Phase-dependent fluctuations of resonance fluorescence beyond the squeezing regime

Phase-dependent quantum features of the light scattered by a two-level atom driven by a monochromatic laser were investigated theoretically using the method of conditional homodyne detection [Carmichael, Castro-Beltran, Foster, Orozco, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85 (2000) 1855]. The splitting of fluctuations into terms of second and third order correlations of the dipole noise is obtained analytically. For the out-of-phase quadrature and weak laser driving the former are known to be squeezed. The third order fluctuations, newly found in this paper, grow with the laser intensity, contaminate squeezing below saturation, and dominate above it. They are responsible for the non-classicality and non-Gaussianity of the fluorescence for moderate to strong driving. Conditional homodyne detection, in both time and frequency domains, illustrates more general phase-dependent effects than squeezing, and is much less restricted by finite collection and quantum detector efficiencies than standard homodyne detection schemes.     

Nonunity gain quantum nondemolition measurements based on measurement and repreparation

We demonstrate experimentally a nonunity gain quantum nondemolition measurement based on a simple homodyne measurement and recreation strategy. Although the output state is an amplified version of the input state, the device meets standard criteria for QND measurements: the transfer coefficient was measured to 1.78, and the conditional variance was measured to 0.66.     

基于交叉相位调制制备四光子偏振纠缠态及其在隐形传态上的运用

利用克尔介质、偏振分束器、半波片和对强相干探测场的零拍探测,呈现了一个关于制备四光子偏振Diche态、GHZ态和W态的方案,当前量子光学实验技术条件均能有效满足该方案的要求.强的探测模相继和多个信号模光子相互作用,每次对于探测模而言,都会产生一个相位旋转.接下来,对探测模利用零拍探测,信号模可以投影得到想要的光子偏振纠缠态.此外,为了展现所制备的纠缠态作为重要的量子信息资源的价值,基于交叉相位调制进一步提出了一个隐形传送三光子偏振纠缠态的实验方案.     

Distillation of squeezing from non-Gaussian quantum states

We show that single copy distillation of squeezing from continuous variable non-Gaussian states is possible using linear optics and conditional homodyne detection. A specific non-Gaussian noise source, corresponding to a random linear displacement, is investigated experimentally. Conditioning the signal on a tap measurement, we observe probabilistic recovery of squeezing.     

基于交叉相位调制制备四光子偏振纠缠态及其在隐形传态上的运用

利用克尔介质、偏振分束器、半波片和对强相干探测场的零拍探测,呈现了一个关于制备四光子偏振Diche态、GHZ态和W态的方案,当前量子光学实验技术条件均能有效满足该方案的要求.强的探测模相继和多个信号模光子相互作用,每次对于探测模而言,都会产生一个相位旋转.接下来,对探测模利用零拍探测,信号模可以投影得到想要的光子偏振纠缠态.此外,为了展现所制备的纠缠态作为重要的量子信息资源的价值,基于交叉相位调制进一步提出了一个隐形传送三光子偏振纠缠态的实验方案.     

Interconvertibility of single-rail optical qubits

We show how to convert between partially coherent superpositions of a single photon with the vacuum by using linear optics and postselection based on homodyne measurements. We introduce a generalized quantum efficiency for such states and show that any conversion that decreases this quantity is possible. We also prove that our scheme is optimal by showing that no linear optical scheme with generalized conditional measurements, and with one single-rail qubit input, can improve the generalized efficiency.     

Reduction to the Fock state via a degenerate four-wave mixing

A scheme to generate the Fock state via a degenerate four-wave mixing and partial measurement is proposed. A conditional state of the signal mode of a degenerate four-wave mixer will be shown to reduce to the Fock state when the outcome of the measurement on the reference mode satisfies a certain condition. The photon number of the Fock state is distributed when the measurement is repeated many times. Conditioning for the quantum state of the signal mode is carried out by the photon counting measurement on the reference mode whose input state is assumed to be the vacuum. The phase coherence of the conditional signal state is also considered. Furthermore conditioning for the signal mode by means of heterodyne and homodyne detections are briefly considered.     

Quantum state reconstruction of the single-photon Fock state

We have reconstructed the quantum state of optical pulses containing single photons using the method of phase-randomized pulsed optical homodyne tomography. The single-photon Fock state 1> was prepared using conditional measurements on photon pairs born in the process of parametric down-conversion. A probability distribution of the phase-averaged electric field amplitudes with a strongly non-Gaussian shape is obtained with the total detection efficiency of (55+/-1)%. The angle-averaged Wigner function reconstructed from this distribution shows a strong dip reaching classically impossible negative values around the origin of the phase space.     

Optical mode characterization of single photons prepared by means of conditional measurements on a biphoton state

A detailed theoretical analysis of the spatiotemporal mode of a single photon prepared via conditional measurements on a photon pair generated in the process of parametric down-conversion is presented. The maximum efficiency of coupling the photon into a transform-limited classical optical mode is calculated and ways for its optimization are determined. An experimentally feasible technique of generating the optimally matching classical mode is proposed. The theory is applied to a recent experiment on pulsed homodyne tomography of the single-photon Fock state [A.I. Lvovsky et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 050402 (2001)]. Received 16 July 2001     

Evaluation of Transparent Optical Network Performance in Presence of Incoherent Homodyne Crosstalk

A simple method to evaluate the performance of transparent optical networks (TON) that takes into account the incoherent homodyne crosstalk, signal distortion, inter-symbol interference (ISI), amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise, and arbitrary optical and electrical filters is proposed. This method combines the effect of the incoherent homodyne crosstalk with an exhaustive Gaussian approximation for the influence of ASE noise, signal distortion, and ISI. It is shown that the incoherent homodyne crosstalk penalty depends on the ASE noise accumulated in the TON, ISI, and extinction ratio. The proposed method estimates are compared with experimental results published by other authors. Good agreement is observed for one, two, and four incoherent homodyne crosstalk signals, revealing that the proposed method provides accurate estimates even when the methods based on a Gaussian approximation for the incoherent homodyne crosstalk fail. The proposed method is used to assess the performance of a TON composed by optical add-drop multiplexers based on arrayed waveguide gratings. Results reveal that incoherent homodyne crosstalk, ASE noise, and ISI impair the TON performance and, therefore, none can be neglected in the TON design.     

De-Gaussification by inconclusive photon subtraction

We address conditional de-Gaussiflcation of continuous variable states by inconclusive photon subtraction (IPS) and review in detail its application to the bipartite twin-beam state of radiation. The IPS map in the Fock basis and counterpart in the phase space have been derived. Teleportation assisted by IPS states is analyzed, and the corresponding fidelity is evaluated as a function of the involved parameters. Nonlocality of IPS states is investigated by means of different tests, including displaced parity, homodyne detection, pseudospin, and displaced on/off photodetection. Dissipation and thermal noise and nonunit quantum efficiency are taken into account in the detection stage. We show that the IPS process, for a suitable choice of the involved parameters, improves teleportation fidelity and enhances nonlocal properties.     

Evaluation of Transparent Optical Network Performance in Presence of Incoherent Homodyne Crosstalk

Abstract

A simple method to evaluate the performance of transparent optical networks (TON) that takes into account the incoherent homodyne crosstalk, signal distortion, inter-symbol interference (ISI), amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise, and arbitrary optical and electrical filters is proposed. This method combines the effect of the incoherent homodyne crosstalk with an exhaustive Gaussian approximation for the influence of ASE noise, signal distortion, and ISI. It is shown that the incoherent homodyne crosstalk penalty depends on the ASE noise accumulated in the TON, ISI, and extinction ratio. The proposed method estimates are compared with experimental results published by other authors. Good agreement is observed for one, two, and four incoherent homodyne crosstalk signals, revealing that the proposed method provides accurate estimates even when the methods based on a Gaussian approximation for the incoherent homodyne crosstalk fail. The proposed method is used to assess the performance of a TON composed by optical add-drop multiplexers based on arrayed waveguide gratings. Results reveal that incoherent homodyne crosstalk, ASE noise, and ISI impair the TON performance and, therefore, none can be neglected in the TON design.     

Two-mode homodyne tomography of time-encoded single-photon ebits

We have developed a technique for dual-temporal-mode, ultrafast, time-domain, balanced homodyne detection. We have tested it by performing homodyne measurements on pairs of picosecond-duration temporal modes (or “time bins”) carrying a delocalized single photon. The experimental homodyne data have been used to reconstruct both the density matrix and the two-mode Wigner function of the delocalized state, thus showing the correlations existing between the pair of temporal modes carrying the single photon.     

Universal measurement of quantum correlations of radiation

A measurement technique is proposed which, in principle, allows one to observe the general space-time correlation properties of a quantized radiation field. Our method, called balanced homodyne correlation measurement, unifies the advantages of balanced homodyne detection with those of homodyne correlation measurements.     

平衡零拍探测器的改进

平衡零拍探测技术是连续变量量子信息科学研究中测量量子态量子噪声的最佳方法之一。在平衡零拍探测系统中,需要一对性能和结构尽量相同的光电探测器,以便很好地减去经典噪声,有效探测散粒噪声基准及光场噪声。根据基尔霍夫电流定律及光电二极管串联的办法,设计并制作出一种性能优良的低噪声平衡零拍探测器。该探测器从光电二极管串联节点处取出光电流相减信号,然后对信号进行放大,在对两探测器全同性要求降低的同时提高了平衡零拍探测的性能。实验结果表明,该探测器在2MHz处共模抑制比达39dB,能很好地满足量子信息对低噪声、线性增益及高共模抑制比的要求。     

平衡零拍测量对连续变量量子密钥分配的影响

与单光子量子密钥分配采用单光子探测器不同，连续变量量子密钥分配采用平衡零拍测量技术.分析了由于参考光的真空噪声、分束器的透射率和反射率不相等引入的平衡零拍测量误差，以及平衡零拍测量探测器的电子噪声对连续变量量子密钥传输的最大安全距离的限制，给出了平衡零拍测量的探测噪声、电子噪声和密钥量之间的定量表达式.     

The use of balanced homodyne and squeezed states for detecting weak optical signals in a Michelson interferometer

The possibility of using squeezed states and balanced homodyne detection of optical signals in a Michelson interferometer is discussed. The present analysis describes photon statistics measurements effects related to quadrature balanced homodyne detection showing the advantage of using this scheme for detecting weak optical signals.     

Homodyne en face optical coherence tomography

We demonstrate, for what we believe to be the first time, the use of a 3 x 3 fiber-optic coupler to realize a homodyne optical coherence tomography (OCT) system for en face imaging of highly scattering tissues and turbid media. The homodyne OCT setup exploits the inherent phase shifts between different output ports of a 3 x 3 fiber-optic coupler to extract amplitude information of a sample. Our homodyne en face OCT system features a measured resolution of 14 microm axially and 9.4 microm laterally with a 90 dB signal-to-noise ratio at 10 micros integration time. En face OCT imaging of a stage 52 Xenopus laevis was successfully demonstrated at a depth of 600 microm within the sample.     

Hybrid long-distance entanglement distribution protocol

We propose a hybrid (continuous-discrete variable) quantum repeater protocol for long-distance entanglement distribution. Starting from states created by single-photon detection, we show how entangled coherent state superpositions can be generated by means of homodyne detection. We show that near-deterministic entanglement swapping with such states is possible using only linear optics and homodyne detectors, and we evaluate the performance of our protocol combining these elements.