Quantum Microwave Photonics

By harnessing quantum superposition and entanglement, remarkable progress has sprouted over the past three decades from different areas of research in communication 1, 2, 3, 4, computation 5, 6, 7 and simulation 8, 9. To further improve the processing ability of microwave photonics, here, we have demonstrated a quantum microwave photonic processing system using a low jitter superconducting nanowire single photon detector (SNSPD) and a time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) module. This method uniquely combines extreme optical sensitivity, down to a single-photon level (below −100 dBm), and wide processing bandwidth, twice higher than the transmission bandwidth of the cable. Moreover, benefitted from the trigger, the system can selectively process the desired RF signal and attenuates the other intense noise and undesired RF components even the power is 15dB greater than the desired signal power. Using this method we show microwave phase shifting and frequency filtering for the desired RF signal on the single-photon level. Besides its applications in space and underwater communications 10, 11 and testing and qualification of pre-packaged photonic modulators and detectors 12. This RF signal processing capability at the single-photon level can lead to significant development in the high-speed quantum processing method.

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