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Physical Review A

Quantum correlations in position, momentum, and intermediate bases for a full optical field of view

Jonathan Leach, Ryan E. Warburton, David G. Ireland, Frauke Izdebski, Stephen Mark Barnett, Alison M. Yao, Gerald S. Buller, Miles J. Padgett

Published Jan 20, 2012• 21 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report an eight-element, linear-array, single-photon detector that uses multiple fibers of differing lengths coupled to a single detector, the timing information from which reveals the position in which the photon was measured. Using two such arrays and two detectors we measure the correlations of photons produced by parametric downconversion, without recourse to mechanical scanning. Spatial light modulators acting as variable focal length lenses positioned between the downconversion crystal and the arrays allow us to switch between measurement of position, transverse momentum, or intermediate bases. We observe the product of the variances of the conditional probabilities for position and momentum to be more than an order of magnitude below the classical limit, realizing a full-field demonstration of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. Such, multistate measurement technologies allow access to the higher information content of the photon based upon spatial modes.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.85.013827

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•Jan 1, 2012•0 citations
We report an eight-element, linear-array, single-photon detector that uses multiple fibers of differing lengths coupled to a single detector, the timing information from which reveals the position in which the photon was measured. Using two such arrays and two detectors we measure the correlations of photons produced by parametric downconversion, without recourse to mechanical scanning. Spatial light modulators acting as variable focal length lenses positioned between the downconversion crystal and the arrays allow us to switch between measurement of position, transverse momentum, or intermediate bases. We observe the product of the variances of the conditional probabilities for position and momentum to be more than an order of magnitude below the classical limit, realizing a full-field demonstration of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. Such, multistate measurement technologies allow access to the higher information content of the photon based upon spatial modes.
We have developed a new approach to measuring the spatial position of a single photon. Using fibers of different length, all connected to a single detector allows us to use the high timing precision of single photon avalanche diodes (SPAD) to spatially locate the photon. We have built two 8-element detector arrays to measure the full-field quantum correlations in position, momentum and intermediate bases for photon pairs produced in parametric down conversion. The strength of the position-momentum correlations is found to be an order of magnitude below the classical limit.
The light produced by parametric down-conversion shows strong spatial entanglement that leads to violations of EPR criteria for separability. Historically, such studies have been performed by scanning a single-element, single-photon detector across a detection plane. Here we show that modern electron-multiplying charge-coupled device cameras can measure correlations in both position and momentum across a multi-pixel field of view. This capability allows us to observe entanglement of around 2,500 spatial states and demonstrate Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen type correlations by more than two orders of magnitude. More generally, our work shows that cameras can lead to important new capabilities in quantum optics and quantum information science. Measuring the entanglement between down-converted photons is central to many quantum optical experiments, and is normally performed by scanning detectors stepwise across a plane. Edgaret al. use a CCD camera to measure the entire entangled light field, finding strong correlations in position and momentum.
Photons entangled in their position-momentum degrees of freedom serve as an elegant manifestation of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, while also enhancing quantum technologies for communication, imaging, and computation. The multimode nature of photons generated in parametric down-conversion has inspired a generation of experiments on high-dimensional entanglement, ranging from complete quantum state teleportation to exotic multipartite entanglement. However, precise characterization of the underlying position-momentum state is notoriously difficult due to limitations in detector technology, resulting in a slow and inaccurate reconstruction riddled with noise. Furthermore, theoretical models for the generated two-photon state often forgo the importance of the measurement system, resulting in a discrepancy between theory and experiment. Here we formalize a description of the two-photon wave function in the spatial domain, referred to as the collected joint-transverse momentum amplitude (JTMA), which incorporates both the generation and measurement system involved. We go on to propose and demonstrate a practical and efficient method to accurately reconstruct the collected JTMA using a simple phase-step scan known as the $2D\ensuremath{\pi}$ measurement. Finally, we discuss how precise knowledge of the collected JTMA enables us to generate tailored high-dimensional entangled states that maximize discrete-variable entanglement measures such as entanglement of formation or entanglement dimensionality, and optimize critical experimental parameters such as photon heralding efficiency. By accurately and efficiently characterizing photonic position-momentum entanglement, our results unlock its full potential for discrete-variable quantum information science and lay the groundwork for future quantum technologies based on multimode entanglement.
use of any of the information contained in it must acknowledge this thesis as the source of the quotation or information. This thesis investigates the measurement of spatial correlations of photon pairs gener-ated through spontaneous parametric down-conversion with single-photon sensitive multi-pixel detectors. A custom designed and fabricated 8×1 fibre array detector for time to position multi-plexing was characterised. This detector was then commissioned in an experiment measuring the spatial correlations of photon pairs in position, momentum and in-termediate bases. The fibre array measured eight positions simultaneously with one Single-Photon Avalanche Diode, which led to an eight-fold increase in the data ac-quisition rate compared to traditional experiments, where a single SPAD was scanned across the detection plane. To capture all of the emitted light, an electron-multiplying CCD (EMCCD) camera was used. The spatial correlations were measured for the first time in momentum and pos-
We demonstrate Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entanglement by detecting purely spatial quantum correlations in the near and far fields of spontaneous parametric down-conversion generated in a type-2 beta barium borate crystal. Full-field imaging is performed in the photon-counting regime with an electron-multiplying CCD camera. The data are used without any postselection, and we obtain a violation of Heisenberg inequalities with inferred quantities taking into account all the biphoton pairs in both the near and far fields by integration on the entire two-dimensional transverse planes. This ensures a rigorous demonstration of the EPR paradox in its original position-momentum form.
The spatial correlations between the photon pairs produced by spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) have been investigated in a number of different configurations over the last two decades (1). The high dimensionality of the transverse spatial degrees of freedom (DOF) of the photon pairs can be explored either by projections onto a discrete (infinite) basis, such as the LG modes, or by using a continuous basis defined by the transverse position or momentum of the photons. For instance, it has been shown that their transverse position and momentum display EPR-type correlations (2). Despite the continuous and unbounded nature of both these bases, the most common measurements to date have relied upon the scanning of a single avalanche photodiode or a very small number of individual detectors. This sequential scanning or small number of detectors negates any information capacity advantage in the use of spatial states. Recent years have seen a rapid advance in imaging technologies, particularly for low light levels. Of these technologies the highest quantum efficiency is achieved using electron multiplying CCDs (EMCCD). Developments in low noise EMCCD cameras suggest they are capable of greater than 80% quantum efficiencies and if operated in an ultra-low light environment whilst being maintained at low temperatures, can provide single photon sensitivity (3). EMCCDs have been used in measurements of sub-shot-noise correlations of intensity fluctuations (4, 5) as well as in intensity correlations measurements (6) in the far field of the photon pairs from SPDC. Here we report the observation of spatial correlations from SPDC using an EMCCD camera in both the image and far-field planes of the down conversion crystal. We pump a BBO crystal at 355nm with a few milli-Watts of optical power and use a simple lens system to relay the down-converted light to an EMCCD array which can be positioned in either the image plane or the far-field of the crystal. Our photon flux is around 1/100 per pixel, which approximately doubles the signal obtained when the light is blocked. We typically record 100,000 individual frames and then sum the auto-correlation of the individual frames. We observed intensity correlation and anti-correlation in the image and far-field planes, respectively. In both cases we make the correlations more visible by subtracting a background which is obtained as the average correlation obtained between successive frames. Using this approach we are able to visualize the strength of the correlations in both position and momentum, showing a variance product nearly one order of magnitude below the classical limit in both x and y directions.