Generation of time-domain-multiplexed two-dimensional cluster state

Abstract

Generating large-scale cluster states The development of a practical quantum computer requires universality, scalability, and fault tolerance. Although much progress is being made in circuit platforms in which arrays of qubits are addressed and manipulated individually, scale-up of such systems is experimentally challenging. Asavanant et al. and Larsen et al. explore an alternative route: measurement-based quantum computation, which is a platform based on the generation of large-scale cluster states. As these are optically prepared and easier to handle (one simply performs local measurements on each individual component of the cluster state), such a platform is readily scalable and fault tolerant. The topology of the cluster state ensures that the approach meets the requirements for quantum computation. Science, this issue p. 373, p. 369 Two-dimensional cluster states are generated, a necessary requirement for universal quantum computing. Entanglement is the key resource for measurement-based quantum computing. It is stored in quantum states known as cluster states, which are prepared offline and enable quantum computing by means of purely local measurements. Universal quantum computing requires cluster states that are both large and possess (at least) a two-dimensional topology. Continuous-variable cluster states—based on bosonic modes rather than qubits—have previously been generated on a scale exceeding one million modes, but only in one dimension. Here, we report generation of a large-scale two-dimensional continuous-variable cluster state. Its structure consists of a 5- by 1240-site square lattice that was tailored to our highly scalable time-multiplexed experimental platform. It is compatible with Bosonic error-correcting codes that, with higher squeezing, enable fault-tolerant quantum computation.