Experimental preparation of eight-partite cluster state for photonic qumodes

The preparation of multipartite entangled states is the prerequisite for exploring quantum information networks and quantum computation. In this Letter, we present what we believe is the first experimental demonstration of an eight-partite spatially separated continuous variable (CV) cluster state of optical modes. Via the linearly optical transformation of eight squeezed states of light, the eight-partite cluster entangled state with amplitude and phase quadrature correlations are prepared. The generated eight entangled photonic qumodes are spatially separated, which provides valuable quantum resources for implementing CV quantum information protocols. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America