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Optical Y-coupler as universal scattering element for quantum walks and multiport interferometry

Christopher R. Schwarze, Anthony D. Manni, David S. Simon, Alexander V. Sergienko

Published Jan 1, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We introduce a complete scattering matrix of the Y-coupler, demonstrating the device possesses strong back-reflections at some ports. This unique scattering property enables the construction of the Grover multiport used in super-resolution quantum interferometry.
DOI
10.1364/cleo_at.2025.jps200_202

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Using symmetry considerations, we derive a unitary scattering matrix for a three-port optical Y coupler or Y branch. The result is shown to be unique up to external phase shifts. Unlike traditional passive linear-optical one-way splitters, coupling light into the conventional output ports of the Y coupler results in strong coherent back-reflections, making the device a hybrid between feed-forward devices like the beam splitter, which do not reverse the direction of light, and a recently considered class of directionally unbiased multiport scatterers (with dimension greater than two), which do. While the device could immediately find use as a novel scattering vertex for the implementation of quantum walks, we also design a few simple but nonetheless useful optical systems that can be constructed by taking advantage of the symmetry of the scattering process. This includes an interference-free, resource-efficient implementation of the Grover four-port and a higher-dimensional Fabry-Perot interferometer with tunable finesse. Symmetry-breaking generalizations are also considered.
We demonstrate a nontraditional design of the Sagnac interferometer by replacing the commonly used beam splitter with a linear-optical Grover multiport. This substitution creates a pole at the origin of the device parameter space, with an associated resonance in the output intensity. The structure of this resonance is dictated only by the nonreciprocal portion of the phase acquired in the Sagnac loop. This property directly results from adopting the more symmetric and higher-dimensional central scattering coin, and it allows for a different approach to registering and detecting the nonreciprocal Sagnac phase. This parameter may be extracted from the width of a peak or dip in the interferogram, instead of tracing small changes in power as in traditional Sagnac interferometry. We discuss how losses affect the system and potential metrological applications.