Compact and programmable large-scale optical processor in free space

[2506.09802] Compact and programmable large-scale optical processor in free space Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Search arXiv Press Enter to search · Advanced search Physics > Optics arXiv:2506.09802 (physics) [Submitted on 11 Jun 2025 ( v1 ), last revised 15 Sep 2025 (this version, v2)] Title: Compact and programmable large-scale optical processor in free space Authors: Maria Gorizia Ammendola , Nazanin Dehghan , Lukas Scarfe , Alessio D'Errico , Francesco Di Colandrea , Ebrahim Karimi , Filippo Cardano View a PDF of the paper titled Compact and programmable large-scale optical processor in free space, by Maria Gorizia Ammendola and 6 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: Photonic circuits are central to classical and quantum information processing. While integrated technologies dominate, free-space architectures are emerging as attractive alternatives, offering broad bandwidth and direct manipulation of optical modes without confinement in waveguides. A key challenge for scalability lies in circuit depth, as the number of layers manipulating the optical field typically grows with the system size. Here, we introduce a programmable free-space photonic platform that performs high-dimensional unitary transformations using only three layers. Information is encoded in structured light modes defined by circular polarization and quantized transverse momenta, and processed with spatial light modulators interleaved with half-wave plates. We implement unitaries that are equivalent to quantum walks over up to 30 time steps, in one- and two-dimensional lattices, distributing a single input mode across more than 7,000 outputs, where conventional approaches would require tens or hundreds of layers. Despite being restricted to translationally-invariant systems, the platform supports diverse quantum walk dynamics, including disorder, synthetic gauge fields, and topological effects, previously explored only in separate experiments. Using coincidence detection with a time-tagging camera, we show compatibility with quantum optics protocols and provide examples of quantum walks of heralded single photons. These results contribute to establish free-space optical processors as promising resources for high-dimensional quantum simulation and scalable optical information processing. Subjects: Optics (physics.optics) Cite as: arXiv:2506.09802 [physics.optics] (or arXiv:2506.09802v2 [physics.optics] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.09802 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Journal reference: Light: Science & Applications, 15(1), 179 (2026) Related DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-026-02236-2 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Francesco Di Colandrea [ view email ] [v1] Wed, 11 Jun 2025 14:43:55 UTC (2,718 KB) [v2] Mon, 15 Sep 2025 13:43:03 UTC (2,720 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Compact and programmable large-scale optical processor in free space, by Maria Gorizia Ammendola and 6 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: physics.optics < prev | next > new | recent | 2025-06 Change to browse by: physics References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... 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