We experimentally demonstrate that a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector is deterministically controllable by bright illumination. We found that bright light can temporarily make a large fraction of the nanowire length normally-conductive, can extend deadtime after a normal photon detection, and can cause a hotspot formation during the deadtime with a highly nonlinear sensitivity. In result, although based on different physics, the superconducting detector turns out to be controllable by virtually the same techniques as avalanche photodiode detectors. As demonstrated earlier, when such detectors are used in a quantum key distribution system, this allows an eavesdropper to launch a detector control attack to capture the full secret key without being revealed by to many errors in the key.

We present a semiclassical theory of the linear and nonlinear optical response of graphene. The emphasis is placed on the nonlinear optical response of graphene from the standpoint of the underlying chiral symmetry. The Bloch quasiparticles in the low-energy limit around the degeneracy points are dominantly chiral. It is shown that this chiral behavior in conjunction with scale invariance in graphene around the Dirac points results in the strong nonlinear optical response. Explicit expressions for the linear and nonlinear conductivity tensors are derived based on semiconductor Bloch equations (SBEs). The linear terms agree with the result of Kubo formulation. The three main additive mechanisms contribute in the nonlinear optical response of graphene: pure intraband, pure interband and the interplay between them. For each contribution, an explicit response function is derived. The Kerr-type nonlinearity of graphene is then numerically studied and it is demonstrated that the nonlinear refractive index of graphene can be tuned and enhanced by applying a gate voltage. It is also discussed that a strong Kerr nonlinearity can be achieved in a gated graphene monolayer. However, this nonlinearity is accompanied with a significant amount of absorption loss.

Single Photon Detectors are integral to quantum optics and quantum information. Superconducting Nanowire based detectors exhibit new levels of performance, but have no accepted quantum optical model that is valid for multiple input photons. By performing Detector Tomography, we improve the recently proposed model [M.K. Akhlaghi and A.H. Majedi, IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 19, 361 (2009)] and also investigate the manner in which these detectors respond nonlinearly to light, a valuable feature for some applications. We develop a device independent model for Single Photon Detectors that incorporates this nonlinearity.

A feasible route toward implementing long-distance quantum key distribution (QKD) systems relies on probabilistic schemes for entanglement distribution and swapping as proposed in the work of Duan, Lukin, Cirac, and Zoller (DLCZ) [Nature (London) 414, 413 (2001)]. Here, we calculate the conditional throughput and fidelity of entanglement for DLCZ quantum repeaters by accounting for the DLCZ self-purification property in the presence of multiple excitations in the ensemble memories as well as loss and other sources of inefficiency in the channel and measurement modules. We then use our results to find the generation rate of secure key bits for QKD systems that rely on DLCZ quantum repeaters. We compare the key generation rate per logical memory employed in the two cases with and without a repeater node. We find the crossover distance beyond which the repeater system outperforms the nonrepeater one. That provides us with the optimum internode distancing in quantum repeater systems. We also find the optimal excitation probability at which the QKD rate peaks. Such an optimum probability, in most regimes of interest, is insensitive to the total distance.