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Europhysics Letters (EPL)

A new analysis of multi-photon interference

Lei Chen, Chuan‐Feng Li, Ming Gong, Fang‐Wen Sun, Guang‐Can Guo

Published Jan 1, 2009• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We consider photons as wave packets in time domain and analyze the Hong-Ou-Mandel–type interferences in different conditions. The general analytic formula of the 2 N -photon interference is deduced. It is shown that the widths of the time interval distributions of the 2 N -fold coincidence are proportional to the widths of the photon wave packets and inversely proportional to . Good agreement between previous experimental results and our theory for 2- and 4-photon interferences confirms the validity of this method. The method is also generalized to multi-beam interference and some new phenomena compared with two-beam interference are obtained.

DOI
10.1209/0295-5075/85/14001

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We consider photons as wave packets in time domain and analyze the Hong-Ou-Mandel–type interferences in different conditions. The general analytic formula of the 2 N -photon interference is deduced. It is shown that the widths of the time interval distributions of the 2 N -fold coincidence are proportional to the widths of the photon wave packets and inversely proportional to . Good agreement between previous experimental results and our theory for 2- and 4-photon interferences confirms the validity of this method. The method is also generalized to multi-beam interference and some new phenomena compared with two-beam interference are obtained.
The dip in the Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) experiment is frequently attributed to the interference of two indistinguishable photons. The width of the dip is inversely proportional to the spectral bandwidth of the light. We confirm that this width is unchanged regardless of where the bandwidth selection happens, i.e. prior to the photons combining in the beam splitter or just before the detectors; the latter case seemingly after the interference of the photons. The equivalence of the results from these two cases is a simple demonstration that the interference in the HOM experiment is not between photons, but rather between probability amplitudes.
Abstract Abstract: Advanced quantum communication protocols require high-visibility quantum interference between photons generated at distant nodes, which places stringent demands on optical synchronization. Conventionally, synchronization of optical wave packets relies on pulsed sources and precise optical path stabilization. An alternative approach employs continuous-wave (CW) photon-pair sources, where temporal indistinguishability of photons is enforced by post-selecting detection events within a coincidence window τ w shorter than the photon coherence time T c . Despite its conceptual simplicity, the quantitative relation between relevant time scales, achievable interference visibility, and usable multi-photon rates has remained unclear. Here, we develop in detail and experimentally validate a theoretical framework that quantitatively describes time-resolved multi-photon interference in the CW regime. We explicitly incorporate detector timing jitter, photon coherence time, and temporal post-selection. The model is verified using four-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel interference measurements. Based on this validated framework, we determine the coincidence window that maximizes usable four-photon rates for a target interference visibility. Finally, we compare CW and pulsed spontaneous parametric down-conversion sources under equivalent indistinguishability constraints and show that CW operation can achieve comparable rates while relaxing optical synchronization requirements.
In this paper, we carry out investigation on the HOM interference between two independent photons by using interference filters with different bandwidth both in theory and experiment. Our experimental results are consistent with the theoretical predictions. From the experimental and theoretical results, we find that interference filters with a narrower bandwidth can help to give a larger coherence length, due to the broadening of photon wave-packet in the spatial domain, resulting in an higher interference visibility. Furthermore, a combination of interference filters with different bandwidths may help to achieve a nice balance between coincidence counting rate and interference visibility. Our present work might provide valuable reference for further implementation of HOM interference in the field of quantum information.
Advanced quantum communication protocols require high-visibility quantum interference between photons generated at distant nodes, which places stringent demands on optical synchronization. Conventionally, synchronization of optical wave packets relies on pulsed sources and precise optical path stabilization. An alternative approach employs continuous-wave (CW) photon-pair sources, where temporal indistinguishability is enforced by post-selecting detection events within a coincidence window τwτ_wτw​ shorter than the photon coherence time TcT_cTc​. Despite its conceptual simplicity, the quantitative relation between relevant time scales, achievable interference visibility, and usable multi-photon rates has remained unclear. Here, we develop in detail and experimentally validate a theoretical framework that quantitatively describes time-resolved multi-photon interference in the CW regime. We explicitly incorporate detector timing jitter, photon coherence time, and temporal post-selection. The model is verified using four-photon Hong-Ou-Mandel interference measurements. Based on this validated framework, we determine the coincidence window that maximizes usable four-photon rates for a target visibility. Finally, we compare CW and pulsed SPDC sources under equivalent indistinguishability constraints and show that CW operation can achieve comparable rates while relaxing optical synchronization requirements.
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 observation of the Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM)-type two-photon interference (TPI) has played an important role in the development of photonic quantum technologies. The time-resolved coincidence-detection technique has been effectively used to identify and characterize the TPI phenomena of long-coherence optical fields. Here, we report on the experimental demonstration of the TPI of two phase-randomized weak coherent pulses with time-resolved coincidence detection. The mutual coherence time between the two weak coherent lights is determined by applying a frequency noise to one of the two interfering lights. We analyze the HOM-type TPI fringe visibility according to the ratio of the coherence time to the pulse duration.