Linear optical universal quantum gates with higher success probabilities

Abstract: Universal quantum gates lie at the heart of designing quantum computer. We construct two compact quantum circuits to implement post-selected controlled-phase-flip (CPF) gate and Toffoli gate with linear optics assisted by one and two single photons, respectively. The current existing maximum success probability of 1/4 for linear optical CPF gate is achieved by resorting to an ancillary single photon rather than an entangled photon pair or two single photons. Remarkably, our Toffoli gate is accomplished with current maximum success probability of 1/30 without using additional entangled photon pairs and the standard decomposition-based approach. Linear optical implementations of the presented two universal gates are feasible under current technology and provide a potential application in large-scale optical quantum computing.