Noise thresholds for optical cluster-state quantum computation

In this paper we do a detailed numerical investigation of the fault-tolerant threshold for optical cluster-state quantum computation. Our noise model allows both photon loss and depolarizing noise, as a general proxy for all types of local noise other than photon loss noise. We obtain a threshold region of allowed pairs of values for the two types of noise. Roughly speaking, our results show that scalable optical quantum computing is possible in the combined presence of both noise types, provided that the loss probability is less than 3 X 10(-3) and the depolarization probability is less than 10(-4). Our fault-tolerant protocol involves a number of innovations, including a method for syndrome extraction known as telecorrection, whereby repeated syndrome measurements are guaranteed to agree. This paper is an extended version of Dawson.

Noise thresholds for optical quantum computers

In this Letter we numerically investigate the fault-tolerant threshold for optical cluster-state quantum computing. We allow both photon loss noise and depolarizing noise (as a general proxy for all local noise), and obtain a threshold region of allowed pairs of values for the two types of noise. Roughly speaking, our results show that scalable optical quantum computing is possible for photon loss probabilities < 3x10(-3), and for depolarization probabilities < 10(-4).

Noise in detection of qubit states using a quantum point contact

We present a model for detection of the states of a coupled quantum dots (qubit) by a quantum point contact. Most proposals for measurements of states of quantum systems are idealized. However in a real laboratory the measurements cannot be perfect due to practical devices and circuits. The models using ideal devices are not sufficient for describing the detection information of the states of the quantum systems. Our model therefore includes the extension to a non-ideal measurement device case using an equivalent circuit. We derive a quantum trajectory that describes the stochastic evolution of the state of the system of the qubit and the measuring device. We calculate the noise power spectrum of tunnelling events in an ideal and a non-ideal quantum point contact measurement respectively. We found that, for the strong coupling case it is difficult to obtain information of the quantum processes in the qubit by measurements using a non-ideal quantum point contact. The noise spectra can also be used to estimate the limits of applicability of the ideal model.

Optimum phase noise reduction and repetition rate tuning in quantum-dot mode-locked lasers

Competing approaches exist, which allow control of phase noise and frequency tuning in mode-locked lasers, but no judgement of pros and cons based on a comparative analysis was presented yet. Here, we compare results of hybrid mode-locking, hybrid mode-locking with optical injection seeding, and sideband optical injection seeding performed on the same quantum dot laser under identical bias conditions. We achieved the lowest integrated jitter of 121 fs and a record large radio-frequency (RF) tuning range of 342 MHz with sideband injection seeding of the passively mode-locked laser. The combination of hybrid mode-locking together with optical injection-locking resulted in 240 fs integrated jitter and a RF tuning range of 167 MHz. Using conventional hybrid mode-locking, the integrated jitter and the RF tuning range were 620 fs and 10 MHz, respectively. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Wider-frequency combs generation, noise reduction, and repetition rate tuning in quantum-dot mode-locked lasers

We describe the technique allowing for generation of low-noise wider frequency combs and pulses of shorter duration in quantum-dot mode-locked lasers. We compare experimentally noise stabilization techniques in semiconductor modelocked lasers. We discuss the benefits of electrical modulation of the laser absorber voltage (hybrid mode-locking), combination of hybrid mode-locking with optical injection seeding from the narrow linewidth continues wave master source and optical injection seeding of two coherent sidebands separated by the laser repetition rate. © 2014 SPIE.

Investigation of generation -recombination noise and related processes in aluminum gallium arsenide TEGFETs and Hall structures with quantum wells

Experimental and theoretical studies regarding noise processes in various kinds of AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructures with a quantum well are reported. The measurement processes, involving a Fast Fourier Transform and analog wave analyzer in the frequency range from 10 Hz to 1 MHz, a computerized data storage and processing system, and cryostat in the temperature range from 78 K to 300 K are described in detail. The current noise spectra are obtained with the “three-point method”, using a Quan-Tech and avalanche noise source for calibration. ^ The properties of both GaAs and AlGaAs materials and field effect transistors, based on the two-dimensional electron gas in the interface quantum well, are discussed. Extensive measurements are performed in three types of heterostructures, viz., Hall structures with a large spacer layer, modulation-doped non-gated FETs, and more standard gated FETs; all structures are grown by MBE techniques. ^ The Hall structures show Lorentzian generation-recombination noise spectra with near temperature independent relaxation times. This noise is attributed to g-r processes in the 2D electron gas. For the TEGFET structures, we observe several Lorentzian g-r noise components which have strongly temperature dependent relaxation times. This noise is attributed to trapping processes in the doped AlGaAs layer. The trap level energies are determined from an Arrhenius plot of log (τT2) versus 1/T as well as from the plateau values. The theory to interpret these measurements and to extract the defect level data is reviewed and further developed. Good agreement with the data is found for all reported devices. ^

Noise in gallium nitride-based quantum well structures used for nanometer devices in the frequency range 1 Hz--3 Mhz and temperature range 77K--324K

Electronic noise has been investigated in AlxGa1−x N/GaN Modulation-Doped Field Effect Transistors (MODFETs) of submicron dimensions, grown for us by MBE (Molecular Beam Epitaxy) techniques at Virginia Commonwealth University by Dr. H. Morkoç and coworkers. Some 20 devices were grown on a GaN substrate, four of which have leads bonded to source (S), drain (D), and gate (G) pads, respectively. Conduction takes place in the quasi-2D layer of the junction (xy plane) which is perpendicular to the quantum well (z-direction) of average triangular width ∼3 nm. A non-doped intrinsic buffer layer of ∼5 nm separates the Si-doped donors in the AlxGa1−xN layer from the 2D-transistor plane, which affords a very high electron mobility, thus enabling high-speed devices. Since all contacts (S, D, and G) must reach through the AlxGa1−xN layer to connect internally to the 2D plane, parallel conduction through this layer is a feature of all modulation-doped devices. While the shunting effect may account for no more than a few percent of the current IDS, it is responsible for most excess noise, over and above thermal noise of the device. ^ The excess noise has been analyzed as a sum of Lorentzian spectra and 1/f noise. The Lorentzian noise has been ascribed to trapping of the carriers in the AlxGa1−xN layer. A detailed, multitrapping generation-recombination noise theory is presented, which shows that an exponential relationship exists for the time constants obtained from the spectral components as a function of 1/kT. The trap depths have been obtained from Arrhenius plots of log (τT2) vs. 1000/T. Comparison with previous noise results for GaAs devices shows that: (a) many more trapping levels are present in these nitride-based devices; (b) the traps are deeper (farther below the conduction band) than for GaAs. Furthermore, the magnitude of the noise is strongly dependent on the level of depletion of the AlxGa1−xN donor layer, which can be altered by a negative or positive gate bias VGS. ^ Altogether, these frontier nitride-based devices are promising for bluish light optoelectronic devices and lasers; however, the noise, though well understood, indicates that the purity of the constituent layers should be greatly improved for future technological applications. ^

Strong quantum memory at resonant Fermi edges revealed by shot noise

Studies of non-equilibrium current fluctuations enable assessing correlations involved in quantum transport through nanoscale conductors. They provide additional information to the mean current on charge statistics and the presence of coherence, dissipation, disorder, or entanglement. Shot noise, being a temporal integral of the current autocorrelation function, reveals dynamical information. In particular, it detects presence of non-Markovian dynamics, i.e., memory, within open systems, which has been subject of many current theoretical studies. We report on low-temperature shot noise measurements of electronic transport through InAs quantum dots in the Fermi-edge singularity regime and show that it exhibits strong memory effects caused by quantum correlations between the dot and fermionic reservoirs. Our work, apart from addressing noise in archetypical strongly correlated system of prime interest, discloses generic quantum dynamical mechanism occurring at interacting resonant Fermi edges.

Qubit state estimation and enhancement by quantum thermal noise

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Probing the Neutral Edge Modes in Transport across a Point Contact via Thermal Effects in the Read-Rezayi Non-Abelian Quantum Hall States

Non-Abelian quantum Hall states are characterized by the simultaneous appearance of charge and neutral gapless edge modes, with the structure of the latter being intricately related to the existence of bulk quasiparticle excitations obeying non-Abelian statistics. Here we propose a scenario for detecting the neutral modes by having two point contacts in series separated by a distance set by the thermal equilibration length of the charge mode. We show that by using the first point contact as a heating device, the excess charge noise measured at the second point contact carries a nontrivial signature of the presence of the neutral mode. We also obtain explicit expressions for the thermal conductance and corresponding Lorentz number for transport across a quantum point contact between two edges held at different temperatures and chemical potentials.

Quantum-Ohmic Resistance Fluctuation In Disordered Conductors - An Invariant Imbedding Approach

It is now well known that in extreme quantum limit, dominated by the elastic impurity scattering and the concomitant quantum interference, the zero-temperature d.c. resistance of a strictly one-dimensional disordered system is non-additive and non-self-averaging. While these statistical fluctuations may persist in the case of a physically thin wire, they are implicitly and questionably ignored in higher dimensions. In this work, we have re-examined this question. Following an invariant imbedding formulation, we first derive a stochastic differential equation for the complex amplitude reflection coefficient and hence obtain a Fokker-Planck equation for the full probability distribution of resistance for a one-dimensional continuum with a Gaussian white-noise random potential. We then employ the Migdal-Kadanoff type bond moving procedure and derive the d-dimensional generalization of the above probability distribution, or rather the associated cumulant function –‘the free energy’. For d=3, our analysis shows that the dispersion dominates the mobilitly edge phenomena in that (i) a one-parameter B-function depending on the mean conductance only does not exist, (ii) an approximate treatment gives a diffusion-correction involving the second cumulant. It is, however, not clear whether the fluctuations can render the transition at the mobility edge ‘first-order’. We also report some analytical results for the case of the one dimensional system in the presence of a finite electric fiekl. We find a cross-over from the exponential to the power-low length dependence of resistance as the field increases from zero. Also, the distribution of resistance saturates asymptotically to a poissonian form. Most of our analytical results are supported by the recent numerical simulation work reported by some authors.

Quantum diffusion in thin disordered wires

Quantum Ohmic residual resistance of a thin disordered wire, approximated as a one-dimensional multichannel conductor, is known to scale exponentially with length. This nonadditivity is shown to imply (i) a low-frequency noise-power spectrum proportional to -ln(Ω)/Ω, and (ii) a dispersive capacitative impedance proportional to tanh(√iΩ )/ √iΩ. A deep connection to the quantum Brownian motion with linear dynamical frictional coupling to a harmonic-oscillator bath is pointed out and interpreted in physical terms.

Nondiffusive Quantum Transport in a Dynamically Disordered Medium

For a dynamically disordered continuum it is found that the exact quantum mechanical mean square displacement 〈x2(t)〉∼t3, for t→∞. A Gaussian white-noise spectrum is assumed for the random potential. The result differs qualitatively from the diffusive behavior well known for the one-band lattice Hamiltonian, and is understandable in terms of the momentum cutoff inherent in the lattice, simulating a "momentum bath."

Microscopic Mechanism of 1/f Noise in Graphene: Role of Energy Band Dispersion

A distinctive feature of single-layer graphene is the linearly dispersive energy bands, which in the case of multilayer graphene become parabolic. A simple electrical transport-based probe to differentiate between these two band structures will be immensely valuable, particularly when quantum Hall measurements are difficult, such as in chemically synthesized graphene nanoribbons. Here we show that the flicker noise, or the 1/f noise, in electrical resistance is a sensitive and robust probe to the band structure of graphene. At low temperatures, the dependence of noise magnitude on the carrier density was found to be opposite for the linear and parabolic bands. We explain our data with a comprehensive theoretical model that clarifies several puzzling issues concerning the microscopic origin of flicker noise in graphene field-effect transistors (GraFET).

EFFICIENT QUANTUM RANDOM NUMBER GENERATION USING QUANTUM INDISTINGUISHABILITY

In this paper, we propose a quantum method for generation of random numbers based on bosonic stimulation. Randomness arises through the path-dependent indeterministic amplification of two competing bosonic modes. We show that the process provides an efficient method for macroscopic extraction of microscopic randomness.