Work

Measurement of the transverse spatial quantum state of light at the single-photon level

Year: 2005

Type: article

Abstract: We present an experimental method to measure the transverse spatial quantum state of an optical field in coordinate space at the single-photon level. The continuous-variable measurements are made with a photon-counting, parity-inverting Sagnac interferometer based on all-reflecting optics. The technique provides a large numerical aperture without distorting the shape of the wavefront, does not introduce astigmatism, and allows for characterization of fully or partially coherent optical fields at the single-photon level. Measurements of the transverse spatial Wigner functions for highly attenuated coherent beams are presented and compared with theoretical predictions.

Source: Optics Letters

DOI: 10.1364/ol.30.003365

Authors: Brian J. Smith, I. A. Walmsley, K. Banaszek, Emmy Killett, M. G. Raymer

Institutions: University of Oregon, University of Oxford, Nicolaus Copernicus University

Language: English

Topic: Quantum Information and Cryptography

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Science Foundation

Awards: ITR: Controlled Photon Entanglement for Quantum Information Processing using Nonlinear Photonic Crystals, US-UK Dissertation Enhancement: Controlled Photon Entanglement for Quantum Information Processing using Nonlinear Photonic Crystals