Hong–Ou–Mandel interference with two independent weak coherent states

Recently,the Hong-Ou-Mandel(HOM) interference between two independent weak coherent pulses(WCPs) has been paid much attention due to the measurement-device-independent(MDI) quantum key distribution(QKD).Using classical wave theory,articles reported before show that the visibility of this kind of HOM-type interference is ≤ 50%.In this work,we analyze this kind of interference using quantum optics,which reveals more details compared to the wave theory.Analyses confirm the maximum visibility of 50%.And we conclude that the maximum visibility of 50%comes from the two single-photon states in WCPs,without considering the noise.In the experiment,we successfully approach the visibility of 50%by using WCPs splitting from the single pico-second laser source and phase scanning.Since this kind of HOM interference is immune to slow phase fluctuations,both the realized and proposed experiment designs can provide stable ways of high-resolution optical distance detection.     

Simple and practical method of characterizing the parametric down-conversion source

Parametric down-conversion(PDC) sources play an important role in quantum information processing, therefore characterizing their properties is necessary. Here we present a statistical model to assess the properties of the PDC source with certain distribution, such as the brightness and photon channel transmissions, we only need to measure the singles and coincidences counts in a few seconds. Furthermore, we validate the model by applying it to a PDC source generating highly non-degenerate photon pairs. The results of the experiment indicate that our method is more simple, efficient, and less time consuming.     

交换纤维柱分离ICP-AES测定高纯氧化镱中La、Nd、Eu和Gd

以强酸型离子交换纤维柱分离富集高纯Yb₂O₃中La,Nd,Eu和Gd等痕量杂质元素,并用Optima 5300 DV ICP-AES测定分离富集后的这4种元素。供试纤维对Yb的动态吸附容量为134 mg·g-1,4.0 g纤维柱的分离条件为：pH 3.00的试液以1.0 mL·min-1流速上柱后,分离柱先以流速为1.5 mL·min-1的pH 3.00 HNO₃溶液80 mL预淋洗,再以同样流速pH 5.00的0.01 mol·L-1 EDTA铵溶液淋洗。结果表明：10 mg Yb与各为0.100 μg的La,Nd,Eu和Gd能达到基线分离;分离含100 mg Yb的试液后,在杂质富集液中Yb的残留浓度仅为0.017 1 μg·mL-1。 研究显示,当待测试液中Yb₂O₃的浓度小于100 μg·mL-1(如Yb 87.8 μg·mL-1)时,它对测定La,Nd,Eu和Gd等杂质元素的基体干扰可以忽略不计。富集倍数分别为La₂O₃ 3.68×105,Nd₂O₃ 4.20×105,Eu₂O₃ 3.82×105,Gd₂O₃ 4.01×105。方法检出限分别为La₂O₃ 0.005 0 pg·mL-1,Nd₂O₃ 0.014 pg·mL-1,Eu₂O₃ 0.001 8 pg·mL-1,Gd₂O₃ 0.008 2 pg·mL-1。本方法已用于99.99% Yb₂O₃样品中4种稀土杂质的测定,标准加入的平均回收率分别为La₂O₃ 94.2%,Nd₂O₃ 107%,Eu₂O₃ 97.8%,Gd₂O₃ 102%,RSD (%, n=5)分别为La₂O₃ 6.2,Nd₂O₃ 5.9,Eu₂O₃ 7.3,Gd₂O₃ 2.5,校正曲线不需进行Yb的基体匹配,分析周期为4 h。