Photonic Entanglement for a Quantum Repeater

Date
2014-07-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) has opened a new avenue for secure communication, by allowing one to distribute a random secret key between two users that are connected through a public channel without revealing information to unauthorized parties. If a message is encrypted with the one time pad (a well-known crytography algorithm) using secret keys created by QKD, then the ciphertext is information-theoretically secure and thus unbreakable for adversaries. Despite its unprecedented security, loss in the physical channel has prevented QKD from being used over distances beyond a few hundred kilometers. Fortunately, quantum repeaters have opened a path for long-distance QKD by providing a means to establish entanglement between distant users. The goal of this thesis has been to develop a source of entangled photon pairs that is suitable for quantum repeaters and then use it to test some of the fundamental building blocks of a quantum repeater : the heralded creation of entangled photons by means of entanglement swapping with properties that allow interfacing with optical quantum memories; the reversible mapping of quantum states from members of entangled photon pairs in and out of solid-state quantum memories; two-photon interference and a Bell state measurement with photons recalled from separate quantum memories. The demonstration of these key ingredients of a quantum repeater constitutes a significant step towards the establishment of entanglement over hundreds of kilometer distance, and hence long-distance QKD.
Description
Keywords
Information Science
Citation
Jin, J. (2014). Photonic Entanglement for a Quantum Repeater (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27340