlations via localized surface plasmons.

We demonstrate the transduction of macroscopic quantum correlations by Ag localized surface plasmons (LSPs). Quantum noise reduction, or squeezed light, generated through four-wave mixing in Rb vapor, is coupled to a Ag nanohole array designed to exhibit LSP-mediated extraordinary-optical transmission spectrally coincident with the squeezed light source at 795 nm. This first demonstration of the coupling of quantum light into LSPs conserves spatially dependent quantum information, allowing for parallel quantum protocols in on-chip subwavelength quantum information processing.

Quantum correlated light beams from non-degenerate four-wave mixing in an atomic vapor: the D1 and D2 lines of 85Rb and 87Rb.

We present experimental results showing that quantum correlated light can be produced using non-degenerate, off-resonant, four-wave mixing (4WM) on both the D1 (795 nm) and D2 (780 nm) lines of (85)Rb and (87)Rb, extending earlier work on the D1 line of (85)Rb. Using this 4WM process in a hot vapor cell to produce bright twin beams, we characterize the degree of intensity-difference noise reduction below the standard quantum limit for each of the four systems. Although each system approximates a double-lambda configuration, differences in details of the actual level structure lead to varying degrees of noise reduction. The observation of quantum correlations on light produced using all four of these systems, regardless of their substructure, suggests that it should be possible to use other systems with similar level structures in order to produce narrow frequency, non-classical beams at a particular wavelength.

Low-noise amplification of a continuous-variable quantum state.

We present an experimental realization of a low-noise, phase-insensitive optical amplifier using a four-wave mixing interaction in hot Rb vapor. Performance near the quantum limit for a range of amplifier gains, including near unity, can be achieved. Such low-noise amplifiers are essential for so-called quantum cloning machines and are useful in quantum information protocols. We demonstrate that amplification and "cloning" of one half of a two-mode squeezed state is possible while preserving entanglement.

Tunable delay of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entanglement.

Entangled systems display correlations that are stronger than can be obtained classically. This makes entanglement an essential resource for a number of applications, such as quantum information processing, quantum computing and quantum communications. The ability to control the transfer of entanglement between different locations will play a key role in these quantum protocols and enable quantum networks. Such a transfer requires a system that can delay quantum correlations without significant degradation, effectively acting as a short-term quantum memory. An important benchmark for such systems is the ability to delay Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) levels of entanglement and to be able to tune the delay. EPR entanglement is the basis for a number of quantum protocols, allowing the remote inference of the properties of one system (to better than its standard quantum limit) through measurements on the other correlated system. Here we show that a four-wave mixing process based on a double-lambda scheme in hot (85)Rb vapour allows us to obtain an optically tunable delay for EPR entangled beams of light. A significant maximum delay, of the order of the width of the cross-correlation function, is achieved. The four-wave mixing also preserves the quantum spatial correlations of the entangled beams. We take advantage of this property to delay entangled images, making this the first step towards a quantum memory for images.

Delocalized correlations in twin light beams with orbital angular momentum.

We generate intensity-difference-squeezed Laguerre-Gauss twin beams of light carrying orbital angular momentum by using four-wave mixing in a hot atomic vapor. The conservation of orbital angular momentum in the four-wave mixing process is studied as well as the spatial distribution of the quantum correlations obtained with different configurations of orbital angular momentum. Intensity-difference squeezing of up to -6.7 dB is demonstrated with beams carrying orbital angular momentum. Delocalized spatial correlations between the twin beams are observed.