Demonstration of a simple entangling optical gate and its use in Bell-state analysis

N. K. Langford, T. J. Weinhold, R. Prevedel, K. J. Resch, A. Gilchrist, J. L. O'Brien, G. J. Pryde, A. G. White

Published 2005-06-30, updated 2005-09-29Version 2

We demonstrate a new architecture for an optical entangling gate that is significantly simpler than previous realisations, using partially-polarising beamsplitters so that only a single optical mode-matching condition is required. We demonstrate operation of a controlled-Z gate in both continuous-wave and pulsed regimes of operation, fully characterising it in each case using quantum process tomography. We also demonstrate a fully-resolving, nondeterministic optical Bell-state analyser based on this controlled-Z gate. This new architecture is ideally suited to guided optics implementations of optical gates.