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arXiv:quant-ph/0606118 · Europhysics Letters (EPL)

Demonstration of controllable temporal distinguishability in a three-photon state

Bi‐Heng Liu, Fang‐Wen Sun, Yan-Xiao Gong, Yun‐Feng Huang, Z. Y. Ou, Guang‐Can Guo

Published Jan 1, 2007• 18 citations
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Abstract

By using two processes of parametric down-conversion, we are able to generate three photons with controllable degree of temporal distinguishability. This is confirmed by the visibility in a three-photon interference experiment, which can be generalized to provide a practical technique for characterizing the temporal distinguishability of a multi-photon state. This method of quantitative description of multi-photon indistinguishability will have practical implications in the implementation of quantum information protocols.

DOI
10.1209/0295-5075/77/24003

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An experiment is performed to demonstrate the temporal distinguishability of a four-photon state and a six-photon state, both from parametric down-conversion. The experiment is based on a multiphoton interference scheme in a recently discovered projection measurement of a maximally entangled N-photon state. By measuring the visibility of the interference dip, we can distinguish the various scenarios in the temporal distribution of the pairs and, thus, quantitatively determine the degree of temporal distinguishability of a multiphoton state.
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A study of the temporal distribution of an N-photon state is presented. In general, some of the NNN photons are spread out in time while other may overlap and become indistinguishable. The criterion for the photons in a single temporal mode is formulated mathematically. A recently discovered projection measurement involving multi-photon interference is used to quantitatively characterize the degree of the temporal indistinguishability of the N-photon state.
Abstract Photon indistinguishability plays a fundamental role in information processing, with applications such as linear-optical quantum computation and metrology. It is then necessary to develop appropriate tools to quantify the amount of this resource in a multiparticle scenario. Here we report a four-photon experiment in a linear-optical interferometer designed to simultaneously estimate the degree of indistinguishability between three pairs of photons. The interferometer design dispenses with the need of heralding for parametric down-conversion sources, resulting in an efficient and reliable optical scheme. We then use a recently proposed theoretical framework to quantify four-photon indistinguishability, as well as to obtain bounds on three unmeasured two-photon overlaps. Our findings are in high agreement with the theory, and represent a new resource-effective technique for the characterization of multiphoton interference.