Photon interferences and correlations

Jonas Bylander, Isabelle Robert-Philip, Izo I. Abram

Manman Wang, Yanfeng Li, Hanqing Liu +5 more

Two-photon interference (TPI) is a fundamental phenomenon in quantum optics and plays a crucial role in optical quantum technologies. TPI is commonly considered as quantum interference with an upper bound of 100% for both the TPI and the beat visibility in contrast to its classical counterpart with a maximum visibility of 50%. However, this is not always the case. Here, we report a simultaneous observation of quantum and classical TPI of single photons with ultralong coherence time, which is five orders of magnitude longer than the photon correlation time. We observe a TPI visibility of 94.3% ± 0.2% well above the 50% classical limit indicating the quantum feature, and a beat visibility of 50% reflecting the classical feature. In addition an anti-bunching central dip due to single-photon anti-correlation, we also observe two bunching side peaks in cross correlation curves for indistinguishable photons. Using the general wave superposition theory and the quantum field approach, we derive the same cross correlation functions, which fully reproduce and explain the experiments. Our results reveal that the quantum and classical features of TPI result from the same interference, as the fourth-order temporal interference arises from the second-order temporal interference between two photons on the timescale of the photon coherence time.

Ling-an, Wu

Fernando Redivo Cardoso, Jaewon Lee, Riccardo Checchinato +6 more

Two-photon interference is an indispensable resource in quantum photonics, but it is not straightforward to achieve. The cascaded generation of photon pairs contains intrinsic temporal correlations that negatively affect the ability of such sources to perform two-photon interference, thus hindering applications. We report on how such correlation interplays with decoherence and temporal postselection, and under which conditions temporal postselection could improve two-photon interference visibility. Our study identifies crucial parameters and points the way to a source with optimal performance.

John Gordon King, Malcolm Correll

Xiangming Hu, Wang Fei

It has been predicted that a driven three-level V atom can emit strongly correlated fluorescence photons in the presence of quantum interference. Here we examine the effects of quantum interference on the intensity correlation of fluorescence photons emitted from a driven three-level Λ atom. Unexpectedly, strong correlation occurs without quantum interference. The quantum interference tends to reduce the correlation function to a normal level. The essential difference between these two cases is traced to the different effects of quantum interference on coherent population trapping (CPT). For the V atom, quantum interference and coherent excitation combine to lead to CPT. For the Λ atom, however, the quantum interference tends to spoil CPT while the coherent excitation induces the effect.