(Phys.org) A group of TU Delft researchers has now demonstrated the ability to teleport an arbitrary qubit state from a single photon onto an optomechanical device—consisting of a mechanical structure comprising billions of atoms. Their breakthrough research, now published in Nature Photonics, enables real-world applications such as quantum internet repeater nodes while also allowing quantum mechanics itself to be studied in new ways.
the group of Simon Gröblacher, of the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience and the Department of Quantum Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Campinas in Brazil, has shown the first successful teleportation of an arbitrary optical qubit state onto a micromechanical quantum memory.
Quantum teleportation—the faithful transfer of an unknown input quantum state onto a remote quantum system—is a key component of long-distance quantum communication protocols needed to build a quantum internet. Just like the regular internet, distribution of quantum information between quantum devices anywhere in the world will require a network of repeater nodes.
Although quantum teleportation has already been demonstrated in various quantum systems, the use of optomechanical devices is a breakthrough because they can be designed to operate at any optical wavelength, including the low-loss infrared telecom fiber wavelengths. “It is this wavelength that results in the lowest transmission loss, allowing the longest distance between repeater nodes,” Gröblacher says.
The current research is a big step towards Gröblacher’s vision of a future hybrid quantum internet. “We are working towards a heterogeneous network where you have various physical systems communicating and performing different functionalities,” he says. “You may have optomechanical quantum repeater nodes connected to a quantum computer or memory consisting of superconducting qubits or spin quantum systems, respectively. All of these will have to be compatible with one another and operate at the same wavelength in order to faithfully transfer quantum information.”
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