Hong–Ou–Mandel interference of two phonons in trapped ions

Takashi Mukaiyama

Kevin Marshall, Daniel F. V. James

We propose a method to manipulate the normal modes in a chain of trapped ions using two lasers. The internal levels mediate a second-order interaction to construct the acoustic equivalent of a beam splitter.

Li-Kai Yang, Han Cai, Tao Peng +1 more

Abstract The Hong−Ou−Mandel (HOM) effect was long believed to be a two-photon interference phenomenon. It describes the fact that two indistinguishable photons mixed at a beam splitter will bunch together to one of the two output modes. Considering the two single-photon emitters such as trapped ions, we explore a hidden scenario of the HOM effect, where entanglement can be generated between the two ions when a single photon is detected by one of the detectors. A second photon emitted by the entangled photon sources will be subsequently detected by the same detector. However, we can also control the fate of the second photon by manipulating the entangled state. Instead of two-photon interference, the phase of the entangled state is responsible for the photon’s path in our proposal. Toward a feasible experimental realization, we conduct a quantum jump simulation on the system to show its robustness against experimental errors.

Kevin Marshall, Daniel F. V. James

Dingshun Lv, Shuoming An, Mark Um +3 more

Alper Kıraz, Moritz Ehrl, Thomas Hellerer +3 more

We perform coincidence-counting experiments at the output of a Michelson interferometer using the zero-phonon-line emission of a single terrylenediimide molecule at 1.4 K. Under cw excitation, Hong-Ou-Mandel correlations are observed as the proof of two-photon interference.