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Frontiers in Optics

Building multimode quantum optical networks

Ian A. Walmsley, J. Nunn, Nathan K. Langford, Animesh Datta, L. Zhang, Brian J. Smith, Nicholas L. Thomas-Peter, Justin B. Spring, B. Metcalf, D. Englland, K. Reim, Patrick Michelberger, T. F. M. Champion

Published Jan 1, 2011• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Light offers a route to the generation of macroscopic quantum states based on both multiple photons (e.g. Schrödinger kittens) and multiple modes (e.g. Dicke-Werner). The combination of these approaches affords new possibilities in both fundamental physics and in technological applications. The routes to building scalabl networks embodying such systems from feasible laboratory resources will be discussed.

DOI
10.1364/ls.2011.ltuf1

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Light offers a route to the generation of macroscopic quantum states based on both multiple photons (e.g. Schrödinger kittens) and multiple modes (e.g. Dicke-Werner). The combination of these approaches affords new possibilities in both fundamental physics and in technological applications. The routes to building scalabl networks embodying such systems from feasible laboratory resources will be discussed.
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Transport of information through a multimode optical fibre raises challenges when one wants to increase the data traffic using many spatial modes due to modal cross-talk and dispersion. Instead of considering those complex mixing of modes as a detrimental process, in this dissertation, we harness its mode mixing to process quantum optical information. We implement a reconfigurable linear optical network, a fundamental building block for scalable quantum technologies, based on an inverse photonic approach exploiting the technology of wavefront shaping. We experimentally demonstrate manipulation of two-photon quantum interference on various linear optical networks across both spatial and polarization degrees of freedom. In particular, we experimentally show the zero-transmission law in Fourier and Sylvester interferometers, which are used to certificate the degree of indistinguishability of an input state. Moreover, thanks to the ability to implement a non-unitary network, we observe the photon anti-coalescence effect in all output configurations, as well as the realization of a tunable coherent absorption experiment. Therefore, we demonstrate the reconfigurability, accuracy, scalability and robustness of the implemented linear optical networks for quantum information processing. Furthermore, we study the statistical properties of one-and two-photon speckles generated from various ground-truth states of light after propagating through a multimode fibre. These statistical properties of speckles can be used to extract information about the dimensionality, purity, and indistinguishability of an unknown input state of light, therefore allowing for state classification. Our results highlight the potential of complex media combined with wavefront shaping for quantum information processing.
While the interface between strong-field physics and quantum optics offers a unique regime for combining extreme nonlinearity with quantum optical resources, its potential for generating non-classical states of light remains largely unexplored. Standard protocols for generating optical Schrödinger cat states, such as photon subtraction from squeezed light, are inherently limited in the achievable macroscopicity of the state and its scalability. In this work, we bridge this gap by demonstrating that above-threshold ionization driven by bright squeezed light provides a strong-field analogue of photon subtraction, where photoelectron detection acts as a high-intensity heralding mechanism, enabling the generation of large amplitude optical Schrödinger cat states. We characterize the resulting non-Gaussian features and show that they can be tuned via the detected photoelectron momentum, and study their robustness against the experimental imperfections arising from finite momentum resolution at the heralding step. Despite the noise, we show that the generated states can be manipulated to violate a Bell inequality, thereby highlighting their potential for foundational and practical applications. Our results establish strong-field processes as a scalable platform for macroscopic quantum state engineering, opening a route to quantum optics in previously inaccessible regimes.