ENTANGLING TIME-BIN QUBITS USING A SWITCH

Quantum mechanics is an extremely relevant topic of the day as it is being used in technology for more efficient information processing and secure cryptographic systems. Many of these advancements involve entangling qubits, which are basic units of quantum information (quantum bits). While polarization entanglement has been utilized frequently in current research, time-bin entanglement has not been as thoroughly explored. A long-term, multi-stage experiment was planned out with the purpose of verifying the theoretical set-up by attempting to generate entangled time-bin qubits in real-time. The stages of the experiment included pulse laser attenuation to a single photon, photon pair generation, time-bin qubit preparation, time-bin qubit entanglement with a switch, and measurement. Thus far, the first stage has been completed, and the second and third are in progress. Possible errors due to dB loss and varying dark count may occur during this first stage. In addition, an M-Z interferometer was built to test the functionality of the phase modulator, which is to be used in the fourth stage.