Anderson localization of entangled photons in an integrated quantum walk

Year: 2013

Authors: Crespi A., Osellame R., Ramponi R., Giovannetti V., Fazio R., Sansoni L., De Nicola F., Sciarrino F., Mataloni P.

Autors Affiliation: CNR, IFN, I-20133 Milan, Italy; Politecn Milan, Dipartimento Fis, I-20133 Milan, Italy; Scuola Normale Super Pisa, NEST, I-56126 Pisa, Italy; CNR, Ist Nanosci, I-56126 Pisa, Italy; Natl Univ Singapore, Ctr Quantum Technol, Singapore 117542, Singapore; Univ Roma La Sapienza, Dipartimento Fis, I-00185 Rome, Italy; CNR, INO, I-50125 Florence, Italy.

Abstract: First predicted for quantum particles in the presence of a disordered potential, Anderson localization is a ubiquitous effect, observed also in classical systems, arising from the destructive interference of waves propagating in static disordered media. Here we report the observation of this phenomenon for pairs of polarization-entangled photons in a discrete quantum walk affected by position-dependent disorder. By exploiting polarization entanglement of photons to simulate different quantum statistics, we experimentally investigate the interplay between the Anderson localization mechanism and the bosonic/fermionic symmetry of the wavefunction. The disordered lattice is realized by an integrated array of interferometers fabricated in glass by femtosecond laser writing. A novel technique is used to introduce a controlled phase shift into each unit mesh of the network. This approach yields great potential for quantum simulation and for implementing a computational power beyond the one of a classical computer in the ’hard-to-simulate’ scenario.

Journal/Review: NATURE PHOTONICS

Volume: 7 (4)      Pages from: 322  to: 328

More Information: This project was supported by FIRB (Fondo per gli investimenti della ricerca di base) – Futuro in Ricerca HYTEQ (Hybrid Technologies for Quantum Information Processing), PRIN 2009 (Progetti di Ricerca di Interesse Nazionale 2009), IP-SOLID (Integrated Project ’Solid State Systems for Quantum Information Processing’, grant agreement no. FP7 248629) and ERC (European Research Council)-Starting Grant 3D-QUEST (3D-Quantum Integrated Optical Simulation; grant agreement no. 307783).
KeyWords: Light; Diffusion
DOI: 10.1038/NPHOTON.2013.26

Citations: 369
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