arXiv subjects

Maria Chekhova

Publications and source records attributed to Maria Chekhova.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Detection-device-independent verification of nonclassical light

The efficient certification of nonclassical effects of light forms the basis for applications in optical quantum technologies. We derive general correlation conditions for the verification of nonclassical light based on multiplexed detection. The obtained nonclassicality criteria are valid for imperfectly-balanced multiplexing scenarios with on-off detectors and do not require any knowledge about the detector system. In this sense they are fully independent of the detector system. In our experiment, we study light emitted by clusters of single-photon emitters, whose photon number may exceed the number of detection channels. Even under such conditions, our criteria certify nonclassicality with high statistical significance.

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arXiv2018

Seeded and unseeded high order parametric down conversion

Spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) has been one of the foremost tools in quantum optics for over five decades. Over that time it has been used to demonstrate some of the curious features that arise from quantum mechanics. Despite the success of SPDC, its higher-order analogues have never been observed, even though it has been suggested that they generate far more unique and exotic states than SPDC. An example of this is the emergence of non-Gaussian states without the need for post-selection. Here we calculate the expected rate of emission for nth-order SPDC with and without external stimulation (seeding). Focusing primarily on third-order parametric down-conversion (TOPDC), we estimate the photon detection rates in a rutile crystal, for both the unseeded and seeded regimes.

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arXiv2017

Detection loss tolerant supersensitive phase measurement with an SU(1,1) interferometer

In an unseeded SU(1,1) interferometer composed of two cascaded degenerate parametric amplifiers, with direct detection at the output, we demonstrate a phase sensitivity overcoming the shot noise limit by 2.3 dB. The interferometer is strongly unbalanced, with the parametric gain of the second amplifier exceeding the gain of the first one by a factor of 2, which makes the scheme extremely tolerant to detection losses. We show that by increasing the gain of the second amplifier, the phase supersensitivity of the interferometer can be preserved even with detection losses as high as 80%. This finding can considerably improve the state-of-the-art interferometry, enable sub-shot-noise phase sensitivity in spectral ranges with inefficient detection, and allow extension to quantum imaging.

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arXiv2016

Improving the phase super-sensitivity of squeezing-assisted interferometers by squeeze factor unbalancing

The sensitivity properties of an SU(1,1) interferometer made of two cascaded parametric amplifiers, as well as of an ordinary SU(2) interferometer preceded by a squeezer and followed by an anti-squeezer, are theoretically investigated. Several possible experimental configurations are considered, such as the absence or presence of a seed beam, direct or homodyne detection scheme. In all cases we formulate the optimal conditions to achieve phase super-sensitivity, meaning a sensitivity overcoming the shot-noise limit. We show that for a given gain of the first parametric amplifier, unbalancing the interferometer by increasing the gain of the second amplifier improves the interferometer properties. In particular, a broader super-sensitivity phase range and a better overall sensitivity can be achieved by gain unbalancing.

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arXiv2016

Ring-shaped spectra of parametric down-conversion and entangled photons that never meet

We report on the observation of an unusual type of parametric down-conversion. In the regime where collinear degenerate emission is in the anomalous range of group-velocity dispersion, its spectrum is restricted in both angle and wavelength. Detuning from exact collinear-degenerate phasematching leads to a ring shape of the wavelength-angular spectrum, suggesting a new type of spatiotemporal coherence and entanglement of photon pairs. By imposing a phase varying in a specific way in both angle and wavelength, one can obtain an interesting state of an entangled photon pair, with the two photons being never at the same point at the same time.

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arXiv2013

Separable Schmidt modes of a non-separable state

Two-photon states entangled in continuous variables such as wavevector or frequency represent a powerful resource for quantum information protocols in higher-dimensional Hilbert spaces. At the same time, there is a problem of addressing separately the corresponding Schmidt modes. We propose a method of engineering two-photon spectral amplitude in such a way that it contains several non-overlapping Schmidt modes, each of which can be filtered losslessly. The method is based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) pumped by radiation with a comb-like spectrum. There are many ways of producing such a spectrum; here we consider the simplest one, namely passing the pump beam through a Fabry-Perot interferometer. For the two-photon spectral amplitude (TPSA) to consist of non-overlapping Schmidt modes, the crystal dispersion dependence, the length of the crystal, the Fabry-Perot free spectral range and its finesse should satisfy certain conditions. We experimentally demonstrate the control of TPSA through these parameters. We also discuss a possibility to realize a similar situation using cavity-based SPDC.

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arXiv2013

Multi-photon nonclassical correlations in entangled squeezed vacuum states

Photon-number correlation measurements are performed on bright squeezed vacuum states using a standard Bell-test setup, and quantum correlations are observed for conjugate polarization-frequency modes. We further test the entanglement witnesses for these states and demonstrate the violation of the separability criteria, which infers that all the macroscopic Bell states, containing typically $10^6$ photons per pulse, are polarization entangled. The study also reveals the symmetry of macroscopic Bell states with respect to local polarization transformations.

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arXiv2012

Bell's inequality for Macroscopic Squeezed Vacuum

A non-dichotomic Bell-type inequality for macroscopic photon numbers in two spatially separated beams is derived from local realistic assumptions. This inequality is shown to be possible to violate with the macroscopic Bell states recently obtained in experiment.

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arXiv2011

Three-dimensional Quantum Polarization Tomography of Macroscopic Bell States

The polarization properties of macroscopic Bell states are characterized using three-dimensional quantum polarization tomography. This method utilizes three-dimensional inverse Radon transform to reconstruct the polarization quasiprobability distribution function of a state from the probability distributions measured for various Stokes observables. The reconstructed 3D distributions obtained for the macroscopic Bell states are compared with those obtained for a coherent state with the same mean photon number. The results demonstrate squeezing in one or more Stokes observables.

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arXiv2008

Analysis of the possibility of analog detectors calibration by exploiting Stimulated Parametric Down Conversion

Spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) has been largely exploited as a tool for absolute calibration of photon-counting detectors, i.e detectors registering very small photon fluxes. In [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 23, 2185 (2006)] we derived a method for absolute calibration of analog detectors using SPDC emission at higher photon fluxes, where the beam is seen as a continuum by the detector. Nevertheless intrinsic limitations appear when high-gain regime of SPDC is required to reach even larger photon fluxes. Here we show that stimulated parametric down conversion allow one to avoid this limitation, since stimulated photon fluxes are increased by the presence of the seed beam.

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arXiv2007

Absolute Calibration of Analog Detectors by using Parametric Down Conversion

In this paper we report our systematic study of a promising absolute calibration technique of analog photo-detectors, based on the properties of parametric down conversion. Our formal results and a preliminary uncertainty analysis show that the proposed method can be effectively developed with interesting applications to metrology.

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arXiv2005

The possibility of absolute calibration of analog detectors by using parametric down-conversion: a systematical study

Accurate calibration of photodetectors both in analog and in photon-counting regime is fundamental for various scientific applications, which range from "traditional" quantum optics to the studies on foundations of quantum mechanics, quantum cryptography, quantum computation, etc. In this paper we systematically study the possibility of the absolute calibration of analog photo-detectors based on the properties of parametric amplifiers. Our results show that such a method can be effectively developed with interesting possible metrological applications.

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arXiv2005

Absolute Quantum Efficiency Measurements by Means of Conditioned Polarization Rotation

We propose a new scheme for measuring the quantum efficiency of photon counting detectors by using correlated pho-tons. The measurement technique is based on a 90 rotation of the polarization of one photon member of a correlated pair produced by parametric down-conversion, conditioned on the detection of the other correlated photon after polarization selection. We present experimental results obtained with this scheme.

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