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quEDU

The Science Kit for Quantum Education

  • quEDU - a Science Kit for Quantum Physics: spin manipulation of NV centers, entangled photon pairs and much more.
  • Overview
  • Key Features
  • Experiment Boards
  • Sample Experiments
  • Downloads & Links
The quEDU is a platform for various quantum physics experiments. It contains single photon detectors and time tagging electronics for data acquisition and analysis as well as digital interfaces to control the experiments.

The quEDU and its experiment boards combine the latest achievements in quantum optics technology into an easy-to-use system for academic, research and applied purposes with high precision. Advanced models for scientific purposes are also available, with high performance to meet the requirements of state-of-the-art physics experiments.

The qutools Quantum Education kit is designed with educators in mind. It’s the easiest and most reliable way to explain the complex phenomena of quantum mechanics by generating and analyzing polarization-entangled photon pairs or manipulating electron spins in a diamond.

Key Features

  • Hands-on study of quantum entanglement
  • Photon entanglement and spin manipulation
  • High modularity for different experiments
  • User-friendly operation, complete system
  • Add-ons to extend the number of experiments

Specific Applications

  • Student lab course experiments
  • Violate Bell’s inequalities
  • Heralded single photon source
  • Electron spin manipulation
  • Optically detected magnetic resonance

Control and Usage

  • Touchscreen & rotary buttons
  • 5 ports for experiment boards
  • Pattern generator and pulse streamer
  • Control and data export via USB
  • Remote desktop via WLAN, Ethernet

Detection and Analysis

  • 5 temperature controlled APDs with fiber port
  • 1 fast photodiode with fiber port
  • Time tagging electronics with picosecond jitter
  • Singles & coincidence events counting
  • Analysis and processing of measurement data

Experiment Boards

The quEDU can be connected to various photon sources or experimental boards with optical setups like a Michelson Interferometer or a NV center.

+ NV Nitrogen Vacancy Centers

Quantum Sensing Education by NV-Centers

  • The NV centers in a nitrogen-doped diamond are excited by laser. A pattern generator pulses the laser, the microwave and gated the photodiode.

The NV experiment board allows you to experience the properties of nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond, such as NV center fluorescence, electron spin manipulation, optically detected magnetic resonance, and magnetic field sensing of samples.

At the heart of the NV is a green laser focused on the nitrogen-doped diamond through a microscope objective. The diamond begins to fluoresce in the red wavelength range. This light is collected by the objective and, after some filtering, is coupled into a fiber. The fiber is connected to the quEDU and the fluorescence can be analyzed.

The diamond sample itself is in close proximity to a microwave antenna and is surrounded coils producing a user defined homogeneous magnetic field. In addition, the quEDUs included pattern generator is precisely controlling pulse sequences for laser, microwave, and readout, enabling a multitude of spin-control experiments.

+ ED Entanglement Demonstrator

Entangled Photon Pairs: Ready to violate Bell’s inequalities

  • quED Entanglement Demonstrator - A Science Kit for Quantum Physics

The ED design combines recent achievements of quantum optics technology into an easy-to-use system for academic, research and applied purposes with precise accuracy. Advanced models for scientific purposes are available as well, with a high performance meeting the requirements of state-of-the-art physics experiments. See how the SPDC source works.

+ ED-MI Michelson Interferometer

Demonstrate the wave nature of single photons through their interference or build a quantum eraser.

Single Photon Michelson Interferometer Add-On for the quED.

  • Single Photon Michelson Interferometer Add-On for the quED.

Interference is generally considered to be a wave phenomenon. Curiously it also works with single quantum objects. Use the ED-MI Michelson Interferometer add-on together with the quEDU to show that this is the case. (The photograph shows the motorised version.)

+ ED-HBT Hanbury Brown Twiss
Perform the “Grangier Experiment”, explore the particle nature of single photons with a Hanbury Brown & Twiss setup and build a quantum random bit generator.

Hanbury Brown & Twiss Setup for Heralded Single Photon Sources.

  • Hanbury Brown-Twiss setup Add-On for the quED

Photons (or generally quantum objects) sometimes also behave like particles. With this add-on you can show that photons can not be split up. You can also explore a simple quantum random bit/number generator and use it in combination with the quED-MI to show wave and particle nature of photons in one experiment.

+ ED-HOM Hong–Ou–Mandel Effect
Experience the purely quantum 2-photon interference effect by revealing the Hong-Ou-Mandel dip.

Hong-Ou-Mandel Interferometer Demonstrating 2-Photon Interference.

  • Hong-Ou-Mandel effect Add-On for the quED

When you have two indistinguishable photons and each of them hit one input of a beam splitter, they exit the beam splitter together in one output port. This is an effect you cannot demonstrate with bright light, but with this add-on you can.

+ ED-QKD Quantum Cryptography

Securely distribute a secret key between Alice and Bob with the BB84 protocol.

Quantum Cryptography Add-On for the ED.

One of the most popular industrial applications for quantum phenomena right now is quantum cryptography, or better, quantum key distribution. With this add-on, you can use weak coherent pulses to simulate realistically how a secure communication between two parties (Alice and Bob) is made possible by the BB84 protocol in a real environment.

+ ED-TOM Quantum State Tomography
The quED-TOM let you determine the full quantum state density matrix that defines all properties of either a single photonic qubit or even the two-qubit entangled or non-entangled state that can be produced in the quED source.

Quantum State Tomography Setup

  • Setup of the manual 2-photon tomography with the quED.

A quantum mechanical state can not be determined using only a single measurement. But, if you have an ensemble of equally prepared states, as, e.g., by our SPDC source, there is a procedure that makes the complete determination of the quantum state, i.e. its density matrix, possible.

Sample Experiments

NV Center experiments
NV Center experiments with Pattern Generator
Single Photon Experiments without Interference
Particle Nature of Photons
Quantum Cryptography/QKD: BB84 Protocol
Quantum Random Number Generation
Single Photon Experiments with Interference
Wave Nature of Photons: Single Photon Michelson Interferometer
Quantum Eraser
Wave-Particle Dualism: Michelson + HBT
Photon Pair Experiments with Polarisation Entanglement
Violation of Bell’s Inequality (CHSH)
“Non-Classical” Polarisation Correlations
Photon Pair Experiments without Polarisation Entanglement
Hong-Ou-Mandel 2-Photon Interference
Hong-Ou-Mandel Interference + Hanbury Brown & Twiss
Franson Interference

Downloads

quEDU brochure 07/2023 1.9 MB pdf