Deterministic unitary operations on time-bin qudits for quantum communication

Abstract

We show for the first time how deterministic unitary operations on time-bin qubits encoded in single photon pulses can be realized using fiber optics components that are available with current technology. We also generalize this result to operations on time-bin qudits, i.e. $d$-level systems, and show that this can be done efficiently using 2$\times$2 beamsplitters and phase modulators. Important benefits for experimental quantum communication are highlighted. This work shows how to bridge the gap between current proof-of-principle demonstrations and complete, deterministic experiments.