Quantum walks of correlated particles offer the possibility to study large-scale quantum interference, simulate biological, chemical and physical systems, and a route to universal quantum computation. Here we demonstrate quantum walks of two identical photons in an array of 21 continuously evanescently-coupled waveguides in a SiOxNy chip. We observe quantum correlations, violating a classical limit by 76 standard deviations, and find that they depend critically on the input state of the quantum walk. These results open the way to a powerful approach to quantum walks using correlated particles to encode information in an exponentially larger state space.With origins dating back to observations by Lucretius in 60BC and Brown in the 1800's, random walks are a powerful tool used in a broad range of fields from genetics to economics [1]. The quantum mechanical analoguequantum walks [2, 3]-corresponds to the tunnelling of quantum particles into several possible sites, generating large coherent superposition states and allowing massive parallelism in exploring multiple trajectories through a given connected graph (eg. Fig. 1). This quantum state evolution is a reversible (unitary) process and so requires low noise (decoherence) systems for observation. In contrast to the diffusive behaviour of (classical) random walks, which tend towards a steady state, the wave function in a quantum walk propagates ballistically (Fig. 2(c)). These features are at the heart of new algorithms for database-search [4], random graph navigation, models for quantum communication using spin chains [5], universal quantum computation [6] and quantum simulation [7].Quantum walks have been demonstrated using nuclear magnetic resonance [8,9], phase [10,11] and position [12] space of trapped ions, the frequency space of an optical resonator [13], single photons in bulk [14] and fibre [15] optics and the scattering of light in coupled waveguide arrays [16]. However, to date, all realisations have been limited to single particle quantum walks, which have an exact mapping to classical wave phenomena [17], and therefore cannot provide any advantage from quantum effects (note that the quantum walk with two trapped ions [11] encodes in the centre of mass mode and is therefore effectively a single particle quantum walk on a line). Indeed single particle quantum walks have been observed using classical light [16,18]. In contrast, for quantum walks of more than one indistinguishable particle, classical theory no longer provides a sufficient description-quantum theory predicts that probability amplitudes interfere leading to distinctly non-classical correlations [19,20]. This quantum behaviour gives rise to a computational advantage in quantum walks of two identical particles, which can be used to solve the graph isomorphism problem for example [21]. The major challenge associated with realising quantum walks of correlated particles is the need for a low decoherence system that preserves their non-classical features.The intrinsically low decoherence properti...

Quantum technologies based on photons are anticipated in the areas of information processing, communication, metrology, and lithography. While there have been impressive proof-of-principle demonstrations in all of these areas, future technologies will likely require an integrated optics architecture for improved performance, miniaturization and scalability. We demonstrated highfidelity silica-on-silicon integrated optical realizations of key quantum photonic circuits, including two-photon quantum interference with a visibility of 94.8±0.5%; a controlled-NOT gate with logical basis fidelity of 94.3 ± 0.2%; and a path entangled state of two photons with fidelity > 92%.Quantum information science [1] has shown that harnessing quantum mechanical effects can dramatically improve performance for certain tasks in communication, computation and measurement. However, realizing such quantum technologies is an immense challenge, owing to the difficulty in controlling quantum systems and their inherent fragility. Of the various physical systems being pursued, single particles of light-photons-are often the logical choice, and have been widely used in quantum communication [2], quantum metrology [3,4,5], and quantum lithography [6] settings. Low noise (or decoherence) also makes photons attractive quantum bits (or qubits), and they have emerged as a leading approach to quantum information processing [7].In addition to single photon sources [8] and detectors [9], photonic quantum technologies will rely on sophisticated optical circuits involving high-visibility classical and quantum interference. Already a number of photonic quantum circuits have been realized for quantum metrology [3,4,10,11,12,13], lithography [6], quantum logic gates [14,15,16,17,18,19,20], and other entangling circuits [21,22,23,24]. However, these demonstrations have relied on large-scale (bulk) optical elements bolted to large optical tables, thereby making them inherently unscalable and confining them to the research laboratory. In addition, many have required the design of sophisticated interferometers to achieve the sub-wavelength stability required for reliable operation.We demonstrated the fundamental building blocks of photonic quantum circuits using silica waveguides on a silicon chip: high visibility (98.5±0.4%) classical interference; high visibility (94.8±0.5%) two photon quantum interference; high fidelity controlled-NOT (CNOT) entangling logic gates (logical basis fidelity F = 94.3 ± 0.2%); and on-chip quantum coherence confirmed by high fidelity (> 92%) generation of a two-photon path entangled state. The monolithic nature of these devices means that the correct phase can be stably realized in what would otherwise be an unstable interferometer, greatly simplifying the task of implementing sophisticated photonic quantum circuits. We fabricated 100's of devices on a single wafer and find that performance across the devices is robust, repeatable and well understood.A typical photonic quantum circuit takes several optical paths or "modes" (some...

Crystal defects can confine isolated electronic spins and are promising candidates for solid-state quantum information. Alongside research focusing on nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond, an alternative strategy seeks to identify new spin systems with an expanded set of technological capabilities, a materials-driven approach that could ultimately lead to ‘designer’ spins with tailored properties. Here we show that the 4H, 6H and 3C polytypes of SiC all host coherent and optically addressable defect spin states, including states in all three with room-temperature quantum coherence. The prevalence of this spin coherence shows that crystal polymorphism can be a degree of freedom for engineering spin qubits. Long spin coherence times allow us to use double electron–electron resonance to measure magnetic dipole interactions between spin ensembles in inequivalent lattice sites of the same crystal. Together with the distinct optical and spin transition energies of such inequivalent states, these interactions provide a route to dipole-coupled networks of separately addressable spins.

On-chip integrated photonic circuits are crucial to further progress towards quantum technologies and in the science of quantum optics. Here we report precise control of single photon states and multi-photon entanglement directly on-chip. We manipulate the state of path-encoded qubits using integrated optical phase control based on resistive elements, observing an interference contrast of 98.2 ± 0.3%. We demonstrate integrated quantum metrology by observing interference fringes with 2-and 4-photon entangled states generated in a waveguide circuit, with respective interference contrasts of 97.2 ± 0.4% and 92 ± 4%, sufficient to beat the standard quantum limit. Finally, we demonstrate a reconfigurable circuit that continuously and accurately tunes the degree of quantum interference, yielding a maximum visibility of 98.2 ± 0.9%. These results open up adaptive and fully reconfigurable photonic quantum circuits not just for single photons, but for all quantum states of light.Controlling quantum systems is not only a fundamental scientific endeavor, but promises profound new technologies 1,2,3 .Quantum photonics already provides enhanced communication security 2,4 ; has demonstrated increased precision by beating the standard quantum limit in metrology 5,6,7,8 and the diffraction limit in lithography 9,10 ; holds great promise for quantum computation 11,12 ; and continues to advance fundamental quantum science. The recent demonstration of on-chip integrated waveguide quantum circuits 13 is a key step towards these new technologies and for further progress in fundamental science applications.Technologies based on harnessing quantum mechanical phenomena require methods to precisely prepare and control the state of quantum systems. Manipulation of a path-encoded qubit-a single photon in an arbitrary superposition of two optical paths, which is the natural encoding for waveguides 13 -requires control of the relative phase φ between the two optical paths and the amplitude in each path.The integrated waveguide device shown schematically in Fig. 1a applies the unitary operation U M Z = U DC e iφσ Z /2 U DC : each 50% splitting ratio (reflectivity η = 0.5) directional coupler implements U DC 14 ; while control over the relative optical phase φ between the two optical paths implements the phase gate e iφσz/2 . A single photon input into mode a is transformed into a superposition across modes c and d :(a single photon input into mode b is transformed into the same superposition but with a relative π phase shift). The relative optical phase is then controlled by the parameter φ, i.e.(2) before the two modes are recombined at the second η = 0.5 coupler. FIG. 1: Manipulating quantum states of light on a chip.a, Schematic of a waveguide circuit with the relative optical phase φ controlled by applying a voltage V across the contact pads p 1 and p 2 (not to scale). b, Illustration of the cross section of one waveguide located beneath a resistive heater. c, The simulated intensity profile of the guided single mode in the silica wavegui...