Heralded noiseless amplification of a photon polarization qubit

Abstract

Photons are the best long-range carriers of quantum information, but the unavoidable absorption and scattering in a transmission channel places a serious limitation on viable communication distances. Signal amplification will therefore be an essential feature of quantum technologies, with direct applications to quantum communication, metrology and fundamental tests of quantum theory. Non-deterministic noiseless amplification of a single mode can circumvent the challenges related to amplifying a quantum signal, such as the no-cloning theorem and the minimum noise cost for deterministic quantum state amplification. However, existing devices are not suitable for amplifying the fundamental optical quantum information carrier: a qubit coherently encoded across two optical modes. Here, we construct a coherent two-mode amplifier to demonstrate the first heralded noiseless linear amplification of a qubit encoded in the polarization state of a single photon. In doing so, we increase the transmission fidelity of a realistic qubit channel by up to a factor of five. Qubit amplifiers promise to extend the range of secure quantum communication and other quantum information science and technology protocols. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited.