The outstanding research efforts in quantum information processing over the past two decades reflect the promise this field of physics provides for practical applications in information science as well as for new approaches towards a better understanding of fundamental questions in quantum mechanics. This thesis focuses on the photon as a principal resource to perform quantum information tasks and on schemes to imprint quantum bits onto its various degrees of freedom. Its weak coupling to the environment makes the photon an ideal carrier to securely transmit information by quantum cryptographic protocols. Moreover, efficient implementations of quantum computing using solely linear optics have been proven. Unfortunately, scalability is not easily achieved by a purely photonic approach since the generation of indistinguishable single photons from multiple emitters remains a difficult task. Thus, proposals for more complex quantum networks suggest an architecture with single photons as information carriers between atomic ensembles that act as storage and processing nodes. Computations including a limited number of qubits, however, may be performed by the linear optics scheme. The thesis starts with the generation and characterization of single-photon states, using a source based on a single optically pumped quantum dot. The capability of these states to implement a quantum algorithm using linear optics and single-photon interference is experimentally demonstrated for the first time. Error correction makes the interferometric setup robust against phase-noise. After successful realization of this proof-of-principle experiment, attention is drawn to the need of plug-and-play single-photon sources. Especially quantum key distribution, the most advanced quantum information technology to date which has even found its way into commercial devices, requires compact and low-cost non-classical light sources.Therefore, a single-photon source based on electrically pumped quantum dots is presented that exhibits unmatched spectral purity and single-photon statistics. Results towards the realization of quantum networks are presented in the following chapters, covering the generation of narrow-band single photons which can efficiently couple to atomic resonances. Photons with a spectral width of less than 3 MHz are created by ultra-bright cavity-enhanced spontaneous parametric down-conversion, and their quantum statistics is studied in detail. A setup for time-bin encoding is demonstrated, capable of imprinting quantum information onto these narrow-band single photons. This thesis concludes with slow-light experiments in atomic ensembles as a model system for atom-photon interaction on the single-photon level. The described experiments demonstrate striking features that make the single photon one of the most remarkable physical systems for the field of quantum information.

The Eighth Rochester Conference on Coherence and Quantum Optics was held on the campus of the University of Rochester during the period June 13-16,2001. This volume contains the proceedings of the meeting. The meeting was preceded by an affiliated conference, the International Conference on Quantum Information, with some overlapping sessions on June 13. The proceedings of the affiliated conference will be published separately by the Optical Society of America. A few papers that were presented in common plenary sessions of the two conferences will be published in both proceedings volumes. More than 268 scientists from 28 countries participated in the week long discussions and presentations. This Conference differed from the previous seven in the CQO series in several ways, the most important of which was the absence of Leonard Mandel. Professor Mandel died a few months before the conference. A special memorial symposium in his honor was held at the end of the conference. The presentations from that symposium are included in this proceedings volume. An innovation, that we believe made an important contribution to the conference, was the inclusion of a series of invited lectures chaired by CQO founder Emil Wolf, reviewing the history of the fields of coherence and quantum optics before about 1970. These were given by three prominent participants in the development of the field, C. Cohen-Tannoudji, 1. F. Clauser, and R. I. Glauber.

This book contains 35 review articles on nanoscience and nanotechnology that were first published in Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Materials and a number of other Nature journals. The articles are all written by leading authorities in their field and cover a wide range of areas in nanoscience and technology, from basic research (such as single-molecule devices and new materials) through to applications (in, for example, nanomedicine and data storage).

In recent years, there has been much synergy between the exciting areas of quantum information science and ultracold atoms. This volume, as part of the proceedings for the XCI session of Les Houches School of Physics (held for the first time outside Europe in Singapore) brings together experts in both fields. The theme of the school focused on two principal topics: quantum information science and ultracold atomic physics. The topics range from Bose Einstein Condensates to Degenerate Fermi Gases to fundamental concepts in Quantum Information Sciences, including some special topics on Quantum Hall Effects, Quantum Phase Transition, Interactions in Quantum Fluids, Disorder and Interference Phenomenoma, Trapped Ions and Atoms, and Quantum Optical Devices.

This multidisciplinary book provides up-to-date coverage of carrier and spin dynamics and energy transfer and structural interaction among nanostructures. Coverage also includes current device applications such as quantum dot lasers and detectors, as well as future applications to quantum information processing. The book will serve as a reference for anyone working with or planning to work with quantum dots.

This book reviews selected topics charterized by great progress and covers the field from theoretical areas to experimental ones. It contains fundamental areas, quantum query complexity, quantum statistical inference, quantum cloning, quantum entanglement, additivity. It treats three types of quantum security system, quantum public key cryptography, quantum key distribution, and quantum steganography. A photonic system is highlighted for the realization of quantum information processing.

About this book This book features a collection of reviews focusing on interrelated topics in nano-optics and nanophononics written by some of the world's leading scientists in these fields. The book discusses recent results of numerical investigations of light-matter interactions at the nanoscale using first-principles calculations. Additionally, it reviews selected topics in the areas of nanophotonic devices based on functional nanoparticles for energy harvesting and the development of photo materials for advanced applications in optics and nanotechnologies. Finally, the book reviews the experimental development of quantum-dot single-photon sources on integrated photonic circuits and looks at applications in quantum information processing and quantum information distribution based on color center in diamond.