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Frontiers in Optics

Time-frequency state characterization through chronocyclic Q–function measurement

Abhinandan Bhattacharjee, Patrick Folge, Laura Serino, Benjamin Brecht, Christine Silberhorn

Published Jan 1, 2023• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We measure the chronocyclic Q–function of single-photon level telecom-wavelength pulses and reconstruct their spectral amplitude and phase distributions. Furthermore, we demonstrate the reconstruction of pulses with complex shapes including discontinuous phases.
DOI
10.1364/fio.2023.fm1b.4

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The characterization of the complex spectral amplitude, that is, the spectrum and spectral phase, of single-photon-level light fields is a crucial capability for modern photonic quantum technologies. Since established pulse characterization techniques are not applicable at low intensities, alternative approaches are required. Here, we demonstrate the retrieval of the complex spectral amplitude of single-photon-level light pulses through measuring their chronocyclic Q −function. Our approach draws inspiration from quantum state tomography by exploiting the analogy between quadrature phase space and time-frequency phase space. In the experiment, we perform time-frequency projections with a quantum pulse gate (QPG), which directly yield the chronocyclic Q −function. We evaluate the complex spectral amplitude from the measured chronocyclic Q −function data with maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), which is the established technique for quantum state tomography. The MLE yields not only an unambigious estimate of the complex spectral amplitude of the state under test that does not require any a priori information, but also allows for, in principle, estimating the spectral-temporal coherence properties of the state. Our method accurately recovers features such as jumps in the spectral phase and is resistant against regions with zero spectral intensity, which makes it immediately beneficial for classical pulse characterization problems.
Summary form only given. The goal of any pulse characterization protocol is to describe how the spectral components of the electric field are changing in time. Apart from linear methods such as streak cameras, characterization techniques based on nonlinear processes have been developed. Those processes require broad spectral acceptance bandwidths, i.e. to be capable of resolving ultrashort features of the pulse. For many of those techniques, the pulses are reconstructed by iterative or deconvolution algorithms where the electric field is assumed to be fully coherent and do not account for the possibility of reduced coherence from pulse to pulse, or within a single pulse. In general, the chronocyclic Wigner function should be reconstructed in order to provide full information about an ensemble of partially coherent pulses. To make a parallel with quantum mechanics, most quantum systems cannot be considered as closed and interact with the environment, and subsequently, undergo decoherence. Therefore, a noisy quantum state cannot be described by a single pure state only but as a classical mixture of pure states.
Quantum physics holds promise to revolutionise a number of technologies by enabling performance beyond what is feasible with classical resources, such as secure communications, precision measurement and high-speed simulation and computation. To realise this, quantum information must be encoded into one of the physical degrees of freedom of light. The time-frequency (TF) domain provides a infinite-dimensional space which is naturally compatible with integrated optical platforms. Additionally, future quantum networks will require coherent coupling of quantum systems that do not necessarily exhibit TF mode overlap. The ability to generate, coherently control and measure a variety of TF states of quantum light is therefore a necessary step towards implementing optical quantum technologies. Developing the building blocks for future optical quantum applications calls for an assortment of methods for measuring the properties of TF states of quantum light. Whilst much progress has been made towards this goal recently, deficiencies with existing methods remain. Efficient spectrally-resolved detection away from the telecoms wavelength range and a robust approach to single-photon state characterisation that is sensitive to the spectral phase have so far proven challenging. Additionally, accessing quantum advantages requires measurements that are sensitive to the nonclassical correlations that can exist between separate subsystems. However, until now a flexible approach to determining the full quantum state of systems of multiple time/frequency entangled photons has been lacking. Here we develop a toolbox of techniques for the measurement of TF quantum states of light for few-photon systems, and apply these to the task of precision measurement. Firstly, we propose, construct and demonstrate efficient single-photon spectrometers based on dispersive time-to-frequency mapping, using chirped fibre Bragg gratings to apply the necessary group delay dispersion. We use two such devices operating in coincidence to realise a full phase-sensitive reconstruction of the TF state of a single photon, by spectrally resolving the output of a nonclassical interference process with an external reference. We also demonstrate a complementary, optical reference-free method. This characterisation tool, an implementation of electro-optic spectral shearing interferometry with coincident spectrally-resolved single-photon detection, melds techniques from ultrafast metrology and quantum optics. We proceed to demonstrate the flexibility of this device by reconstructing a wide range of test pulses generated with a pulse shaper. By implementing this technique in conjunction with spectrally-resolved detection of a second photon, we realise complete characterisation of the TF wave function of a spectrally-entangled broadband photon pair. This method is robust to a wide range of inputs and is generalisable to spectrally mixed states and across a wide range of wavelengths, including to spectrally non-degenerate photon pairs. To demonstrate, we generate an entangled photon pair with controllable TF entanglement and perform a full reconstruction. Lastly, we present a new technique for using TF entangled photon pairs to realise quantum-enhanced measurement of a time delay in a quantum channel in the presence of environmental noise. This scheme is based on entanglement-enhanced rejection of background light. A simple experiment demonstrating the feasibility of such a measurement is presented.
The generation of ultrafast laser pulses and the reconstruction of their electric fields is essential for many applications in modern optics. Quantum optical fields can also be generated on ultrafast timescales; however, the tools and methods available for strong laser pulses are not appropriate for measuring the properties of weak, possibly entangled pulses. Here, we demonstrate a method to reconstruct the joint-spectral amplitude of a two-photon energy-time entangled state from joint measurements of the frequencies and arrival times of the photons, and the correlations between them. Our reconstruction method is based on a modified Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm. Such techniques are essential to measure and control the shape of ultrafast entangled photon pulses.