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Interference and the lossless lossy beam splitter

John Jeffers

Published Jan 1, 2000• 32 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Abstract. By directing the input light into a particular mode it is possible to obtain as output all of the input light for a beam splitter that is 50 % absorbing. This effect is also responsible for nonlinear quantum interference when two photons are incident on the beam splitter. 1 1

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Interference and the lossless lossy beam splitter

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By directing the input into a particular mode it is possible to obtain as output all of the input light for a beam splitter which is 50% absorbing. This effect is also responsible for nonlinear quantum interference when two photons are incident on the beam splitter.

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Nonlocal Coherent Perfect Absorption

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Coherent absorption that occurs at two spatially separated, macroscopic lossy beam splitters is described. A superposition mode of any phase can be chosen as the absorbed or transparent mode. For a nonclassical two-photon NOON-state input, a superposition of two photons entering via one of two separate input modes, a single photon can survive the pair of beam splitters with certainty, implying nonlocal absorption of a single photon, which can be detected via the interference in the two-photon survival probability.

Physical Review Letters•Oct 1, 2019•19 citations
The familiar input-output relations for an optical beam splitter are generalized to allow for linear absorption by the medium forming the mirror. Beam-splitter losses generally affect the noise levels detectable in experiments involving nonclassical light. When employed to investigate two-photon interference effects, a lossy beam splitter can lead to apparent nonlinear absorption, which, in the most extreme case, leads to either both or neither of the photons being absorbed. The degree of second-order coherence of antibunched light can be maintained on transmission through the beam splitter but any amplitude squeezing in the incident light is degraded.
The interference effects that can be observed in the two output arms of a lossless beam splitter are calculated for incident light in the form of a photon-pair excitation in the two input arms. The output state that occurs when the photon pair is excited in a single input arm resembles that expected for independent classical particles, whereas quantum interference effects occur when the photon pair is divided between the two input arms. Detailed output photocount correlation functions are calculated for two-photon input states produced by a two-atom light source, a degenerate or nondegenerate parametric oscillator in a high-Q cavity, and an atomic cascade emission light source.
We theoretically investigate quantum interference of two single photons at a lossy asymmetric beam splitter, the most general passive 2×2 optical circuit. The losses in the circuit result in a non-unitary scattering matrix with a non-trivial set of constraints on the elements of the scattering matrix. Our analysis using the noise operator formalism shows that the loss allows tunability of quantum interference to an extent not possible with a lossless beam splitter. Our theoretical studies support the experimental demonstrations of programmable quantum interference in highly multimodal systems such as opaque scattering media and multimode fibers.
Coherent absorption that occurs at two spatially separated, macroscopic lossy beam splitters is described. A superposition mode of any phase can be chosen as the absorbed or transparent mode. For a nonclassical two-photon NOON-state input, a superposition of two photons entering via one of two separate input modes, a single photon can survive the pair of beam splitters with certainty, implying nonlocal absorption of a single photon, which can be detected via the interference in the two-photon survival probability.