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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

A Photonic System for Generating Unconditional Polarization-Entangled Photons Based on Multiple Quantum Interference
Published on: September 5, 2019
Multipath entanglement of two photons
Alessandro Rossi1, Giuseppe Vallone, Andrea Chiuri
1Dipartimento di Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma 00185, Italy.
Researchers developed a new optical device using microlenses and optical fibers to create multiphoton entanglement. This technology enables the generation of multi-qubit and multi-qudit states for quantum information applications.
Area of Science:
- Quantum optics
- Photonics
- Quantum information science
Background:
- Spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) is a key process for generating entangled photon pairs.
- Efficiently collecting and manipulating these photons into multiple modes is crucial for advanced quantum applications.
- Current methods face challenges in precisely controlling photon states for complex quantum information encoding.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel optical device for enhanced collection and multi-modal distribution of SPDC photons.
- To demonstrate the creation of multiqubit entangled states and multilevel qudit states using this device.
- To explore the potential of multipath photon entanglement in quantum information technology.
Main Methods:
- Integration of microlenses with single-mode optical fibers to form a novel optical device.
- Utilizing the device to collect and direct two photons generated via spontaneous parametric down-conversion into multiple optical modes.
- Encoding quantum information in the longitudinal momentum degree of freedom of the photons.
Main Results:
- Successful collection and multi-modal distribution of SPDC photons.
- Creation of two-photon multiqubit entangled states.
- Generation of two-photon multilevel qudit states encoded in the longitudinal momentum.
- Demonstration of multipath photon entanglement.
Conclusions:
- The developed optical device effectively generates and manipulates multiphoton entangled states.
- The device facilitates the creation of complex quantum states (multiqubit and multilevel qudit) essential for quantum information processing.
- This advancement is poised to significantly impact future quantum information technologies.
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