Generation and eight-port homodyne characterization of time-bin qubits for continuous-variable quantum information processing

Shuntaro Takeda, Takahiro Mizuta, Maria Fuwa, Jun-ichi Yoshikawa, Hidehiro Yonezawa, and Akira Furusawa

Phys. Rev. A 87, 043803 – Published 3 April 2013

Abstract

We experimentally generate arbitrary time-bin qubits using continuous-wave light. The advantage unique to our qubit is its compatibility with deterministic continuous-variable quantum information processing. This compatibility comes from its well-defined spatiotemporal mode and frequency spectrum within the operational bandwidth of the current continuous-variable technology. We also demonstrate an efficient scheme to characterize time-bin qubits via eight-port homodyne measurement. This enables the complete characterization of the qubits as two-mode states, as well as a flexible analysis equivalent to the conventional scheme based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and photon detection.