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Andrea Aiello

Publications and source records attributed to Andrea Aiello.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
arXiv2013

Radially and azimuthally polarized non paraxial Bessel beams made simple

We present a method for the realization of radially and azimuthally polarized nonparaxial Bessel beams in a rigorous but simple manner. This result is achieved by using the concept of Hertz vector potential to generate exact vector solutions of Maxwell's equations from scalar Bessel beams. The scalar part of the Hertz potential is built by analogy with the paraxial case as a linear combination of Bessel beams carrying a unit of orbital angular momentum. In this way we are able to obtain spatial and polarization patterns analogous to the ones exhibited by the standard cylindrically polarized paraxial beams. Applications of these beams are discussed.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2013

Goos-Hänchen and Imbert-Fedorov beam shifts: An overview

We consider reflection and transmission of polarized paraxial light beams at a plane dielectric interface. The field transformations taking into account a finite beam width are described based on the plane-wave representation and geometric rotations. Using geometrical-optics coordinate frames accompanying the beams, we construct an effective Jones matrix characterizing spatial-dispersion properties of the interface. This results in a unified self-consistent description of the Goos-Hänchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts (the latter being also known as spin-Hall effect of light). Our description reveals intimate relation of the transverse Imbert-Fedorov shift to the geometric phases between constituent waves in the beam spectrum and to the angular momentum conservation for the whole beam. Both spatial and angular shifts are considered as well as their analogues for the higher-order vortex beams carrying intrinsic orbital angular momentum. We also give a brief overview of various extensions and generalizations of the basic beam-shift phenomena and related effects.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2012

A Versatile Source of Single Photons for Quantum Information Processing

The quantum state of a single photon stands among the most fundamental and intriguing manifestations of quantum physics. At the same time single photons and pairs of single photons are important building blocks in the fields of linear optical based quantum computation and quantum repeater infrastructure. These fields possess enormous potential and much scientific and technological progress has been made in developing individual components, like quantum memories and photon sources using various physical implementations. However, further progress suffers from the lack of compatibility between these different components. Ultimately, one aims for a versatile source of single photons and photon pairs in order to overcome this hurdle of incompatibility. Such a photon source should allow for tuning of the spectral properties (wide wavelength range and narrow bandwidth) to address different implementations while retaining high efficiency. In addition, it should be able to bridge different wavelength regimes to make implementations compatible. Here we introduce and experimentally demonstrate such a versatile single photon and photon pair source based on the physics of whispering gallery resonators. A disk-shaped, monolithic and intrinsically stable resonator is made of lithium niobate and supports a cavity-assisted triply-resonant spontaneous parametric down-conversion process. Measurements show that photon pairs are efficiently generated in two highly tunable resonator modes. We verify wavelength tuning over 100 nm between both modes with a controllable bandwidth between 7.2 and 13 MHz. Heralding of single photons yields anti-bunching with $g^{(2)}(0) < 0.2$. This compact source provides unprecedented possibilities to couple to different physical quantum systems and renders it ideal for the implementation of quantum repeaters and optical quantum information processing.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2012

The photonic wheel: demonstration of a state of light with purely transverse angular momentum

The concept of angular momentum is ubiquitous to many areas of physics. In classical mechanics, a system may possess an angular momentum which can be either transverse (e.g., in a spinning wheel) or longitudinal (e.g., for a fluidic vortex) to the direction of motion. Photons, however, are well-known to exhibit intrinsic angular momentum which is longitudinal only: the spin angular momentum defining the beam polarization and the orbital angular momentum associated with a spiraling phase front. Here we show that it is possible to generate a novel state of light that contains purely transverse angular momentum, the analogue of a spinning mechanical wheel. We use an optical nano-probing technique to experimentally demonstrate its occurrence in our setup. Such a state of light can provide additional rotational degree of freedom in optical tweezers and optical manipulation.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2012

Goos-Haenchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts for bounded wave packets of light

We present precise expressions of the spatial and angular Goos-Haenchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts experienced by a longitudinally and transversally limited beam of light (wave packet) upon reflection from a dielectric interface, as opposed to the well-known case of a monochromatic beam which is bounded in transverse directions but infinitely extended along the direction of propagation. This is done under the assumption that the detector time is longer than the temporal length of the wave packet (wave packet regime). Our results will be applied to the case of a Gaussian wave packet and show that, at the leading order in the Taylor expansion of reflected-field amplitudes, the results are the same of the monochromatic case.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2012

All photons are equal but some photons are more equal than others

Two photons are said to be identical when they are prepared in the same quantum state. Given the latter, there is a unique way to achieve this. Conversely, there are many different manners to prepare two non-identical photons: they may have different frequency, polarization, amplitude, etc. Therefore, photon distinguishability depends upon the specific degree of freedom being varied. By means of a careful analysis of the coincidence probability distribution in a Hong-Ou-Mandel experiment, we can show that photon distinguishability can be actually quantified by the rate of distinguishability of photons, an experimentally measurable parameter that crucially depends on both the photon quantum state and the degree of freedom under control.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2012

An algorithm for the optical equivalence theorem

A coherent state representation of the expectation value of an arbitrary (but still polynomial) normal ordered quantum operator is discussed. This serves as a basis for developing a fast and easy-to-handle algorithm, based on series of Hermite polynomials, for calculating such quantities. The case of single mode field with number, coherent and squeezed states is treated in detail. Some hints on how to extend the algorithm to multimode fields are also given.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2012

Total Internal Reflection of Orbital Angular Momentum Beams

We investigate how beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM) behave under total internal reflection. This is studied in two complementary experiments: In the first experiment, we study geometric shifts of OAM beams upon total internal reflection (Goos-Hänchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts, for each the spatial and angular variant), and in the second experiment we determine changes in the OAM mode spectrum of a beam, again upon total internal reflection. As a result we find that in the first case, the shifts are independent of OAM and beam focussing, while in the second case, modifications in the OAM spectrum occur which depend on the input OAM mode as well as on the beam focussing. This is investigated by experiment and theory. We also show how the two methods, beam shifts on the one hand, and OAM spectrum changes on the other, are related theoretically.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2012

Spatial Coherence and Optical Beam Shifts

A beam of light, reflected at a planar interface, does not follow perfectly the ray optics prediction. Diffractive corrections lead to beam shifts; either the reflected beam is displaced (spatial shift) and/or travels in a different direction (angular shift), as compared to geometric optics. How does the degree of spatial coherence of light influence these shifts? Theoretically, this has turned out to be a controversial issue. Here we resolve the controversy experimentally; we show that the degree of spatial coherence influences the angular beam shifts, while the spatial beam shifts are unaffected.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2012

Observation of OAM sidebands due to optical reflection

We investigate how the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of a paraxial light beam is affected upon reflection at a planar interface. Theoretically, the unavoidable angular spread of the (paraxial) beam leads to OAM sidebands which are found to be already significant for modest beam spread (0.05). In analogy to the polarization Fresnel coefficients we develop a theory based upon spatial Fresnel coefficients; this allows straightforward prediction of the strength of the sidebands. We confirm this by experiment.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2012

Visualizing the Quantum Interaction Picture in Phase Space

We illustrate the correspondence between the quantum Interaction Picture-evolution of the state of a quantum system in Hilbert space and a combination of local and global transformations of its Wigner function in phase space. To this aim, we consider the time-evolution of a quantized harmonic oscillator driven by both a linear and a quadratic (in terms of bosonic creation and annihilation operators) potentials and employ the Magnus series to derive the exact form of the time-evolution operator. In this case, the Interaction Picture corresponds to a local transformation of phase space-reference frame into the one that is co-moving with the Wigner function.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2012

Radial mode dependence of optical beam shifts

It is known that orbital angular momentum (OAM) couples the Goos-Hanchen and Imbert-Fedorov shifts. Here, we present the first study of these shifts when the OAM-endowed LG(l,p) beams have higher-order radial mode index (p>0). We show theoretically and experimentally that the angular shifts are enhanced by p while the positional shifts are not. Since LG(l,p) modes form a complete basis set for paraxial beams, our results can be used to predict beam shifts of arbitrary modes of light.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2011

Tools for detecting entanglement between different degrees of freedom in quadrature squeezed cylindrically polarized modes

Quadrature squeezed cylindrically polarized modes contain entanglement not only in the polarization and spatial electric field variables but also between these two degrees of freedom [1]. In this paper we present tools to generate and detect this entanglement. Experimentally we demonstrate the generation of quadrature squeezing in cylindrically polarized modes by mode transforming a squeezed Gaussian mode. Specifically, -1.2 dB of amplitude squeezing are achieved in the radially and azimuthally polarized mode. Furthermore, theoretically it is shown how the entanglement contained within these modes can be measured and how strong the quantum correlations, depending on the measurement scheme, are.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2011

Spin Hall effect of light in metallic reflection

We report the first measurement of the Spin Hall Effect of Light (SHEL) on an air-metal interface. The SHEL is a polarization-dependent out-of-plane shift on the reflected beam. For the case of metallic reflection with a linearly polarized incident light, both the spatial and angular variants of the shift are observed and are maximum for -45/45 deg polarization, but zero for pure s- and p-polarization. For an incoming beam with circular polarization states however, only the spatial out-of-plane shift is present.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2011

Beam shifts and distribution functions

When a beam of light is reflected by a smooth surface its behavior deviates from geometrical optics predictions. Such deviations are quantified by the so-called spatial and angular Goos-Haenchen (GH) and Imbert-Fedorov (IF) shifts of the reflected beam. These shifts depend upon the shape of the incident beam, its polarization and on the material composition of the reflecting surface. In this article we suggest a novel approach that allows one to unambiguously isolate the beam-shape dependent aspects of GH and IF shifts. We show that this separation is possible as a result of some universal features of shifted distribution functions which are presented and discussed.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2011

Theory of Anisotropic Whispering Gallery Resonators

An analytic solution for an uniaxial spherical resonator is presented using the method of Debye potentials. This serves as a starting point for the calculation of whispering gallery modes (WGM) in such a resonator. Suitable approximations for the radial functions are discussed in order to best characterize WGMs. The characteristic equation and its asymptotic expansion for the anisotropic case is also discussed, and an analytic formula with a precision of the order $O[ν^{-1}]$ is also given. Our careful treatment of both boundary conditions and asymptotic expansions makes the present work a particularly suitable platform for a quantum theory of whispering gallery resonators.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2011

Geometric Spin Hall Effect of Light at Polarizing Interfaces

The geometric Spin Hall Effect of Light (geometric SHEL) amounts to a polarization-dependent positional shift when a light beam is observed from a reference frame tilted with respect to its direction of propagation. Motivated by this intriguing phenomenon, the energy density of the light beam is decomposed into its Cartesian components in the tilted reference frame. This illustrates the occurrence of the characteristic shift and the significance of the effective response function of the detector. We introduce the concept of a tilted polarizing interface and provide a scheme for its experimental implementation. A light beam passing through such an interface undergoes a shift resembling the original geometric SHEL in a tilted reference frame. This displacement is generated at the polarizer and its occurrence does not depend on the properties of the detection system. We give explicit results for this novel type of geometric SHEL and show that at grazing incidence this effect amounts to a displacement of multiple wavelengths, a shift larger than the one introduced by Goos-Hänchen and Imbert-Fedorov effects.

physics.optics↗