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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)

Bessel-type interference patterns detected in single photon regime

R. Grünwald, Michael Bock

Published Jun 1, 2007• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this experiment, pseudonondiffracting Bessel-like intensity distributions were generated by refractive axicons at extremely weak illumination and detected by an electron multiplication CCD (EMCCD) camera (iXon, Andor) without an image intensifier. The successive growth of Bessel-like interference fringes from noise can clearly be recognized without image processing. The results of the interference experiment confirm the non-local quantum mechanical nature of single photon diffraction. In contrast to the Young's setup with a diffracting double slit, the interference from refracted beams was observed in the near-field instead of the far field.

DOI
10.1109/cleoe-iqec.2007.4386886

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In this experiment, pseudonondiffracting Bessel-like intensity distributions were generated by refractive axicons at extremely weak illumination and detected by an electron multiplication CCD (EMCCD) camera (iXon, Andor) without an image intensifier. The successive growth of Bessel-like interference fringes from noise can clearly be recognized without image processing. The results of the interference experiment confirm the non-local quantum mechanical nature of single photon diffraction. In contrast to the Young's setup with a diffracting double slit, the interference from refracted beams was observed in the near-field instead of the far field.
We report on the experimental observation of interference pattern of a distributed double-slit, consisting of a single-slit and a wire spatially separated, illuminated by two beams from a pseudothermal light source, in Hanbury Brown and Twiss–like configuration. The interference pattern is obtained performing a classical correlation with the intensities of the light beams scattered by each part of the double-slit. A theoretical analysis confirms our experimental results, showing that classical correlations can also mimic non-local properties analogue to those using twin photons for quantum images.
We present the results from a non-diffracting optical beam experiment that utilizes extremely low power levels (single-photon). The non-diffracting beam has a Bessel spatial distribution and demonstrates interesting single-photon self-interference effects such as spatial confinement. The single-photon Bessel beam is generated using two means: (1) an attenuated HeNe laser beam that statistically provides a single photon flux through the optical system, and (2) one photon from a pair of quantum entangled twin photons produced by spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) in a Beta Barium Borate (BBO) crystal pumped by a UV laser. The entangled nature of the single-photon Bessel beam using the SPDC source provides a high level of discrimination from ambient background noise photons that would otherwise severely limit the utility of such a technique to dark enclosures. The HeNe laser on the other hand, provides higher photon count rates and is more convenient to work with in contrast to the entangled photon source. We verify that a single-photon Bessel beam reforms itself beyond a circular obscuration by measuring the transmitted spatial distribution.
This project represents the initial phase of developing a Bell’s Inequality Test of Quantum Mechanics laboratory at Central Washington University. We set up and performed an investigation of the interference of light using a double slit apparatus. For the experiment, a 632.8 HeNe laser beam was passed through an optical system consisting of mirrors, neutral density filters, linear polarizers, irises, multiple lenses and a pinhole. The light was spatially filtered, producing a clean profile, and collimated by the placement of the irises, lenses, and pinhole within the path of the light. The beam intensity was varied using the neutral density filters and polarizers to obtain interference patterns consistent with single photon events. A SBIG ST-7 CCD camera was used as detector and the interference fringes measured using pixel specifications of the CCD chip. The camera was evaluated for effectiveness as a single photon detector by attenuating the beam until its irradiance was consistent with single photon events in the camera pixels for one exposure and examining the signal. These attenuation procedures were then employed using single photon counting modules to detect the interference pattern. The single photon counting modules provided a TTL signal corresponding with single photon detection. A statistical analysis of two detector’s counts is consistent with detection of the phenomenon of single photon interference.
Double-slit interference experiments using monochromatic hard X-rays with the energy of 25 keV are presented. The experiments were performed at a synchrotron source with a distance of 110 m between the interferometer and the detector to produce an interference pattern with a sufficiently broad period that could be adequately sampled by a photon-counting detector with 75 micrometre pixels. In the single-particle version of the experiment, over one million image frames with a single registered photon in each one were collected. The sum of these frames showed a clear presence of the interference pattern with the expected period. Subsequent analysis provided an objective estimation of the minimal number of detected photons required to determine, in accordance with the Rose criterion, the presence of the photon interference. Apart from a general theoretical interest, these investigations were aimed at exploring the possibility of medical X-ray phase-contrast imaging in photon-counting regime at minimal radiation doses.
Commercially available cameras do not have a low-enough dark noise to directly capture double-slit interference at the single photon level. In this work, camera noise levels are significantly reduced by activating the camera only when the presence of a photon has been detected by the independent detection of a time-correlated photon produced via parametric down-conversion. This triggering scheme provides the improvement required for direct video imaging of Young's double-slit experiment with single photons, allowing clarified versions of this foundational demonstration. We present video data of the evolving interference patterns. Also, we introduce variations on this experiment aimed at promoting discussion of the role spatial coherence plays in such a measurement, emphasizing complementary aspects of single-photon measurement and highlighting the roles of transverse position and momentum correlations between down-converted photons, including examples of “ghost” imaging and diffraction.
Abstract The paper presents the results of a quantum interference study using an asymmetrical double-slit experiment with a low-intensity laser beam, conducted in the single-photon approximation and the Fresnel near-field transition pre-Fraunhofer condition. In addition to the temporal separation achieved by recording each particle individually, the hybrid-asymmetrical double-slit design (in both width and height) also allows spatial separation of the first satellite diffraction bands created by each slit, thereby minimising the mixing background effects from the opposite slit. Isolating the satellite bands of a diffraction pattern from one of the two slits enables which-way identification of the quantum particle, contributing maximally to the path-distinguishability parameter D=1. Within these satellite bands, we observed interference fringes with reliability at their diffraction peaks for the wide slit and the narrow slit. After subtracting multiphoton-mixing interference noises V(mix), we obtain significant single-photon wave visibility values = 0.051±.009(stat.+sys.) and = 0.065±.009(stat.+sys.), respectively, at the wide-slit I1 and narrow-slit I2 diffraction bands. The results suggest the possibility of establishing an unusual correlation, D + V > 1, in which a significant number of photons exhibit both wave and particle properties simultaneously within the same experimental spectrum. This differs from the Copenhagen interpretation and therefore requires further explanation. PACS numbers: 03.65.-w, 03.65.Ta, 42.50.Xa