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arXiv:1908.01016 · Physical Review A

Talbot effect of orbital angular momentum lattices with single photons

Sacha Schwarz, Connor Kapahi, Ronghui Xu, Andrew Cameron, Dusan Sarenac, J. P. W. MacLean, Katanya B. Kuntz, David G. Cory, Thomas D. Jennewein, Kevin J. Resch, Dmitry A. Pushin

Published Apr 13, 2020• 30 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The self-imaging, or Talbot effect, that occurs with the propagation of periodically structured waves has enabled several unique applications in optical metrology, image processing, data transmission, and matter-wave interferometry. In this paper, we report on a demonstration of a Talbot effect with single photons prepared in a lattice of orbital angular momentum (OAM) states. We observe that upon propagation the wavefronts of the single photons manifest self-imaging whereby the OAM lattice intensity profile is recovered. Furthermore, we show that the intensity at fractional Talbot distances is indicative of a periodic helical phase structure corresponding to a lattice of OAM states. This phenomenon is a powerful addition to the toolbox of orbital angular momentum and spin-orbit techniques that have already enabled many recent developments in quantum optics.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.101.043815

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The self-imaging, or Talbot effect, that occurs with the propagation of periodically structured waves has enabled several unique applications in optical metrology, image processing, data transmission, and matter-wave interferometry. In this paper, we report on a demonstration of a Talbot effect with single photons prepared in a lattice of orbital angular momentum (OAM) states. We observe that upon propagation the wavefronts of the single photons manifest self-imaging whereby the OAM lattice intensity profile is recovered. Furthermore, we show that the intensity at fractional Talbot distances is indicative of a periodic helical phase structure corresponding to a lattice of OAM states. This phenomenon is a powerful addition to the toolbox of orbital angular momentum and spin-orbit techniques that have already enabled many recent developments in quantum optics.
The thesis introduces two single-photon experiments with the lattice of spin-orbit arrays. The basic background knowledge has been introduced in Chapter 1. Chapters 2-4 describe the detailed techniques used in these two experiments. \n \nIn the first work, we implement a remote state preparation protocol on our single-photon orbital angular momentum (OAM) lattice state via hybrid-entanglement. Remote state preparation is a variant of quantum state teleportation where the sender knows the transmitted state. It is known to require fewer classical resources and exhibit a nontrivial trade-off between the entanglement and classical communication compared with quantum teleportation. Here we propose a state preparation scheme between two spatially separated photons sharing a hybrid-entangled polarization-OAM state. By sending one of the polarization-entangled photon pairs through Lattice of Optical Vortex prism pairs, we generate a two-dimensional lattice of spin-orbit coupled single-photons. We show that the measurement taken by an electron-multiplying intensified CCD camera on the transformed photons can be remotely prepared by the polarization projection of the other. Our protocol could have a significant impact on long-distance quantum communication with higher channel capacity and lead to more efficient and compatible quantum information processing techniques. \n \nThe second experiment investigates the single-photon Talbot Effect in spin-orbit arrays. The Talbot Effect is a near-field diffraction effect, that occurs with the propagation of periodically structured waves. It has enabled several unique applications in optical metrology, image processing, data transmission, and matter-wave interferometry. We observe that upon propagation, the wavefronts of the single photons manifest self-imaging whereby the OAM lattice intensity profile is recovered. Furthermore, we show that the intensity distribution at each fractional Talbot distance is indicative of the periodic helical phase structure corresponding to a lattice of OAM states. This phenomenon is a significant addition to the toolbox of orbital angular momentum and spin-orbit techniques that are becoming increasingly important in optical implementations of quantum information.
The Talbot effect, a wave-optical self-imaging phenomenon originally observed in real-space, has developed into a powerful framework for programmable modal transformations across diverse physical platforms. Here, we report the experimental demonstration of nonlocal Talbot transformations within a high-dimensional, orbital angular momentum (OAM) entangled two-photon system. By exploiting the intrinsic nonlocal correlations generated through spontaneous parametric down-conversion, we show that applying an azimuthal Talbot phase on one photon of an entangled pair is sufficient to coherently reshape the OAM modal distribution of its spatially separated partner, without any direct local operation on the latter. As a proof of principle, we further demonstrate the inverse Talbot transformation within the same platform by incorporating the required quadratic phase during the state-preparation stage. These results extend Talbot physics from local mode manipulation to entanglement-assisted nonlocal transformations in a high-dimensional discrete basis. The demonstrated platform opens versatile routes toward conditional remote OAM-mode conversion, structured entangled-state engineering, and high-dimensional quantum information processing.
The quantum Talbot effects with orbital angular momentum (OAM) photons have been investigated theoretically. Two schemes, holographic ghost-image and twin-photon configuration, have been considered. They exhibit unique properties, which are different from the cases of previous classical and quantum Talbot effects. The Talbot effects in the present schemes originate from lateral translation of the periodic object instead of transverse coherences of optical fields or photon wave functions. The Talbot pattern in the present case can be manipulated by the OAM number of the incident photons, which is equivalent to the Talbot effect of an effective periodic object illuminated by photons without the OAM. This means that complex diffraction patterns of an unusual periodic object can be obtained by designing the Talbot effect with OAM photons, which provides a promising idea in optical designs for the diffraction patterns.
Optical orbital angular momentum (OAM) is a special property of photons and has evoked research onto the light–matter interaction in both classical and quantum regimes. In classical optics, OAM is related to an optical vortex with a helical phase structure. In quantum optics, photons with a twisted or helical phase structure will carry a quantized OAM. To our knowledge, however, so far, no experiment has demonstrated the fundamental property of the OAM at the single-photon level. In this Letter, we have demonstrated the average photon trajectories of twisted photons in a double-slit interference. We have experimentally captured the double-slit interference process of twisted photons by a time-gated intensified charge-coupled device camera, which is trigged by a heralded detection. Our work provides new perspectives for understanding the micro-behaviors of twisted particles and enables new applications in imaging and sensing.
We report on an imaging-inspired measurement of orbital angular momentum (OAM) using only a simple tilted lens and an intensified charged coupled device camera, allowing us to monitor the propagation of OAM structured photons over distance, which is crucial for free-space quantum communication networks. We demonstrate the measurement of OAM orders as high as ls = 14 in a heralded single-photon source and show, for the first time, the imaged self-interference of photons carrying OAM in a modified Mach–Zehnder interferometer. The described methods reveal both the charge and order of a photon's OAM and provide a proof of concept for the interference of a single OAM photon with itself. Using these tools, we are able to study the propagation characteristics of OAM photons over a distance, which is important for estimating transport in free-space quantum links. By translating these classical tools into the quantum domain, we offer a robust and direct approach for the complete characterization of a twisted single-photon source, an important building block of a quantum network.
Optical beams with periodic lattice structures have broadened the study of structured waves. In the present work, we generate spin-orbit entangled photon states with a lattice structure and use them in a remote state preparation protocol. We sequentially measure spatially-dependent correlation rates with an electron-multiplying intensified CCD camera and verify the successful remote preparation of spin-orbit states by performing pixel-wise quantum state tomography. Control of these novel structured waves in the quantum regime provides a method for quantum sensing and manipulation of periodic structures.