We report on the experimental realization of an optical version of the fractional and standard Fourier transform using discrete photonic lattices. Our approach is fully integrated and free of bulk optical components. We investigate the transformation of classical and quantum light.
Fourier transforms, integer and fractional, are ubiquitous mathematical tools in basic and applied science. Certainly, since the ordinary Fourier transform is merely a particular case of a continuous set of fractional Fourier domains, every property and application of the ordinary Fourier transform becomes a special case of the fractional Fourier transform. Despite the great practical importance of the discrete Fourier transform, implementation of fractional orders of the corresponding discrete operation has been elusive. Here we report classical and quantum optical realizations of the discrete fractional Fourier transform. In the context of classical optics, we implement discrete fractional Fourier transforms of exemplary wave functions and experimentally demonstrate the shift theorem. Moreover, we apply this approach in the quantum realm to Fourier transform separable and path-entangled biphoton wave functions. The proposed approach is versatile and could find applications in various fields where Fourier transforms are essential tools.
Light processing plays a central role in quantum communication, since optical quantum networks that will allow for secure quantum communication [1] and linking quantum computers [2] are of significant scientific and engineering interest [3], [4]. In this work, we present the experimental implementation of optical Fractional Fourier Transform. The protocol is realised in gradient echo memory. Hermite-Gaussian modes of light are encoded in rubidium atoms with the coupling impulse linearly chirped in frequency - this corresponds to the temporal lens [5]. Then the ac-Stark beam is applied to the atoms which leads to them acquiring the spectral phase corresponding to the propagation through a spectral lens. This operation results in the rotation of the Wigner function of the input state [6] and is exactly the Fractional Fourier Transform (FrFT) of the input function. The Hermite-Gaussian modes of light are the eigenfunctions of FrFT.
We have extended Fourier transform of quantum light to a fractional Fourier processing, and demonstrated that a classical optical fractional Fourier processor can be used for the shaping of quantum correlations between two or more photons. Comparing the present method with that of Fourier processing, we find that fractional Fourier processing for quantum light possesses many advantages. Based on such a method, not only quantum correlations can be shaped more rich, but also the initial states can be easily identified. Moreover, the twisted phase information can be recovered and quantum states are easily controlled in performing quantum information experiments. Our findings open up new avenues for the manipulation of correlations between photons in optical quantum information processing.