Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

Coupling of spin and orbital degrees of freedom in tunable Hong-Ou-Mandel interference involving photons in hybrid spin-orbit modes

Cody C. Leary, Maggie Lankford, Deepika Sundarraman

Published May 7, 2015• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate the connection between biphoton states involving photons in product modes of their spin and orbital degrees of freedom and those involving photons in hybrid spin-orbit modes, as mediated by Hong-Ou-Mandel interference (HOMI) in an asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer. We predict that two input photons in balanced superposition states of both their spin and orbital degrees of freedom will exhibit HOMI while undergoing a simultaneous mode conversion from product spin-orbit input modes to hybrid output modes bearing orbital angular momentum. These hybrid outputs contain a spatially varying polarization structure which may be controllably rotated about the photonic beam axis by varying the relative phase between the vertical and horizontal components of each input photon's polarization. Additionally, a type of coupling of the spin and orbital degrees of freedom is exhibited in this system: the transverse spatial profile of the output photons may be continuously manipulated by tuning the polarization parameters of the input photons, in such a way that the HOMI between the photons remains stable. An interesting corollary to this work is the possibility of demonstrating in a simple experimental system that HOMI may occur between distinguishable input modes.

DOI
10.1117/12.2179074

Related papers

Polarization-Based Control of Spin-Orbit Hybrid Modes of Light in Biphoton Interference

Cody C. Leary, Maggie Lankford, Deepika Sundarraman

We report the experimental generation of a class of spin-orbit hybrid modes via an asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer, whose intensity and polarization distributions may be tuned by manipulating the polarization state of the interferometer input beam. In the case of an equivalent biphoton input, we predict that this device will exhibit biphoton (Hong-Ou-Mandel) interference in conjunction with these mode transformations.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics•Jan 1, 2016•0 citations

Polarization-based control of spin-orbit vector modes of light in biphoton interference

C.C. Leary, Maggie Lankford, Deepika Sundarraman

We report the experimental generation of a class of spin-orbit vector modes of light via an asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer, obtained from an input beam prepared in a product state of its spin and orbital degrees of freedom. These modes contain a spatially varying polarization structure which may be controllably propagated about the beam axis by varying the retardance between the vertical and horizontal polarization components of the light. Additionally, their transverse spatial intensity distributions may be continuously manipulated by tuning the input polarization parameters. In the case of an analogous biphoton input, we predict that this device will exhibit biphoton (Hong-Ou-Mandel) interference in conjunction with the aforementioned tunable mode transformations.

arXiv:1708.00479•Optics Express•Jun 15, 2016•1 citation

Hong–Ou–Mandel interference of spin–orbit hybrid entangled photons

Ling Hong, Xiyue Cao, Yuanyuan Chen +1 more

Structured photons are a crucial resource in both classical and quantum technologies, particularly in spin–orbit hybrid photons, enabling various practical applications ranging from ultra-sensitive metrology techniques to quantum-enhanced information processing tasks. However, the two-photon interference of spin–orbit hybrid photons, which combines polarization modes and complex transverse spatial structures across the beam profile, remains unexplored. Here, we present an experimental observation of Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) interference of spin–orbit hybrid photons. The tunable q-plates that work as spin–orbit coupler devices are used to prepare various forms of spin–orbit hybrid entangled photons. By harnessing the match degree in the temporal domain, the coalescence and anti-coalescence effects resulting from the symmetric and anti-symmetric properties of the incident quantum states are observed. Moreover, we demonstrated the feasibility of quantum-enhanced photon polarization gears through HOM interference and theoretically analyze the noise-resilient advantages based on coherent HOM measurements. These results provide an alternative route toward quantum experiments with structured photons that allows for controlling their quantum interference in a compact, stable, and efficient way.

APL Photonics•Dec 1, 2023•11 citations

Generation of the complete Bell basis via Hong-Ou-Mandel interference of vector modes

Xiaoqin Gao, Dilip Paneru, Francesco Di Colandrea +2 more

Optical vector modes (VMs), characterized by spatially varying polarization distributions, have become essential tools across microscopy, metrology, optical trapping, nanophotonics, and optical communications. Here, we investigate the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference of VMs providing a full spatial characterization of the output state. We find that, by carefully selecting the input VMs, it is possible to simultaneously observe all four polarization Bell states and their superpositions in the spatially varying polarization pattern of the two photons. These results represent a significant step in advancing our understanding of HOM interference within structured photons, offering promising avenues for high-dimensional quantum information processing and, in particular, high-dimensional quantum communication, quantum sensing, and advanced photonic technologies reliant on tailored quantum states of light.

arXiv:2412.14274•Physical Review A•Jun 16, 2025•6 citations

Bimodal Hong-Ou-Mandel Interference in Symmetric and Asymmetric Optical Systems

Cody C. Leary, Thomas Gilliss, Deepika Sundarraman

We investigate Hong-Ou-Mandel interference in symmetric and asymmetric interferometers, with the input photons prepared in arbitrary first-order spatial modes. We find that Hong-Ou-Mandel interference may occur in conjunction with mode transformation, and between distinguishable inputs.

The Rochester Conferences on Coherence and Quantum Optics and the Quantum Information and Measurement meeting•Jan 1, 2013•0 citations

Quantum interference by coherence transfer from spin to orbital angular momentum of photons

Eleonora Nagali, Fabio Sciarrino, Linda Sansoni +5 more

The orbital angular momentum carried by single photons represents a promising resource in the quantum information field. In this paper we report the characterization in the quantum regime of a recently introduced optical device, known as q-plate. Exploiting the spin-orbit coupling that takes place in the q-plate, it is possible to transfer coherently the information from the polarization to the orbital angular momentum degree of freedom, and viceversa. Hence the q-plate provides a reliable bi-directional interface between polarization and orbital angular momentum. As a first paradigmatic demonstration of the q-plate properties, we have carried out the first experimental Hong-Ou-mandel effect purely observed in the orbital angular momentum degree of freedom.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Apr 23, 2009•2 citations
We investigate the connection between biphoton states involving photons in product modes of their spin and orbital degrees of freedom and those involving photons in hybrid spin-orbit modes, as mediated by Hong-Ou-Mandel interference (HOMI) in an asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer. We predict that two input photons in balanced superposition states of both their spin and orbital degrees of freedom will exhibit HOMI while undergoing a simultaneous mode conversion from product spin-orbit input modes to hybrid output modes bearing orbital angular momentum. These hybrid outputs contain a spatially varying polarization structure which may be controllably rotated about the photonic beam axis by varying the relative phase between the vertical and horizontal components of each input photon's polarization. Additionally, a type of coupling of the spin and orbital degrees of freedom is exhibited in this system: the transverse spatial profile of the output photons may be continuously manipulated by tuning the polarization parameters of the input photons, in such a way that the HOMI between the photons remains stable. An interesting corollary to this work is the possibility of demonstrating in a simple experimental system that HOMI may occur between distinguishable input modes.
We report the experimental generation of a class of spin-orbit vector modes of light via an asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer, obtained from an input beam prepared in a product state of its spin and orbital degrees of freedom. These modes contain a spatially varying polarization structure which may be controllably propagated about the beam axis by varying the retardance between the vertical and horizontal polarization components of the light. Additionally, their transverse spatial intensity distributions may be continuously manipulated by tuning the input polarization parameters. In the case of an analogous biphoton input, we predict that this device will exhibit biphoton (Hong-Ou-Mandel) interference in conjunction with the aforementioned tunable mode transformations.
Structured photons are a crucial resource in both classical and quantum technologies, particularly in spin–orbit hybrid photons, enabling various practical applications ranging from ultra-sensitive metrology techniques to quantum-enhanced information processing tasks. However, the two-photon interference of spin–orbit hybrid photons, which combines polarization modes and complex transverse spatial structures across the beam profile, remains unexplored. Here, we present an experimental observation of Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) interference of spin–orbit hybrid photons. The tunable q-plates that work as spin–orbit coupler devices are used to prepare various forms of spin–orbit hybrid entangled photons. By harnessing the match degree in the temporal domain, the coalescence and anti-coalescence effects resulting from the symmetric and anti-symmetric properties of the incident quantum states are observed. Moreover, we demonstrated the feasibility of quantum-enhanced photon polarization gears through HOM interference and theoretically analyze the noise-resilient advantages based on coherent HOM measurements. These results provide an alternative route toward quantum experiments with structured photons that allows for controlling their quantum interference in a compact, stable, and efficient way.
Optical vector modes (VMs), characterized by spatially varying polarization distributions, have become essential tools across microscopy, metrology, optical trapping, nanophotonics, and optical communications. Here, we investigate the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference of VMs providing a full spatial characterization of the output state. We find that, by carefully selecting the input VMs, it is possible to simultaneously observe all four polarization Bell states and their superpositions in the spatially varying polarization pattern of the two photons. These results represent a significant step in advancing our understanding of HOM interference within structured photons, offering promising avenues for high-dimensional quantum information processing and, in particular, high-dimensional quantum communication, quantum sensing, and advanced photonic technologies reliant on tailored quantum states of light.
The orbital angular momentum carried by single photons represents a promising resource in the quantum information field. In this paper we report the characterization in the quantum regime of a recently introduced optical device, known as q-plate. Exploiting the spin-orbit coupling that takes place in the q-plate, it is possible to transfer coherently the information from the polarization to the orbital angular momentum degree of freedom, and viceversa. Hence the q-plate provides a reliable bi-directional interface between polarization and orbital angular momentum. As a first paradigmatic demonstration of the q-plate properties, we have carried out the first experimental Hong-Ou-mandel effect purely observed in the orbital angular momentum degree of freedom.