Quantum diffraction and interference of spatially correlated photon pairs and its Fourier-optical analysis
نویسندگان
چکیده
We present oneand two-photon diffraction and interference experiments involving parametric down-converted photon pairs. By controlling the divergence of the pump beam in parametric downconversion, the diffraction-interference pattern produced by an object changes from a quantum (perfectly correlated) case to a classical (uncorrelated) one. The observed diffraction and interference patterns are accurately reproduced by Fourier-optical analysis taking into account the quantum spatial correlation. We show that the relation between the spatial correlation and the object size plays a crucial role in the formation of both oneand two-photon diffraction-interference patterns.
منابع مشابه
Generation of single photons and correlated photon pairs using InAs quantum dots
High-quality single-photon sources and sources of entangled photons are needed for proposed applications in quantum information such as quantum cryptography [1], quantum networking [2] and linear-optical quantum computation [3]. Many recent experiments have shown that single quantum emitters are promising candidates for single-photon devices. Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) [4] offer several p...
متن کاملThe Impact of the Spectral Filter Bandwidth on the Spectral Entanglement and Indistinguishability of Photon Pairs of SPDC Process
In this paper, we have investigated the dependence of the spectral entanglement and indistinguishability of photon pairs produced by the spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) procedure on the bandwidth of spectral filters used in the detection setup. The SPDC is a three-wave mixing process which occurs in a nonlinear crystal and generates entangled photon pairs and utilizes as one of th...
متن کاملQuantum interference fringes beating the diffraction limit.
Spatially formed two-photon interference fringes with fringe periods smaller than the diffraction limit are demonstrated. In the experiment, a fringe formed by two-photon NOON states with wavelength lambda=702.2 nm is observed using a specially developed near-field scanning optical microscope probe and two-photon detection setup. The observed fringe period of 328.2 nm is well below the diffract...
متن کاملA high-brightness source of narrowband, identical-photon pairs.
We generated narrowband pairs of nearly identical photons at a rate of 5 x 10(4) pairs per second from a laser-cooled atomic ensemble inside an optical cavity. A two-photon interference experiment demonstrated that the photons could be made 90% indistinguishable, a key requirement for quantum information-processing protocols. Used as a conditional single-photon source, the system operated near ...
متن کاملSpatial correlations of spontaneously down-converted photon pairs detected with a single-photon-sensitive CCD camera.
A single-photon-sensitive intensified charge-coupled-device (ICCD) camera has been used to simultaneously detect, over a broad area, degenerate and nondegenerate photon pairs generated by the quantum-optical process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion. We have developed a new method for determining the quantum fourth- order correlations in spatially extended detection systems such as this...
متن کامل