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Science 7 December 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5856, pp. 1567 - 1570
DOI: 10.1126/science.1142892
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Review

Optical Quantum Computing

Jeremy L. O'Brien

In 2001, all-optical quantum computing became feasible with the discovery that scalable quantum computing is possible using only single-photon sources, linear optical elements, and single-photon detectors. Although it was in principle scalable, the massive resource overhead made the scheme practically daunting. However, several simplifications were followed by proof-of-principle demonstrations, and recent approaches based on cluster states or error encoding have dramatically reduced this worrying resource overhead, making an all-optical architecture a serious contender for the ultimate goal of a large-scale quantum computer. Key challenges will be the realization of high-efficiency sources of indistinguishable single photons, low-loss, scalable optical circuits, high-efficiency single-photon detectors, and low-loss interfacing of these components.

Centre for Quantum Photonics, H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory and Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Bristol, Merchant Venturers Building, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UB, UK. E-mail: Jeremy.OBrien{at}bristol.ac.uk

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