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Physical Review A

Frequency-domain Hong-Ou-Mandel interference in cold atoms with induced atomic coherence

Yuri P. Malakyan

Published May 31, 2023• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference with two independent photons of different wavelengths is a primary tool for controlled transfer of quantum information across a hybrid quantum network such as the quantum internet, in which the diverse material nodes operate at different resonant frequencies. The key challenge of realizing two-photon interference in the frequency domain is the need for linear frequency conversion between spectrally distinct photons, which, in contrast to frequency mixing in nonlinear optical processes, is free from multiphoton noise arising in strong laser fields. Here, we present a linear HOM scheme based on a lossless three-wave mixing between two photons of different frequencies in the laser-controlled tripod-type atoms, where the parametric interaction between photons is triggered by the induced coherence between two metastable states of the atoms [S. Petrosyan et al., Phys. Rev. A 105, 052606 (2022)]. We give the general derivation of the HOM effect and examine it for two single-pulse photons and in the important case of time-bin encoded single photons, which are well protected from decoherence in optical fibers. We show that two-photon coincidence measurements display the HOM-type ``dip and peak'' fringes according to the number of time bins in the incident photon state, allowing full recovery of the original quantum information. An essential feature of our scheme is the neutrality of the HOM effect implementation to the polarization indistinguishability of photons, which makes our model flexible for use in hybrid quantum networks.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.107.053715

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Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference with two independent photons of different wavelengths is a primary tool for controlled transfer of quantum information across a hybrid quantum network such as the quantum internet, in which the diverse material nodes operate at different resonant frequencies. The key challenge of realizing two-photon interference in the frequency domain is the need for linear frequency conversion between spectrally distinct photons, which, in contrast to frequency mixing in nonlinear optical processes, is free from multiphoton noise arising in strong laser fields. Here, we present a linear HOM scheme based on a lossless three-wave mixing between two photons of different frequencies in the laser-controlled tripod-type atoms, where the parametric interaction between photons is triggered by the induced coherence between two metastable states of the atoms [S. Petrosyan et al., Phys. Rev. A 105, 052606 (2022)]. We give the general derivation of the HOM effect and examine it for two single-pulse photons and in the important case of time-bin encoded single photons, which are well protected from decoherence in optical fibers. We show that two-photon coincidence measurements display the HOM-type ``dip and peak'' fringes according to the number of time bins in the incident photon state, allowing full recovery of the original quantum information. An essential feature of our scheme is the neutrality of the HOM effect implementation to the polarization indistinguishability of photons, which makes our model flexible for use in hybrid quantum networks.
Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference is a compelling quantum phenomenon that demonstrates the nonclassical nature of single photons. In this study, we investigate an electromagnetically induced transparency-based double-$\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ four-wave mixing system from the perspective of quantized light fields. The system can be used to realize efficient HOM interference in the frequency domain. By using the reduced density operator theory, we demonstrate that although the double-$\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ medium does not exhibit phase-dependent properties for the closed-loop case of two incident single photons, frequency-domain HOM two-photon interference occurs. For experimentally achievable optical depth conditions, our theory indicates that this double-$\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ scheme can perform high-fidelity Hadamard gate operations on frequency-encoded single-photon qubits, and thereby generate HOM two-photon NOON states with a fidelity greater than 0.99. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this scheme can be used to realize arbitrary single-qubit gates and two-qubit SWAP gates by simply controlling the laser detuning and phase, exhibiting its multifunctional properties and providing a different route to scalable optical quantum computing.
The frequency degree-of-freedom, being compatible with well-developed omnipresent optical telecommunication infrastructure, allows for stable, controllable and scalable encoding of quantum information [1] . The HOM effect between independent photons, as a central building block to, e.g., quantum key distribution (QKD), quantum teleportation and entanglement swapping, has been mainly employed within the spatial domain [2] . A key element yet missing to enable scalable and thus real-world frequency-based implementation of quantum computation and non-classical communication, is the demonstration of Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference between independently created photons of different frequencies. To date, spectral bosonic HOM interference between single photons, produced out of the same continuous-wave (cw)-excited spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) process has been demonstrated [3] , which however does not allow scalability due to the spectral impurity inherent to the proposed approach.
Time-bin encoding of photons offers a robust kind of long-distance quantum communication over lossy channels. The diversity of material nodes in quantum networks operating at natural frequencies requires coherent frequency and wave-form conversion of information-carrying photons to provide an efficient quantum interface with optical fibers and various quantum memories, which has been extensively studied. However, the quantum frequency conversion with transfer of time-bin encoding between single photons of different wavelengths has not yet been explored. In this paper, we present a method for efficiently exchanging time-bin encoding in the conversion process between two photons propagating in cold tripod atoms driven by a strong laser field. The latter is designed to slow down photons and suppress their absorption due to electromagnetically induced transparency. Photons interact parametrically through modified atomic coherence, which is utilized also to achieve equal group velocities of photons. We demonstrate the ability of our model to generate entanglement between distant atoms that equally share the original quantum information stored in the ground-state polarization qubits of both atoms. The proposed method for frequency conversion based on modified atomic coherence is promising because it can simplify the implementation of reliable and high-speed quantum communication protocols based on single-photon entanglement.
Interference between two completely independent photons lies at the heart of many photonic quantum information applications such as quantum repeaters, teleportation, and quantum key distribution. Here, we report the observation of Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) interference with two independent continuous-wave coherent light sources that are neither synchronized nor share any common reference. To prepare indistinguishable photons from two independent laser sources, we employ high-precision frequency-stabilization techniques using the 5 S 1 / 2 ( F = 3 ) − 5 P 1 / 2 ( F ′ = 3 ) transition line of Rb 85 atoms. We successfully observe an HOM interference fringe with two independent continuous-wave coherent photons originating from either the frequency-locked or the frequency-modulated lasers. An interference fringe involving two-photon beating is also observed when the frequency difference between the two interfering photons is beyond the spectral bandwidth of the individual coherent photons. We carry out further experiments to verify the robustness of the source preparation regardless of the separation distance between the two independent photon sources.
The Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect ranks among the most notable quantum interference phenomena, and is central to many applications in quantum technologies. The fundamental effect appears when two independent and indistinguishable photons are superimposed on a beam splitter, which achieves a complete suppression of coincidences between the two output ports. Much less studied, however, is when the fields share coherence (continuous-wave lasers) or mode envelope properties (pulsed lasers). In this case, we expect the existence of two distinct and concurrent HOM interference regimes: the traditional HOM dip on the coherence length time scale, and a structured HOM interference pattern on the pulse length scale. We develop a theoretical framework that describes HOM interference for laser fields having arbitrary temporal waveforms and only partial overlap in time. We observe structured HOM interference from a continuous-wave laser via fast polarization modulation and time-resolved single photon detection fast enough to resolve these structured HOM dips.
Recently a single-photon frequency converter by a nonlinear optical medium with a strong pump light [1] has been actively studied for quantum information processing [2]. The effective Hamiltonian of the process is described as a frequency-domain beamsplitter, which has two different frequency modes in its input and output. The transmittance is tunable by a pump power for the nonlinear optical effect. Such a frequency-domain beamsplitter is expected to cause an interference of two photons of different colors [3] in the context of a Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) experiment. In this study, we first observed the HOM dip in an optical range by using a frequency-domain beamsplitter.