Experimental Demonstration of Decoherence-Free One-Way Information Transfer

R. Prevedel, M. S. Tame, A. Stefanov, M. Paternostro, M. S. Kim, A. Zeilinger

Published 2007-08-07, updated 2007-12-20Version 2

We report the experimental demonstration of a one-way quantum protocol reliably operating in the presence of decoherence. Information is protected by designing an appropriate decoherence-free subspace for a cluster state resource. We demonstrate our scheme in an all-optical setup, encoding the information into the polarization states of four photons. A measurement-based one-way information-transfer protocol is performed with the photons exposed to severe symmetric phase-damping noise. Remarkable protection of information is accomplished, delivering nearly ideal outcomes.