Realization of the optimal phase-covariant quantum cloning machine
Fabio Sciarrino, F. De Martini · Physical Review A · 2005
In several quantum information (QI) phenomena of large technological importance the information is carried by the phase of the quantum superposition states, or qubits. The phase-covariant cloning machine (PQCM) addresses precisely the problem of optimally copying these qubits with the largest attainable ``fidelity.'' We present a general scheme which realizes the $1\ensuremath{\rightarrow}3$ phase covariant cloning process by a combination of three different QI processes: the universal cloning, the NOT gate, and the projection over the symmetric subspace of the output qubits. The experimental implementation of a PQCM for polarization encoded qubits, the first ever realized with photons, is reported.