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Single Photon Interference by Attenuation

Randle Affholter

Published Jan 1, 2012• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

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.

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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.
As part of developing a Bell’s Inequality Test of Quantum Mechanics laboratory at CWU we have investigated classical interference using a Fabry-Perot and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The classical interference investigation was done using several HeNe lasers of different wavelengths. Optimization of data collection for the classical systems was accomplished by fabricating several pieces: a motorized micrometer platform, building a mount for a piezo electric tube, and building a fringe counting circuit. To investigate quantum interference the same Mach-Zhender interferometer was used but the HeNe laser beam was attenuated. We investigated alternative methods for attenuating the HeNe laser beam. An SBIG ST-7 CCD camera was evaluated for use as a single photon detector and used to collect data from the Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The results were compared with results using a single photon counting module. The results were consistent with the predictions of single photon interference in the Mach-Zehnder interferometer.
The double-slit experiment strikingly demonstrates the wave-particle duality of quantum objects. In this famous experiment, particles pass one-by-one through a pair of slits and are detected on a distant screen. A distinct wave-like pattern emerges after many discrete particle impacts as if each particle is passing through both slits and interfering with itself. Here we present a temporally- and spatially-resolved measurement of the double-slit interference pattern using single photons. We send single photons through a birefringent double-slit apparatus and use a linear array of single-photon detectors to observe the developing interference pattern. The analysis of the buildup allows us to compare quantum mechanics and the corpuscular model, which aims to explain the mystery of single-particle interference. Finally, we send one photon from an entangled pair through our double-slit setup and show the dependence of the resulting interference pattern on the twin photon's measured state. Our results provide new insight into the dynamics of the buildup process in the double-slit experiment, and can be used as a valuable resource in quantum information applications.
The interference of single photons going through a double slit is a compelling demonstration of the wave and particle nature of light in the same experiment. Single photons produced by spontaneous parametric down-conversion can be used for this purpose. However, it is particularly challenging to implement this due to coherency and resolution challenges. In this article, we present a table-top laboratory arrangement suitable for the undergraduate instruction laboratory that overcomes these challenges. The apparatus scans a single detector to produce a plot showing the interference patterns of single photons. We include experimental data obtained using this setup, demonstrating double-slit and single-slit interference as well as quantum erasing through the use of sheet polarizers.
Single-photon interference is a beautiful manifestation of the wave–particle duality of light and the double-slit Gedankenexperiment is a standard lecture example for introducing quantum mechanical reality. Interference arises only if each photon can follow several (classical) paths from the source to the detector, and if one does not have the possibility to determine which specific path the photon has taken. Attaching a specific label to the photon traveling along a specific path destroys the interference. However, in some cases those labels can be erased from the photon between leaving the apparatus and being detected, by which interference can be restored, a phenomenon called quantum erasing. We present lecture demonstration experiments that illustrate the wave–particle duality of light and the phenomenon of quantum erasing. Both experiments are first shown with strong light and, in a second step, on a photon-by-photon basis. The smooth transition from the quantum to the classical case can be shown in real time by varying the incident light intensity.
Full text: We present two experiments on single- and two-particle interference. In the single-photon interference experiment, photons from a spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) source are send through a double slit. An interference pattern is built up frame by frame from shots obtained with an EMCCD camera behind the slit. Each frame contains on average less than one photon, thus demonstrating true single-photon sensitivity of the camera. The build-up of the interference pattern nicely demonstrates the concept of wave-particle duality. In a next step, we describe the Heisenberg's lens experiment and present the conditions required to analyse and investigate the spatial correlations of momentum entangled photons produced by SPDC. The occurrence of double-slit interference now depends on the experimental arrangement for the second photon of the pair, for example: interference can only occur if the second photon is also passing a double slit. We present an analysis of such a double-double-slit experiment. (author)
Entangled photons and single photon interference are prime examples of quantum mechanics and are useful in evaluating the theory. To find entangled photons, an apparatus was built and optimized that used heralded detection. The apparatus produced entangled photons using a pump laser producing 474 nm radiation, and a ß-Barium Borate(BBO) crystal. The entangled 948 nm photons were produced in two separate beams arbitrarily known as signal and idler photons. Each beam was detected by an avalanche photodiode (APD). When the signal photons reached the APD, electronic pulses were produced and sent through a delay line, while electronic pulses from the idler photon APD were not. Then the pulses from the APDs were used as a start and stop for a time-to-amplitude converter (TAC). A multichannel analyzer was used to evaluate the TAC spectrum, and showed a large amount of coincidences at time intervals consistent with that of the delayed signal pulses. These coincidences provide evidence that the apparatus was producing entangled photons. After the apparatus was optimized, a double slit was placed in the path of the signal photons and used to search for heralded single photon interference. The results were inconclusive within measurement uncertainty.