Trapping photons on the line: controllable dynamics of a quantum walk

Optical interferometers comprising birefringent-crystal beam displacers, wave plates, and phase shifters serve as stable devices for simulating quantum information processes such as heralded coined quantum walks. Quantum walks are important for quantum algorithms, universal quantum computing circuits, quantum transport in complex systems, and demonstrating intriguing nonlinear dynamical quantum phenomena. We introduce fully controllable polarization-independent phase shifters in optical pathes in order to realize site-dependent phase defects. The effectiveness of our interferometer is demonstrated through realizing single-photon quantum-walk dynamics in one dimension. By applying site-dependent phase defects, the translational symmetry of an ideal standard quantum walk is broken resulting in localization effect in a quantum walk architecture. The walk is realized for different site-dependent phase defects and coin settings, indicating the strength of localization signature depends on the level of phase due to site-dependent phase defects and coin settings and opening the way for the implementation of a quantum-walk-based algorithm.