High-fidelity operation of quantum photonic circuits

We demonstrate photonic quantum circuits that operate at the stringent levels that will be required for future quantum information science and technology. These circuits are fabricated from silica-on-silicon waveguides forming directional couplers and interferometers. While our focus is on the operation of quantum circuits, to test this operation required construction of a photon source that produced near-identical pairs of photons. We show nonclassical interference with two photons and a two-photon entangling logic gate that operate with near-unit fidelity. These results are a significant step toward large-scale operation of photonic quantum circuits. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3497087]