We report on an experiment in which orbital-angular-momentum (OAM)-entangled photon pairs generated by the spontaneous parametric down-conversion process can be engineered to have particular symmetry properties. Our method is based on the use of a Dove-prism pair in conjunction with Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interferometry resolved in transverse position and OAM. The latter allows us to engineer the postselected two-photon state to exhibit a specific type of symmetry. By selecting particular topological charge values for the pump and for the postselected two-photon state, we can transition from a symmetric two-photon state and a HOM dip to an antisymmetric state and a HOM peak. Spatial resolution allows us to obtain the HOM interferogram both at the single-pixel level and globally by summing over all sensor pixels. Furthermore, through spatially selective OAM projection of the detected photon pairs, we can define multiple transverse regions with different symmetry properties, as verified by our spatially resolved HOM apparatus. Although we used two transverse regions for this proof-of-concept demonstration, this method could in principle be scaled to a larger number of regions, leading to a new technique to be added to the existing toolbox for quantum technologies in the photonic domain.
We report on an experiment in which orbital-angular-momentum (OAM)-entangled photon pairs generated by the spontaneous parametric down-conversion process can be engineered to have particular symmetry properties. Our method is based on the use of a Dove-prism pair in conjunction with Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interferometry resolved in transverse position and OAM. The latter allows us to engineer the postselected two-photon state to exhibit a specific type of symmetry. By selecting particular topological charge values for the pump and for the postselected two-photon state, we can transition from a symmetric two-photon state and a HOM dip to an antisymmetric state and a HOM peak. Spatial resolution allows us to obtain the HOM interferogram both at the single-pixel level and globally by summing over all sensor pixels. Furthermore, through spatially selective OAM projection of the detected photon pairs, we can define multiple transverse regions with different symmetry properties, as verified by our spatially resolved HOM apparatus. Although we used two transverse regions for this proof-of-concept demonstration, this method could in principle be scaled to a larger number of regions, leading to a new technique to be added to the existing toolbox for quantum technologies in the photonic domain.
We present spatially-resolved observations of orbital angular momentum (OAM) conservation, via a Laguerre-Gauss (LG) basis decomposition, of spatially-entangled photon pairs produced in type-I collinear spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC). These results were obtained with a novel detection system for OAM-entangled photon pairs that combines a projective measurement for the signal photon to a specific value of the azimuthal index ls, with a spatially-resolved measurement for the idler photon using an intensified charge coupled (ICCD) camera. In combination with far-field diffraction of the idler photon through a triangular aperture, we are able to obtain: i) the spatial structure of the heralded idler photon, as governed by the user-selected topological charge of the signal photon; ii) the OAM spectrum; and iii) the topological charge (both magnitude and sign) for the heralded idler photon.
We elucidate the paraxial orbital angular momentum of entangled photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) in different non-collinear geometries. To date, most investigations addressed SPDC in nearly collinear phase-matching geometries, where the pump, the signal and idler photons propagate coaxially almost along the same direction. However, non-collinear geometries introduce a variety of new features. The OAM of the entangled photons strongly depend on the propagation direction of the photons. Here we show that locally paraxial measurements of the OAM conducted with entangled photons generated in non collinear geometries, they do not comply with the known selection rules for the spiral index of the pump, signal and idler mode functions (Mair et al., Nature 412, 313 (2001)). In particular, we find the orbital angular momentum of entangled pairs generated in purely transverse-emitting configurations, where the entangled photons counter-propagate perpendicularly to the direction of propagation of the pump beam. In transverse emitting configurations, the spatial shape of the down converted in one transverse dimensions strongly depends on the corresponding spatial shape of the input pump beam, while in the other transverse dimension, the shape is tailored by the longitudinal phase matching. The spatial walk-off of all interacting waves in the parametric process also determines the OAM content of the down-converted photons, and here its influence is also revealed.
Abstract Traditional ghost imaging experiments exploit position correlations between correlated states of light. These correlations occur directly in spontaneous parametric down-conversion, and in such a scenario, the two-photon state usually used for ghost imaging is symmetric. Here we perform ghost imaging using an anti-symmetric state, engineering the two-photon state symmetry by means of Hong–Ou–Mandel interference. We use both symmetric and anti-symmetric states and show that the ghost imaging setup configuration results in object-image rotations depending on the state selected. Further, the object and imaging arms employ spatial light modulators for the all-digital control of the projections, being able to dynamically change the measuring technique and the spatial properties of the states under study. Finally, we provide a detailed theory that explains the reported observations.
Orbital angular momentum (OAM) is one of the most recently discovered properties of light, and it is only in the past decade its quantum properties have been the subject of experimental investigations and have found applications. Unlike polarization, which is only bidimensional, orbital angular momentum provides, with relative ease, unprecedented access to a theoretically unbounded discrete state space. The process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion has long been used as a source of two-photon states that can be entangled in several degrees of freedom, including OAM. In this thesis, the properties of the natural OAM spectrum associated with the entangled states produced by parametric down-conversion were investigated. Chapters 2 and 3 describe the production and detection of tunable high-dimensional OAM entanglement in a down-conversion system. By tuning the phase-matching conditions and improving the detection stage, a substantial increase in the half-width of the OAM correlation spectrum was observed. The conjugate variable of OAM, angular position, was also considered when examining high-dimensional states entangled in OAM. In order to efficiently determine their dimension, high-dimensional entangled states were probed by implementing a technique based on phase masks composed of multiple angular sectors, as opposed to narrow single-sector analysers. Presented in chapter 4, this technique allows the measurements of tight angular correlations while maintaining high optical throughput. The states so produced were then used for a number of applications centred around the concept of mutually unbiased bases. One can define sets of mutually unbiased bases for arbitrary subspaces of the OAM state space. Two bases are mutually unbiased if the measurement of a state in one basis provides no information about the state as described in the other basis. Complete measurements in mutually unbiased bases of high-dimensional OAM spaces are presented in chapter 5. Measurements in sets of mutually unbiased bases are integral to quantum science and can be used in a variety of protocols that fully exploit the large size of the OAM state space; we describe their use in efficient quantum state tomography, quantum key distribution and entanglement detection. Caution is however necessary when dealing with state spaces embedded in higher-dimensional spaces, such as that provided by OAM. Experimental tests of Bell-type inequalities allow us to rule out local hidden variable theories in the description of quantum correlations. Correlations inconsistent with the states observed, or even with quantum mechanics, known as super-quantum correlations, have however been recorded previously in experiments that fail to comply with the fair-sampling conditions. Chapter 6 describes an experiment that uses a particular choice of transverse spatial modes for which super-quantum correlations persist even if the detection is made perfectly efficient. The sets of modes carrying OAM allow a complete description of the transverse field. The ability to control and combine additional degrees of freedom provides the possibility for richer varieties of entanglement and can make quantum protocols more powerful and versatile. One such property of light, associated with transverse modes possessing radial nodes in the field distribution, can be accessed within the same type of experimental apparatus used for OAM. In chapter 7, the radial degree of freedom is explored, together with OAM, in the context of Hong-Ou-Mandel interference.
The Talbot effect, a wave-optical self-imaging phenomenon originally observed in real-space, has developed into a powerful framework for programmable modal transformations across diverse physical platforms. Here, we report the experimental demonstration of nonlocal Talbot transformations within a high-dimensional, orbital angular momentum (OAM) entangled two-photon system. By exploiting the intrinsic nonlocal correlations generated through spontaneous parametric down-conversion, we show that applying an azimuthal Talbot phase on one photon of an entangled pair is sufficient to coherently reshape the OAM modal distribution of its spatially separated partner, without any direct local operation on the latter. As a proof of principle, we further demonstrate the inverse Talbot transformation within the same platform by incorporating the required quadratic phase during the state-preparation stage. These results extend Talbot physics from local mode manipulation to entanglement-assisted nonlocal transformations in a high-dimensional discrete basis. The demonstrated platform opens versatile routes toward conditional remote OAM-mode conversion, structured entangled-state engineering, and high-dimensional quantum information processing.
A pair of photons entering a Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer will bunch or anti-bunch depending on the symmetry of their state in the measured degree of freedom, resulting in constructive or destructive interference. For photon pairs generated through spontaneous parametric down-conversion, this symmetry can be engineered through linear transformations and projections applied to the photon pairs, or by tailoring the pump field. Here, we adopt the latter approach to demonstrate that the pump's parity affects the shape and frequency of the transition from constructive to destructive interference. We demonstrate this concept theoretically and experimentally using a rotating structured pump mode encoded in the Hermite-Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian bases. In the former case, we show that the transition exhibits a rich structure unique to the mode family, resulting in enhanced sensitivity as the mode order increases. In the latter case, we demonstrate, as with NOON states, an integer enhancement in angular resolution by a factor proportional to the orbital angular momentum content, thereby opening the possibility of Hong-Ou-Mandel-enhanced rotation sensing.