Boson Sampling with Single-Photon Fock States from a Bright Solid-State Source

Area of Science:

• Quantum Information Science
• Quantum Optics
• Solid-State Physics

Background:

• Boson sampling is a quantum computation task.
• Previous photonic implementations used inefficient sources.
• Achieving single-photon input for boson sampling has been a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report on a boson-sampling device using a novel bright solid-state single-photon source.
• To demonstrate high single-photon purity in the source.
• To improve the efficiency of boson-sampling experiments.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a quantum dot-micropillar system for efficient single-photon generation.
• Demultiplexing emission into three partially indistinguishable single photons.
• Interfering photons in a linear optics network to perform boson sampling.

Main Results:

• Achieved a single-photon purity of 1-g(2)(0) = 0.990±0.001.
• The solid-state source is 1-2 orders of magnitude more efficient than heralded sources.
• Enabled faster completion of the boson-sampling experiment.

Conclusions:

• Demonstrated the first boson-sampling experiment with a bright, high-purity solid-state single-photon source.
• The efficient and deterministic nature of the source overcomes previous limitations.
• This work paves the way for more practical quantum computation and simulation.