arXiv subjects

Gerd Leuchs

Publications and source records attributed to Gerd Leuchs.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Atomic mercury vapor inside a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

We demonstrate high atomic mercury vapor pressure in a kagomé-style hollow-core photonic crystal fiber at room temperature. After a few days of exposure to mercury vapor the fiber is homogeneously filled and the optical depth achieved remains constant. With incoherent optical pumping from the ground state we achieve an optical depth of 114 at the $6^3P_2 - 6^3D_3$ transition, corresponding to an atomic mercury number density of $6 \times 10^{10}$ cm$^{-3}$. The use of mercury vapor in quasi one-dimensional confinement may be advantageous compared to chemically more active alkali vapor, while offering strong optical nonlinearities in the ultraviolet region of the optical spectrum.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2014

Near-infrared single-photon spectroscopy of a whispering gallery mode resonator using energy-resolving transition edge sensors

We demonstrate a method to perform spectroscopy of near-infrared single photons without the need of dispersive elements. This method is based on a photon energy resolving transition edge sensor and is applied for the characterization of widely wavelength tunable narrow-band single photons emitted from a crystalline whispering gallery mode resonator. We measure the emission wavelength of the generated signal and idler photons with an uncertainty of up to 2 nm.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

High-Q MgF$_2$ whispering gallery mode resonators for refractometric sensing in aqueous environment

We present our experiments on refractometric sensing with ultrahigh-Q, crystalline, birefringent magnesium fluoride (MgF$_2$) whispering gallery mode resonators. The difference to fused silica which is most commonly used for sensing experiments is the small refractive index of MgF$_2$ which is very close to that of water. Compared to fused silica this leads to more than 50% longer evanescent fields and a 4.25 times larger sensitivity. Moreover the birefringence amplifies the sensitivity difference between TM and TE type modes which will enhance sensing experiments based on difference frequency measurements. We estimate the performance of our resonators and compare them with fused silica theoretically and present experimental data showing the interferometrically measured evanescent decay and the sensitivity of mm-sized MgF$_2$ whispering gallery mode resonators immersed in water. They show reasonable agreement with the developed theory. Furthermore, we observe stable Q factors in water well above $1 \times 10^8$.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Low-noise macroscopic twin beams

Applying a multiphoton-subtraction technique to two-color macroscopic squeezed vacuum state of light generated via high-gain parametric down conversion we conditionally prepare a new state of light: bright multi-mode low-noise twin beams. The obtained results demonstrate up to 8-fold suppression of noise in each beam while preserving and even moderately improving the nonclassical photon number correlations between the beams. The prepared low-noise macroscopic state, containing up to 2000 photons per mode, is not among the states achievable through nonlinear optical processes. The proposed technique substantially improves the usefulness of twin beams for quantum technologies.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Distribution of squeezed states through an atmospheric channel

Continuous variable quantum states of light are used in quantum information protocols and quantum metrology and known to degrade with loss and added noise. We were able to show the distribution of bright polarization squeezed quantum states of light through an urban free-space channel of 1.6 km length. To measure the squeezed states in this extreme environment, we utilize polarization encoding and a post-selection protocol that is taking into account classical side information stemming from the distribution of transmission values. The successful distribution of continuous variable squeezed states is accentuated by a quantum state tomography, allowing for determining the purity of the state.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Trojan-horse attacks threaten the security of practical quantum cryptography

A quantum key distribution system may be probed by an eavesdropper Eve by sending in bright light from the quantum channel and analyzing the back-reflections. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a setup for mounting such a Trojan-horse attack. We show it in operation against the quantum cryptosystem Clavis2 from ID~Quantique, as a proof-of-principle. With just a few back-reflected photons, Eve discerns Bob's secret basis choice, and thus the raw key bit in the Scarani-Acín-Ribordy-Gisin 2004 protocol, with higher than 90% probability. This would clearly breach the security of the cryptosystem. Unfortunately in Clavis2 Eve's bright pulses have a side effect of causing high level of afterpulsing in Bob's single-photon detectors, resulting in a high quantum bit error rate that effectively protects this system from our attack. However, in a Clavis2-like system equipped with detectors with less-noisy but realistic characteristics, an attack strategy with positive leakage of the key would exist. We confirm this by a numerical simulation. Both the eavesdropping setup and strategy can be generalized to attack most of the current QKD systems, especially if they lack proper safeguards. We also propose countermeasures to prevent such attacks.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

The duality principle in the presence of postselection

The duality principle, a cornerstone of quantum mechanics, limits the coexistence of wave and particle behaviours of quantum systems. This limitation takes a quantitative form when applied to the visibility $\mathcal V$ and predictability $\mathcal P$ within a two-alternative system, which are bound by the inequality $\mathcal V^2+ \mathcal P^2 \leq 1$. However, if such a system is coupled to its environment, it becomes possible to obtain conditional measures of visibility and predictability, i.e.~measures that are conditional on the state of the environment. We show that in this case, the predictability and visibility values can lead to an apparent violation of the duality principle. We experimentally realize this apparent violation in a controlled manner by enforcing a fair-sampling-like loophole via postselection. Given the ability to simultaneously obtain high predictability information and high visibility interference fringes for a wide range of coupling strengths and postselected states, this work highlights the role of fair-sampling in tests of the duality principle.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Atmospheric continuous-variable quantum communication

We present a quantum communication experiment conducted over a point-to-point free-space link of 1.6 km in urban conditions. We study atmospheric influences on the capability of the link to act as a continuous-variable (CV) quantum channel. Continuous polarization states (that contain the signal encoding as well as a local oscillator in the same spatial mode) are prepared and sent over the link in a polarization multiplexed setting. Both signal and local oscillator undergo the same atmospheric fluctuations. These are intrinsically auto-compensated which removes detrimental influences on the interferometric visibility. At the receiver, we measure the Q-function and interpret the data using the framework of effective entanglement. We compare different state amplitudes and alphabets (two-state and four-state) and determine their optimal working points with respect to the distributed effective entanglement. Based on the high entanglement transmission rates achieved, our system indicates the high potential of atmospheric links in the field of CV QKD.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Detection of non-classical space-time correlations with a novel type of single-photon camera

During the last decades, multi-pixel detectors have been developed capable of registering single photons. The newly developed Hybrid Photon Detector camera has a remarkable property that it has not only spatial but also temporal resolution. In this work, we use this device for the detection of non-classical light from spontaneous parametric down-conversion and use two-photon correlations for the absolute calibration of its quantum efficiency.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2014

Three dimensional photograph of single electron tracks through a scintillator

The reconstruction of particle trajectories makes it possible to distinguish between different types of charged particles. In high-energy physics, where trajectories are rather long, large size trackers must be used to achieve sufficient position resolution. However, in low-background experiments tracks are rather short and three dimensional trajectories could only be resolved in time-projection chambers so far. For detectors of large volume and therefore large drift distances, which are inevitable for low-background experiments, this technique is limited by diffusion of charge carriers. In this work we present a "proof-of-principle" experiment for a new method for the three dimensional tracking of charged particles by scintillation light: We used a setup consisting of a scintillator, mirrors, lenses and a novel imaging device (the hybrid photo detector) in order to image two projections of electron tracks through the scintillator. We took data at the T-24 beam-line at DESY with relativistic electrons with a kinetic energy of 5 GeV and from this data successfully reconstructed their three dimensional propagetion path in the scintillator. With our setup we achieved a position resolution of about 28 mum in the best case.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2014

Optimal receiver for binary coherent signals

One of the most fascinating aspects of quantum mechanics is the principle impossibility of deterministic errorless discrimination of nonorthogonal signals, such as coherent states. On the one hand, it prevents perfect cloning of quantum states and enables secure communication. On the other hand, it makes a grand challenge to reach the ultimate measurement precision. Although the minimum possible error rate (the Helstrom bound) has been known for almost five decades, there is no practical way to achieve it. Developing the realistic optimal measurement strategies to attain the Helstrom bound is of utmost importance for high-precision applications, long-distance free-space and optical fiber communication, gravitational wave detection, optical sensing in biology and medicine, to name a few. In this work, we show an optimal receiver for coherent states which admits a relatively simple technological implementation. The receiver is based on multichannel splitting of the signal, followed by feed-forward signal displacement and photon detection.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Structure of the sets of mutually unbiased bases with cyclic symmetry

Mutually unbiased bases that can be cyclically generated by a single unitary operator are of special interest, since they can be readily implemented in practice. We show that, for a system of qubits, finding such a generator can be cast as the problem of finding a symmetric matrix over the field $\mathbb{F}_2$ equipped with an irreducible characteristic polynomial of a given Fibonacci index. The entanglement structure of the resulting complete sets is determined by two additive matrices of the same size.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Classical entanglement in polarization metrology

Quantum approaches relying on entangled photons have been recently proposed to increase the efficiency of optical measurements. We demonstrate here that, surprisingly, the use of classical light with entangled degrees of freedom can also bring outstanding advantages over conventional measurements in polarization metrology. Specifically, we show that radially polarized beams of light allow to perform real-time single-shot Mueller matrix polarimetry. Our results also indicate that quantum optical procedures requiring entanglement without nonlocality can be actually achieved in classical optics regime.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Highly efficient generation of single-mode photon pairs using a crystalline whispering gallery mode resonator

We report a highly efficient source of narrow-band photon pairs based on parametric down-conversion in a crystalline whispering gallery mode resonator. Remarkably, each photon of a pair is strictly emitted into a single spatial and temporal mode, as witnessed by Glaubers autocorrelation function. We explore the phase-matching conditions in spherical geometries, and determine the requirements of the single-mode operation. Understanding these conditions has allowed us to experimentally demonstrate a single-mode pair-detection rate of $0.97 \cdot 10^6$ pairs/s per mW pump power per 20 MHz bandwidth without the need of additional filter cavities.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

A "fair sampling" perspective on an apparent violation of duality

In the event in which a quantum mechanical particle can pass from an initial state to a final state along two possible paths, the duality principle states that "the simultaneous observation of wave and particle behavior is prohibited". [M. O. Scully, B.-G. Englert, and H. Walther. Nature, 351:111-116, 1991.] emphasized the importance of additional degrees of freedom in the context of complementarity. In this paper, we show how the consequences of duality change when allowing for biased sampling, that is, postselected measurements on specific degrees of freedom of the environment of the two-path state. Our work contributes to the explanation of previous experimental apparent violations of duality [R. Menzel, D. Puhlmann, A. Heuer, and W. P. Schleich. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 109(24):9314-9319, 2012.] and opens up the way for novel experimental tests of duality.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Compensation of anisotropy effects in the generation of two-photon light

We analyse a method to compensate for anisotropy effects in the spatial distribution of parametric down-conversion (PDC) radiation in bulk crystals. In this method, a single nonlinear crystal is replaced by two consecutive crystals with opposite transverse walk-off directions. We implement a simple numerical model to calculate the spatial distribution of intensity and correlations, as well as the Schmidt mode structure, with an account for the anisotropy. Experimental results are presented which prove the validity of both the model and the method.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Efficient saturation of an ion in free space

We report on the demonstration of a light-matter interface coupling light to a single $^{174}\textrm{Yb}^+$ ion in free space. The interface is realized through a parabolic mirror partially surrounding the ion. It transforms a Laguerre-Gaussian beam into a linear dipole wave converging at the mirror's focus. By measuring the non-linear response of the atomic transition we deduce the power required for reaching an upper-level population of $1/4$ to be $692\pm20~\textrm{pW}$ at half linewidth detuning from the atomic resonance. Performing this measurement while scanning the ion through the focus provides a map of the focal intensity distribution. From the measured power we infer a coupling efficiency of $7.2\pm0.2~\%$ on the linear dipole transition when illuminating from half solid angle, being among the best coupling efficiencies reported for a single atom in free space.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Distributing Entanglement with Separable States

Like a silver thread, quantum entanglement [1] runs through the foundations and breakthrough applications of quantum information theory. It cannot arise from local operations and classical communication (LOCC) and therefore represents a more intimate relationship among physical systems than we may encounter in the classical world. The `nonlocal' character of entanglement manifests itself through a number of counterintuitive phenomena encompassing Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox [2,3], steering [4], Bell nonlocality [5] or negativity of entropy [6,7]. Furthermore, it extends our abilities to process information. Here, entanglement is used as a resource which needs to be shared between several parties, eventually placed at remote locations. However entanglement is not the only manifestation of quantum correlations. Notably, also separable quantum states can be used as a shared resource for quantum communication. The experiment presented in this paper highlights the quantumness of correlations in separable mixed states and the role of classical information in quantum communication by demonstrating entanglement distribution using merely a separable ancilla mode.

quant-ph↗