A novel diffused photon-pair density wave (DPPDW) composed of correlated polarized photon pairs at different temporal frequencies and orthogonal linearly polarized states is proposed. A theory of DPPDWs is developed. A DPPDW selected by coherence gating and polarization gating that satisfies the diffusion equation has been verified experimentally. The sensitivity of amplitude and phase detection of the heterodyne signal has been improved by the properties of synchronized detection and common-path propagation of polarized pair photons in a multiple-scattering medium. Both reduced scattering coefficient micro2s' and absorption coefficient micro2alpha of the scattering medium in terms of the measured phase and amplitude of the heterodyne signal have been obtained. The detection sensitivity of micro2s' and micro2alpha and the properties of a DPPDW in a multiple-scattering medium are discussed and analyzed.
A novel diffused photon-pair density wave (DPPDW) composed of correlated polarized photon pairs at different temporal frequencies and orthogonal linearly polarized states is proposed. A theory of DPPDWs is developed. A DPPDW selected by coherence gating and polarization gating that satisfies the diffusion equation has been verified experimentally. The sensitivity of amplitude and phase detection of the heterodyne signal has been improved by the properties of synchronized detection and common-path propagation of polarized pair photons in a multiple-scattering medium. Both reduced scattering coefficient micro2s' and absorption coefficient micro2alpha of the scattering medium in terms of the measured phase and amplitude of the heterodyne signal have been obtained. The detection sensitivity of micro2s' and micro2alpha and the properties of a DPPDW in a multiple-scattering medium are discussed and analyzed.
We study quantum correlation and interference of fiber-based telecom-band photon pairs with one photon of the pair experiencing multiple scattering in a random medium. We measure joint probability of two-photon detection for signal photon in a normal channel and idler photon in a channel, which is subjected to two independent conditions: standard loss (neutral density filter) and random media. We observe that both conditions degrade the correlation of signal and idler photons, and depolarization of the idler photon in random medium can enhance two-photon interference at certain relative polarization angles. Our theoretical calculation on two-photon polarization correlation and interference as a function of mean free path is in agreement with our experiment data. We conclude that quantum correlation of a polarization-entangled photon pair is better preserved than a polarization-correlated photon pair as one photon of the pair scatters through a random medium.
We consider the propagation of several entangled photons through an elastically scattering medium and study statistical properties of their speckle patterns. We find the spatial correlations of multiphoton speckles and their sensitivity to changes of system parameters. Our analysis covers both the directed-wave regime, where rays propagate almost ballistically while experiencing small-angle diffusion, and the real-space diffusive regime. We demonstrate that long-range correlations of the speckle patterns dominate experimental signatures for large-aperture photon detectors. We also show that speckle sensitivity depends strongly on the number of photons N in the incoming beam, increasing as N in the directed-wave regime and as N in the diffusive regime.
We generally accept the experimentally observed criteria for heterodyne detections that the two waves that are mixed must (i) be collinear, (ii) have matched wave fronts and (iii) cannot be orthogonally polarized. We have not found in the literature adequate physical explanations for these requirements. The purpose of this paper is to find deeper physical understanding of the coherent heterodyne detection processes that could lead to better coherent laser radar system designs1. We find that there are a number of unresolved paradoxes in classical and quantum optics regarding the definitions and understanding of the "interference" and "coherence" properties of light, which are attributed as essentially due to inherent properties of the EM waves. A deeper exploration indicates that it is the various quantum mechanical properties of the detecting material dipoles that make light detectable (visible, or measurable) to us. Accordingly, all the properties that we generally attribute to only light, are in reality manifestations of collective properties of dipole-light interactions. "Interference" and "coherence" can be better understood in terms of this mutual interaction, followed by energy absorption by the dipoles from EM wave fields, manifesting in some measurable transformation of the detecting dipoles. Light beams do not interfere by themselves. The superposition effects due to light beams become manifest through the response characteristics of the detecting dipoles. In this paper, we will show some preliminary expe rimental results that clearly demonstrate that the heterodyning wave fronts have quantitative degradation in signal generation as the angle between them deviates from perfect collinearity. Subsequently, we will propose a hypothesis for this behavior. We will present experimental data establishing that the so called incoherent light can be detected through heterodyne mixing as long as the pulse length contained in the "incoherent" light is longer than the response time of the detector. We will also present a correspondingly better interpretation of two distinguishable coherence properties, temporal coherence and spectral coherence. Our investigation provides a deeper insight into how to rela x various system requirements for heterodyne detection and accordingly develop systems that are simpler, more reliable and lower in cost. Also, we believe that engineering of detector architecture by appropriately modifying dipole behavior using emerging nanotechnology to optimize heterodyne efficiency will be advantageous.
We investigate the color-locked twin-noisy-field correlation effects in third-order nonlinear absorption and dispersion of ultrafast polarization beats. We demonstrate a phase-sensitive method for studying the two-photon nondegenerate four-wave mixing (NDFWM) due to atomic coherence in a multilevel system. The reference signal is another one-photon degenerate four-wave-mixing signal, which propagates along the same optical path as the NDFWM signal. This method is used for studying the phase dispersion of the third-order susceptibility and for the optical heterodyne detection of the NDFWM signal. The third-order nonlinear response can be controlled and modified through the color-locked correlation of twin noisy fields.
Quantum entanglement is known as a unique quantum feature that cannot be obtained by classical physics. Over the last several decades, however, such an understanding on quantum entanglement might have confined us in a limited world of weird quantum mechanics. Unlike a single photon, a definite phase relation between paired photons is the key to understanding quantum features. Recently, an intuitive approach to the otherwise mysterious quantum features has emerged and shined a light on coherence manipulations of product-basis superposition via selective measurements. Here, a coherence manipulation is presented to excite polarization-path correlation using Poisson-distributed coherent photons for a classically excited joint-phase relation of independent local parameters. For this, linear optics is used for the preparation of the polarization-basis randomness, and a gated heterodyne detection technique is adopted for the selective measurement of polarization bases. As a result, the nonlocal quantum feature is now coherently understood in a deterministic way.
We derive the photon-number probability distribution and the resulting degree of second-order optical coherence for light emission from a uniformly distributed active species within a multiple-light-scattering medium. This is obtained from a master equation describing the probability distribution for photons in the vicinity of position r, traveling with a wave vector k, related, in turn, to a coarse-grained average of the optical Wigner coherence function. Using a simple model for isotropic, spatially uncorrelated scatterers, this reduces to a generalization of the master equation of a conventional laser in which the medium behaves like a random collection of low-quality factor cavities that are coupled by photon diffusion between a given cavity and its neighbors. Laserlike coherence, on average, is obtained in the random laser above a specific pumping threshold. Photon-number statistics above and below the lasing threshold are computed by first assuming that the atomic response to the local electromagnetic fields is nearly instantaneous. Corrections to this simple model, arising from nonadiabatic atomic dynamics, are then estimated. The dependence of the photon statistics on scatterer density, gain concentration, and position within a sample reveal that, on average, increase of the scattering strength (decrease of the photon transport mean free path) in the medium leads to a sharper peak in the local photon-number distribution, characteristic of increased local coherence in the optical field. We also evaluate the coherence of the output field at points outside the random-laser medium. This is a weighted average of radiation emitted at different positions in the sample, exhibiting varying degrees of coherence due to variations in the local pumping intensity.