Single-Photon Generation and Detection

Single-Photon Generation and Detection
Author:
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 593
Release: 2013-11-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0123876966

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Single-photon generation and detection is at the forefront of modern optical physics research. This book is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of the current status of single-photon techniques and research methods in the spectral region from the visible to the infrared. The use of single photons, produced on demand with well-defined quantum properties, offers an unprecedented set of capabilities that are central to the new area of quantum information and are of revolutionary importance in areas that range from the traditional, such as high sensitivity detection for astronomy, remote sensing, and medical diagnostics, to the exotic, such as secretive surveillance and very long communication links for data transmission on interplanetary missions. The goal of this volume is to provide researchers with a comprehensive overview of the technology and techniques that are available to enable them to better design an experimental plan for its intended purpose. The book will be broken into chapters focused specifically on the development and capabilities of the available detectors and sources to allow a comparative understanding to be developed by the reader along with and idea of how the field is progressing and what can be expected in the near future. Along with this technology, we will include chapters devoted to the applications of this technology, which is in fact much of the driver for its development. This is set to become the go-to reference for this field. Covers all the basic aspects needed to perform single-photon experiments and serves as the first reference to any newcomer who would like to produce an experimental design that incorporates the latest techniques Provides a comprehensive overview of the current status of single-photon techniques and research methods in the spectral region from the visible to the infrared, thus giving broad background that should enable newcomers to the field to make rapid progress in gaining proficiency Written by leading experts in the field, among which, the leading Editor is recognized as having laid down the roadmap, thus providing the reader with an authenticated and reliable source

Characterization of Quantum States of Light

Characterization of Quantum States of Light
Author: Rob Adamson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009
Genre:
ISBN: 9780494677353

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I present a series of experimental and theoretical advances in the field of quantum state estimation. Techniques for measuring the quantum state of light that were originally developed for distinguishable photons fail when the particles are indistinguishable. I develop new methods for handling indistinguishability in quantum state estimation. The technique I present provides the first complete description of states of experimentally indistinguishable photons. It allows me to derive the number of parameters needed to describe an arbitrary state and to quantify distinguishability. I demonstrate its use by applying it to the measurement of the quantum polarization state of two and three-photon systems. State characterization is optimal when no redundant information is collected about the state of the system. I present the results of the first optimal characterization of the polarization state of a two-photon system. I show an improved estimation power over the previous state of the art. I also show how the optimal measurements lead to a new description of the quantum state in terms of a discrete Wigner function. It is often desirable to describe the quantum state of a system in terms of properties that are not themselves quantum-mechanical observables. This usually requires a full characterization of the state followed by a calculation of the properties from the parameters characterizing the state. I apply a technique that allows such properties to be determined directly, without a full characterization of the state. This allows one such property, the purity, to be determined in a single measurement, regardless of the size of the system, while the conventional method of determining purity requires a number of measurements that scales exponentially with the system size.

Characterization of Quantum States of Light

Characterization of Quantum States of Light
Author: Rob Adamson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 426
Release: 2009
Genre:
ISBN: 9780494677353

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I present a series of experimental and theoretical advances in the field of quantum state estimation. Techniques for measuring the quantum state of light that were originally developed for distinguishable photons fail when the particles are indistinguishable. I develop new methods for handling indistinguishability in quantum state estimation. The technique I present provides the first complete description of states of experimentally indistinguishable photons. It allows me to derive the number of parameters needed to describe an arbitrary state and to quantify distinguishability. I demonstrate its use by applying it to the measurement of the quantum polarization state of two and three-photon systems.State characterization is optimal when no redundant information is collected about the state of the system. I present the results of the first optimal characterization of the polarization state of a two-photon system. I show an improved estimation power over the previous state of the art. I also show how the optimal measurements lead to a new description of the quantum state in terms of a discrete Wigner function.It is often desirable to describe the quantum state of a system in terms of properties that are not themselves quantum-mechanical observables. This usually requires a full characterization of the state followed by a calculation of the properties from the parameters characterizing the state. I apply a technique that allows such properties to be determined directly, without a full characterization of the state. This allows one such property, the purity, to be determined in a single measurement, regardless of the size of the system, while the conventional method of determining purity requires a number of measurements that scales exponentially with the system size.

Developing and Characterizing Sources of Quantum States of Light

Developing and Characterizing Sources of Quantum States of Light
Author: Sahil Pontula
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023
Genre:
ISBN:

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One of the central goals of quantum optics is the generation and control of quantum states of light. Chief among these states are Fock states, the fundamental eigenstates of the electromagnetic Hamiltonian with a perfectly-defined photon number. Decades of research have been devoted to producing Fock states, but no known source can produce Fock states at macroscopic intensities and optical wavelengths. Such a source would revolutionize applications ranging from all-optical quantum information processors to quantum sensing far below the shot noise limit. Here, I describe two projects related to the development of quantum states of light, focusing on Fock state sources. First, I demonstrate an improved characterization of single photon emitters (SPEs) in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) at optical wavelengths. Specifically, I demonstrate how one can extract information about electron-phonon coupling in SPEs from photoluminescence spectra in order to characterize fidelity in generating N=1 Fock states. Second, I consider methods for generating large N ” 1 Fock states. I describe a novel method to generate highly intensity-noise squeezed states of light and demonstrate the feasibility of their production on existing semiconductor lasers. This method combines nanophotonics and nonlinear optics to generate photonic dissipation ("nonlinear dispersive loss'') that depends nonperturbatively on the photon number itself. This allows unprecedented squeezing of the intracavity photon number distribution, approaching Fock states of millions of photons. I provide a thorough analysis of intensity and phase noise in these semiconductor lasers and propose realistic platforms amenable to the effects described here.

The Measurement, Creation and Manipulation of Quantum Optical States Via Photodetection

The Measurement, Creation and Manipulation of Quantum Optical States Via Photodetection
Author: James G. Webb
Publisher:
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2009
Genre: Optical detectors
ISBN:

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In this thesis, we demonstrate an array of photodetection theory and techniques bridging the traditional discrete and continuous variable experimental domains. In quantum optics, the creation and measurement of states of light are intertwined and we present experimental architectures considering both aspects. We describe the measurement of mean photon numbers at optical sideband frequencies using homodyne detection. We use our technique to provide a direct comparison to photon-counting measurements and observe that our technique exhibits superior speed, dynamic range and mode selectivity compared to photon counters. Our analysis also rejects a semiclassical description of the vacuum state, with our observations supporting the quantum mechanical model. We create a new means of describing the detection “signatures” of multi-port networks of non-photon-number discriminating detectors. Our model includes the practical effects of loss and dark counts. We use this model to analyse the performance of the loopand balanced- time-division-multiplexed detector architectures in a projective measurement role. Our analysis leads us to describe a prescriptive recipe for the optimisation of each architecture. In light of contemporary technology, we conclude the balanced TDM detector is the better architecture. Our analysis is then extended to the tomographic reconstruction of an unknown optical state using multi-port photon-counting networks. Our new approach is successfully applied to the reconstruction of the photon statistics of weak coherent states and demonstrates reduced error and sensitivity to experimental parameter variations than established techniques. We report the development of a source of quadrature squeezed vacuum at 1550 nm, and characterise the squeezing observed at the first 3 free spectral ranges of the downconversion cavity. This is then used as a source of frequency-entangled photons for a projective photon subtraction operation described by our earlier theory. We propose a new hybrid time/frequency domain approach to homodyne detection and illustrate its application in characterising the prepared state. Our output state has a statistically significant single photon contribution and permits future experimentation in frequency basis quantum information.

Quantum Measurement

Quantum Measurement
Author: Vladimir B. Braginsky
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 216
Release: 1995-05-25
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521484138

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This book is an up-to-date introduction to the quantum theory of measurement. Although the main principles of the field were elaborated in the 1930s by Bohr, Schrödinger, Heisenberg, von Neuman, and Mandelstam, it was not until the 1980s that technology became sufficiently advanced to allow its application in real experiments. Quantum measurement is now central to many ultra-high technology developments, such as "squeezed light," single atom traps, and searches for gravitational radiation. It is also considered to have great promise for computer science and engineering, particularly for its applications in information processing and transfer. The book begins with a brief introduction to the relevant theory and goes on to discuss all aspects of the design of practical quantum measurement systems.