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arXiv:1312.5068 · Europhysics Letters (EPL)

The second-order interference between laser and thermal light

Jianbin Liu, Yu Zhou, Fuli Li, Zhuo Xu

Published Mar 1, 2014• 23 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Two-photon anticorrelation is observed when laser and pseudothermal light beams are incident to the two input ports of a Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer, respectively. The spatial second-order interference pattern of laser and pseudothermal light beams is reported. Temporal Hong-Ou-Mandel dip is also observed when these two detectors are at the symmetrical positions. These results are helpful to understand the physics behind the second-order interference of light.

DOI
10.1209/0295-5075/105/64007

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Two-photon anticorrelation is observed when laser and pseudothermal light beams are incident to the two input ports of a Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer, respectively. The spatial second-order interference pattern of laser and pseudothermal light beams is reported. Temporal Hong-Ou-Mandel dip is also observed when these two detectors are at the symmetrical positions. These results are helpful to understand the physics behind the second-order interference of light.
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The first- and second-order temporal interference between two independent thermal and laser light beams is discussed by employing the superposition principle in Feynman's path integral theory. It is concluded that the first-order temporal interference pattern can not be observed by superposing two independent thermal and laser light beams, while the second-order temporal interference pattern can be observed in the same condition. These predictions are experimentally verified by employing pseudothermal light to simulate thermal light. The relationship between the indistinguishability of alternatives and photons is analyzed. The conclusions are helpful to understand the interference of different kinds of light and the difference between the coherence properties of thermal and laser light.
The Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect ranks among the most notable quantum interference phenomena, and is central to many applications in quantum technologies. The fundamental effect appears when two independent and indistinguishable photons are superimposed on a beam splitter, which achieves a complete suppression of coincidences between the two output ports. Much less studied, however, is when the fields share coherence (continuous-wave lasers) or mode envelope properties (pulsed lasers). In this case, we expect the existence of two distinct and concurrent HOM interference regimes: the traditional HOM dip on the coherence length time scale, and a structured HOM interference pattern on the pulse length scale. We develop a theoretical framework that describes HOM interference for laser fields having arbitrary temporal waveforms and only partial overlap in time. We observe structured HOM interference from a continuous-wave laser via fast polarization modulation and time-resolved single photon detection fast enough to resolve these structured HOM dips.
We report two-photon interference with continuous-wave multi-mode coherent light. We show that the two-photon interference, in terms of the detection time difference, reveals two-photon beating fringes with the visibility V = 0.5. While scanning the optical delay of the interferometer, Hong-Ou-Mandel dips or peaks are measured depending on the chosen detection time difference. The HOM dips/peaks are repeated when the optical delay and the first-order coherence revival period of the multi-mode coherent light are the same. These results help to understand the nature of two-photon interference and also can be useful for quantum information science.
The second-order interference of two independent photons with different spectra in a Shih–Alley/Hong–Ou–Mandel interferometer is studied in Feynman’s path integral theory. There is a second-order interference pattern for photons with different spectra if the photons are indistinguishable for the employed detection system. The conditions to observe the second-order temporal beating with photons of different spectra are analyzed. The influence of the response time of the detection system on the observed second-order interference pattern is also discussed. It is a direct result of that measurement in quantum mechanics is dependent on the employed measuring apparatus. The results are helpful to understand the physics of two-photon interference in different schemes.
Two-photon interference effects arise because photons are indistinguishable particles. In the wellknown Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect, the transmission of two photons at a beam splitter interferes destructively with the reflection of both photons, requiring both photons to "bunch up" by leaving the beam splitter on the same side. Here, we show that the interference between locally propagating photons and photons exchanged by a mode swap can be implemented by post-selecting spatially separated photon outputs of a four-path interferometer. Even though the photons detected at spatially separated locations must have travelled along paths that never met up at the same beam splitter, the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect can be observed in correlations between the output ports that originate from the association of detection events with non-local output modes defined by the two single photon inputs. Local phase shifts can be used to map out non-classical correlations between the photons detected at different output locations, clarifying the role of linear optics in generating entanglement between spatially separated photons. Our work thus establishes a fundamental relation between multiphoton interference and entanglement, opening the door to new possibilities in optical quantum technologies.