Topological Hong-Ou-Mandel interference

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ehrhardt, Max; Dittel, Christoph; Heinrich, Matthias; Szameit, Alexander
• 署名单位: University of Rostock; University of Freiburg; University of Freiburg
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-11627
• DOI: 10.1126/science.ado8192
• 发表日期: 2024-06-21
• 页码: 1340-1344
• 关键词: edge states; photons; PROTECTION; phase

摘要

The interplay of topology and optics provides a route to pursue robust photonic devices, with the application to photonic quantum computation in its infancy. However, the possibilities of harnessing topological structures to process quantum information with linear optics, through the quantum interference of photons, remain largely uncharted. Here, we present a Hong-Ou-Mandel interference effect of topological origin. We show that this interference of photon pairs-ranging from constructive to destructive-is solely determined by a synthetic magnetic flux, rendering it resilient to errors on a fundamental level. Our implementation establishes a quantized flux that facilitates exclusively destructive quantum interference. Our findings pave the way toward the development of next-generation photonic quantum circuitry and scalable quantum computing protected by virtue of topologically robust quantum gates.