The encoding of quantum information in photonic time-bin qubits is apt for long distance quantum communication schemes. In practice, due to technical constraints such as detector response time, or the speed with which co-polarized time-bins can be switched, other encodings, e.g. polarization, are often preferred for operations like state detection. Here, we present the conversion of qubits between polarization and time-bin encodings using a method that is based on an ultrafast optical Kerr shutter and attain efficiencies of 97% and an average fidelity of 0.827+/-0.003 with shutter speeds near 1 ps. Our demonstration delineates an essential requirement for the development of hybrid and high-rate optical quantum networks.
@article{arxiv.1708.07145,
title = {Time-bin to Polarization Conversion of Ultrafast Photonic Qubits},
author = {Connor Kupchak and Philip J. Bustard and Khabat Heshami and Jennifer Erskine and Michael Spanner and Duncan G. England and Benjamin J. Sussman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1708.07145},
year = {2017}
}