Photon Counting for Undergraduate Quantum Optics Experiment

Andreas Ahlrichs, Benjamin Sprenger, Oliver J. Benson

Enrique J. Galvez

B. C. Melius, Enrique J. Galvez, Charles H. Holbrow

Enrique J. Galvez, Charles H. Holbrow, Matthew Pysher +4 more

We describe five quantum mechanics experiments that have been designed for an undergraduate setting. The experiments use correlated photons produced by parametric down conversion to generate interference patterns in interferometers. The photons are counted individually. The experimental results illustrate the consequences of multiple paths, indistinguishability, and entanglement. We analyze the results quantitatively using plane-wave probability amplitudes combined according to Feynman’s rules, the state-vector formalism, and amplitude packets. The apparatus fits on a 2′×4′ optical breadboard.

P. Koczyk, Piotr P. Wiewior, Czesław Radzewicz

A photon counting experiment for student physics laboratory is described. It is designed to illustrate the probabilistic nature of the photodetection process itself as well as statistical fluctuations of light. The setup enables the student to measure photon count distributions for both coherent and pseudothermal light sources yielding Poisson and Bose–Einstein distributions, respectively.