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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Two-photon scattering effect of a single Mie scatterer

Peilong Hong

Published Nov 1, 2021• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We perform a theoretical study on the two-photon scattering effect of a single Mie scatterer, and investigate its dependence on the rotation angle of the scatterer, and the wavelength and polarization of incident light. Different regions of the two-photon correlation map are recognized by investigating two parameters, i.e., the visibility of two-photon superposition that represents the path information of different two-photon paths, and the balance factor of the double-side single-photon scattering amplitude that indicates the possibility of the single-photon scattering process. It is shown that the two-photon scattering pattern is a result of two-photon interference from the incoherent to fully coherent regime, together with a contribution from a single-photon-like correlation. In the coherent two-photon interference region, it is found that the transition from destructive to constructive interference emerges by rotating the scatterer, as well as by changing the polarization of incident light. These results demonstrate the rich features of the two-photon scattering effect for a single Mie scatterer, and open new possibilities to explore nano scatterers for controlling two-photon interference, and their applications in communications, sensing, and imaging.

DOI
10.1364/josab.445165

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We perform a theoretical study on the two-photon scattering effect of a single Mie scatterer, and investigate its dependence on the rotation angle of the scatterer, and the wavelength and polarization of incident light. Different regions of the two-photon correlation map are recognized by investigating two parameters, i.e., the visibility of two-photon superposition that represents the path information of different two-photon paths, and the balance factor of the double-side single-photon scattering amplitude that indicates the possibility of the single-photon scattering process. It is shown that the two-photon scattering pattern is a result of two-photon interference from the incoherent to fully coherent regime, together with a contribution from a single-photon-like correlation. In the coherent two-photon interference region, it is found that the transition from destructive to constructive interference emerges by rotating the scatterer, as well as by changing the polarization of incident light. These results demonstrate the rich features of the two-photon scattering effect for a single Mie scatterer, and open new possibilities to explore nano scatterers for controlling two-photon interference, and their applications in communications, sensing, and imaging.
Abstract The interaction of light with a single two-level emitter is the most fundamental process in quantum optics, and is key to many quantum applications. As a distinctive feature, two photons are never detected simultaneously in the light scattered by the emitter. This is commonly interpreted by saying that a single two-level quantum emitter can only absorb and emit single photons. However, it has been theoretically proposed that the photon anticorrelations can be thought of as arising from quantum interference between two possible two-photon scattering amplitudes, which one refers to as coherent and incoherent. This picture is in stark contrast to the aforementioned one, in that it assumes that the atom has two different mechanisms at its disposal to scatter two photons at the same time. Here we experimentally validate the interference picture by showing that, when spectrally rejecting only the coherent component of the fluorescence light of a single two-level atom, the remaining light consists of photon pairs that have been simultaneously scattered by the atom. Our results offer fundamental insights into the quantum-mechanical interaction between light and matter and open up novel approaches for the generation of highly non-classical light fields enabling, for example, Fourier-limited photon-pair sources that approach the theoretical limit in brightness.
The distinguishing of the multiphoton quantum interference effect from the classical one forms one of the most important issues in modern quantum mechanics and experimental quantum optics. For a long time, the two-photon interference (TPI) of correlated photons has been recognized as a pure quantum effect that cannot be simulated with classical lights. In the meantime, experiments have been carried out to investigate the classical analogues of the TPI. In this study, we conduct TPI experiments with uncorrelated photons with different center frequencies from a luminescent light source, and we compare our results with the previous ones of correlated photons. The observed TPI fringe can be expressed in the form of three phase terms related to the individual single-photon and two-photon states, and the fringe pattern is strongly affected by the two single-photon-interference fringes and also by their visibilities. With the exception of essential differences such as valid and accidental coincidence events within a given resolving time and the two-photon spectral bandwidth, the interference phenomenon itself exhibits the same features for both correlated and uncorrelated photons in the single-photon counting regime.
The two-photon interference effect of polarized light holds significant research importance in quantum optics. Different types of polarized light exhibit distinct interference behaviors, making the systematic study of these behaviors crucial. This paper introduces the concept of the polarization two-photon coherence matrix and provides a theoretical explanation for the differences in two-photon interference phenomena among linear, circular, and elliptically polarized light. Using a polarization Michelson interferometer based on two-photon absorption detection, second-order interference images of circularly polarized and elliptically polarized light were experimentally captured. The differences in these two-photon interference phenomena can be elucidated by visualizing the polarization coherence matrix. Furthermore, this theory was applied to the study of sub-wavelength interference phenomena of circularly polarized light, confirming the universality of the theoretical model and offering new perspectives and tools for the study of quantum optics.
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In classical optics, Young's double-slit experiment with colored coherent light gives rise to individual interference fringes for each light frequency, referring to single-photon interference. However, two-photon double-slit interference has been widely studied only for wavelength-degenerate biphoton, known as subwavelength quantum lithography. In this work, we report double-slit interference experiments with two-color biphoton. Different from the degenerate case, the experimental results depend on the measurement methods. From a two-axis coincidence measurement pattern we can extract complete interference information about two colors. The conceptual model provides an intuitional picture of the in-phase and out-of-phase photon correlations and a complete quantum understanding about the which-path information of two colored photons.
This dissertation contains scientific research within the realm of quantum optics, which is a branch of physics. An experimental and theoretical study is made of two-photon interference phenomena in various optical systems. Spatially entangled photon pairs are produced via the nonlinear optical process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion. These entangled photons are then passed through different optical systems to study various aspects of two-photon interference. Firstly, an experimental analysis is made of the high-dimensional entanglement that is present in the orbital angular momentum of the photons. Secondly, we present a comprehensive description of two-photon quantum interference behind a double slit. We demonstrate how to control the quantum correlations and present the first observations of complete two-photon diffraction patterns behind a double slit. Finally, we present pioneering experiments on spatially entangled two-photon states that are scattered of random media. We have observed and theoretically analyzed the structure in the random two-photon interference patterns called two-photon speckle patterns. Spatial entanglement gives two-photon speckle a much richer structure than ordinary one-photon speckle. Our experiments also demonstrate a two-photon interference phenomenon that survives averaging over different realizations of disorder. The latter results are closely related to bosonic, fermionic, and anyonic particle exchange symmetries.