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Accurate population transfer of uncoupled or weakly coupled spin states is crucial for many quantum information processing tasks. In this paper, we propose a fast and robust scheme for population transfer which combines invariant-based inverse engineering and geometric formalism for robust quantum control. Our scheme is not constrained by the adiabatic condition and therefore can be implemented fast. It can also effectively suppress the dominant noise in spin systems, which together with the fast feature guarantees the accuracy of the population transfer. Moreover, the control parameters of the driving Hamiltonian in our scheme are easy to design because they correspond to the curvature and torsion of a three-dimensional visual space curve derived by using geometric formalism for robust quantum control. We test the efficiency of our scheme by numerically simulating the ground-state population transfer in $^{15}$N nitrogen vacancy centers and comparing our scheme with stimulated Raman transition, stimulated Raman adiabatic passage and conventional shortcuts to adiabaticity based schemes, three types of popularly used schemes for population transfer. The numerical results clearly show that our scheme is advantageous over these previous ones., Comment: Accepted by Physical Review A

Because of using geometric phases, nonadiabatic geometric gates have the robustness against control errors. On the other hand, decoherence still affects nonadiabatic geometric gates, which is a key factor in reducing their fidelities. In this paper, we show that based on the system Hamiltonian that realizes a nonadiabatic geometric gate, one may construct a new system Hamiltonian, by using which not only the geometric feature of the nonadiabatic geometric gate is preserved, but also the system's coherence is protected. As a result, a coherence-protected nonadiabatic geometric gate is realized with the new system Hamiltonian and this gate has the robustness against both control errors and decoherence. We further implement our scheme with nitrogen-vacancy centers and show that a universal set of coherence-protected nonadiabatic geometric gates can be realized. Our scheme does not need auxiliary systems or the encoding of logical qubits with physical qubits, which saves resources for the implementation. Due to the robustness against both control errors and decoherence, our scheme provides a promising way to realize high-fidelity quantum gates.

Terahertz (THz) band is considered as the next frontier in wireless communications. The emerging THz multiplexing techniques are expected to dramatically increase the information capacity of THz communications far beyond a single channel limit. In this work, we explore the THz frequency-division multiplexing modality enabled by novel add-drop multiplexer (ADM) design. Based on modular two-wire plasmonic waveguides fabricated using additive manufacturing and metallization techniques, we demonstrate four-port THz ADMs containing grating-loaded side couplers for operation at ~140 GHz carrier frequency. Particular attention is payed to the design of plasmonic waveguide Bragg gratings and directional couplers capable of splitting broadband THz light in spectral and spatial domains, respectively. Finally, we demonstrate multiplexing and demultiplexing of THz signals with bit rates up to 6 Gbps using the developed ADMs. We believe that proposed plasmonic circuits hold strong potential to provide robust integrated solutions for analogue signal processing in the upcoming THz communications.

In this work, a novel infinity 3D printing technique is explored to fabricate continuous multi-meter-long low-loss near-zero dispersion suspended-core polypropylene fibers for application in terahertz (THz) communications. Particular attention is paid to process parameter optimization for 3D printing with low-loss polypropylene plastic. Three microstructured THz fibers were 3D printed using the standard and infinity 3D printers, and an in-depth theoretical and experimental comparison between the fibers were carried out. Transmission losses (by power) of 4.79 dB/m, 17.34 dB/m and 11.13 dB/m are experimentally demonstrated for the three fibers operating at 128 GHz. Signal transmission with BER far below the forward error correction limit (10-3) for the corresponding three fiber types of lengths of 2 m, 0.75 m and 1.6 m are observed, and an error-free transmission is realized at the bit rates up to 5.2 Gbps. THz imaging of the fiber near-field is used to visualize modal distributions and study optimal fiber excitation conditions. The ability of shielding the fundamental mode from the environment, mechanical robustness and ease of handling of thus developed effectively single-mode high optical performance fibers make them excellent candidates for upcoming fiber-assisted THz communications. Additionally, novel fused deposition modeling (FDM)-based infinity printing technique allows continuous fabrication of unlimited in length fibers of complex transverse geometries using advanced thermoplastic composites, which, in our opinion, is poised to become a key fabrication technique for advanced terahertz fiber manufacturing.

In this work, we present an in-depth experimental and numerical study of the short-range THz communications links that use subwavelength dielectric fibers for information transmission and define main challenges and tradeoffs in the link implementation. Particularly, we use air or foam-cladded polypropylene-core subwavelength dielectric THz fibers of various diameters (0.57-1.75 mm) to study link performance as a function of the link length of up to ~10 m, and data bitrates of up to 6 Gbps at the carrier frequency of 128 GHz (2.34 mm wavelength). We find that depending on the fiber diameter, the quality of the transmitted signal is mostly limited either by the modal propagation loss or by the fiber velocity dispersion (GVD). An error-free transmission over 10 meters is achieved for the bit rate of 4 Gbps using the fiber of smaller 0.57 mm diameter. Furthermore, since the fields of subwavelength fibers are weakly confined and extend deep into the air cladding, we study the modal field extent outside of the fiber core, as well as fiber bending loss. Finally, the power budget of the rod-in-air subwavelength THz fiber-based links is compared to that of free space communication links and we demonstrate that fiber links offer an excellent solution for various short-range applications.