Exploiting quantum pairwise interference, we measure the spectral phase of ultra broadband entangled photon pairs. The nonclassical nature of the interference is manifested by observing the reduction of fringe contrast as linear loss is introduced.
We observe at record-high speed the nonclassical nature of ultra-broadband bi-photons, reducing the measurement time by four orders of magnitude compared to standard techniques of Hong-Ou-Mandel interference or sum-frequency generation. We measure the quantum state of the broadband bi-photons, amplitude and phase, with a pairwise Mach-Zehnder quantum interferometer, where bi-photons that are generated in one nonlinear crystal are enhanced (constructive interference) or diminished (destructive interference) in another crystal, depending on the bi-photon phase. We verify the quantum nature of the interference by observing the dependence of the fringe visibility on internal loss. Since destructive interference is equivalent to an attempt to annihilate in the second crystal (by up-conversion) the bi-photons that were created in the first crystal (by down-conversion), the fringe visibility is a measure for the quantum bi-photon purity of the broadband light. The measurement speed-up is due to the large homodyne-like gain from the strong pump (∼107−9) in the up-conversion efficiency of single bi-photons, which enables the use of simple photo-detection of the full, ultra-high photon flux instead of single-photon / coincidence counting.
We observe at record-high speed the nonclassical nature of ultra-broadband bi-photons, reducing the measurement time by four orders of magnitude compared to standard techniques of Hong–Ou–Mandel interference or sum-frequency generation. We measure the quantum wave-function of the broadband bi-photons, amplitude and phase, with a pairwise 'Mach–Zehnder' quantum interferometer, where bi-photons that are generated in one nonlinear crystal are enhanced (constructive interference) or diminished (destructive interference) in another crystal, depending on the bi-photon phase. We verify the quantum nature of the interference by observing the dependence of the fringe visibility on internal loss. Since destructive interference is equivalent to an attempt to annihilate in the second crystal (by up-conversion) the bi-photons that were created in the first crystal (by down-conversion), the fringe visibility is a measure of the quantum bi-photon purity of the broadband light. The measurement speed-up is due to the large homodyne-like gain from the strong pump (∼10 7–9 ) in the up-conversion efficiency of single bi-photons, which enables the use of simple photo-detection of the full, ultra-high photon flux instead of single-photon/coincidence counting.
In a Franson interferometer two-photon interference fringes occur despite the photons never encountering each other [1]. This phenomenon is a fundamental demonstration of the nonlocal nature of quantum mechanics. It serves also as a direct proof of frequency-time-entanglement. Furthermore, it can benefit not only from local, but also nonlocal dispersion cancellation techniques [2], which is a very useful property when working with spectrally broad photon pairs. More specifically, one has to distinguish between dispersion occuring before the individual Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs), which constitute the Franson interferometer, and within them. Analysis of influences up to second order has shown that no loss of contrast can be expected from dispersion before the Franson interferometer. Differential second-order dispersion inside the interferometer, however, can cause a reduction of contrast in the interferogram [3].
We experimentally demonstrate shaping of the two-photon wave function of entangled-photon pairs, utilizing coherent pulse-shaping techniques. By performing spectral-phase manipulations we tailor the second-order correlation function of the photons exactly like a coherent ultrashort pulse. To observe the shaping we perform sum-frequency generation with an ultrahigh flux of entangled photons. At the appropriate conditions, sum-frequency generation performs as a coincidence detector with an ultrashort response time (approximately 100 fs), enabling a direct observation of the two-photon wave function. This property also enables us to demonstrate background-free, high-visibility two-photon interference oscillations.