arXiv subjects

Suman Karan

Publications and source records attributed to Suman Karan.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Non-monotonic dependence of OAM Schmidt spectrum on crystal thickness

The orbital angular momentum (OAM) of photons provides a high-dimensional resource for quantum information protocols. The dimensionality of OAM-entangled states generated via spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) is quantified by the angular Schmidt spectrum. Here, we experimentally investigate the dependence of the angular Schmidt spectrum on the thickness of the nonlinear crystal. Contrary to previous studies reporting a monotonic decrease in the Schmidt number with increasing crystal thickness, we report the first experimental observation of a nonmonotonic behavior, as we demonstrate an increase in the Schmidt number beyond a certain crystal thickness. We attribute this to the spatial walk-off effect in the anisotropic nonlinear crystal and explain it using a theoretical model that is devoid of standard phase-matching approximations. These findings can have important implications for high-dimensional entangled state generation.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Measuring the complete set of spatial Schmidt modes of entangled two-photon fields

Spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) is the most widely-used source of high-dimensional entangled two-photon states, and the entanglement in the spatial degree of freedom is considered best suited for harnessing high-dimensional advantages. Although the Schmidt basis provides a natural choice for state characterisation of entangled two-photon states in any degree of freedom, there is currently no technique that can measure the Schmidt basis of an entangled two-photon field. The existing techniques can only reconstruct the Schmidt spectrum when the Schmidt basis is known a priori. In contrast, we present a technique that measures the complete set of spatial Schmidt modes without any prior knowledge. Using this technique, we report measurement of states with over 3000 Schmidt modes -- highest reported yet -- with up to 98$\%$ fidelity. We expect our work to significantly advance the harnessing of high-dimensional advantages in SPDC-based systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

OAM-mode sorting with a wavefront twister

We propose an OAM sorter based on a novel optical element that we refer to as a wavefront twister. It is a generalization of the conventional wavefront rotators such as the Dove prism. However, unlike a Dove prism, which simply rotates a wavefront, the rotation generated by a wavefront twister varies linearly with radial position, resulting in the twisting of the wavefront. We demonstrate that the wavefront twister, followed by a lens, maps each OAM mode to an annulus of distinct radius at the back focal plane of the lens with negligible inter-modal overlap and preserves the circular symmetry. Thus, the proposed wavefront twister offers a scalable scheme for high-dimensional OAM mode sorting, with important consequences for the practical realization of OAM-based applications.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Polarization-preserving wavefront rotator

A K-mirror rotates the wavefront of an incident optical field. However, the rotation always introduces polarization changes in the transmitted field. This is a serious concern for applications ranging from astronomical image derotation to orbital angular momentum spectrum characterization in photonic quantum technology. Recent efforts have shown that the polarization change can be minimized significantly, but these require either a very small base angle that limits the field of view, or mirrors with a customized refractive index. Making the transmitted polarization state completely independent of the rotation angle has remained an open problem. In this work, we show that placing half-wave plates before and after a K-mirror and rotating them synchronously at half the K-mirror rotation angle makes the polarization change in the transmitted field exactly independent of the rotation angle. This works for any wavefront rotator, any base angle, any mirror refractive index, and any input state of polarization. We experimentally demonstrate the approach using a K-mirror with a base angle of $30^{\circ}$, which gives the largest field of view among practical designs, and find a mean polarization error of ~1%, limited only by the retardance imperfection of commercially available half-wave plates. This has significant practical implications for applications that require precise wavefront rotation without polarization change.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Observation of OAM non-conservation in entangled photon generation

Orbital angular momentum (OAM)-entangled states produced by spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) are considered ideal for realizing high-dimensional entangled states, which have several advantages for quantum technologies. However, the limited sensitivity of current two-photon OAM detectors is a major roadblock not only for realizing such technologies but also for resolving foundational questions, such as OAM conservation in SPDC. The current theoretical understanding is that OAM is not conserved in Type-II SPDC but is conserved in Type-I. Experimentally, although non-conservation in TypeII has not been demonstrated, conservation in Type-I has been reported frequently and has become an underlying assumption for techniques generating high-dimensional OAM entangled states. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a high-sensitivity two-photon OAM detector, using which, contrary to the current understanding, we report non-conservation of OAM in Type-I SPDC. We attribute this to a spatial walk-off effect and prove it using a framework free of standard phase-matching approximations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

An experimental technique for measuring radial coherence

Coherence refers to correlations between field vibrations at two separate points in degrees of freedom such as space, time, and polarisation. In the context of space, coherence theory has been formulated between two transverse positions which can be described either in the cartesian coordinates or in the cylindrical coordinates. When expressed in cylindrical coordinates, spatial coherence is described in terms of azimuthal and radial coordinates. The description of spatial coherence in radial degree of freedom has been formulated only recently in JOSA A 40, 411 (2023). In the present article, we demonstrate an efficient experimental technique for measuring radial coherence, and we report measurement of radial coherence of two different types of radially partially coherent optical fields.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Broadband uniform-efficiency OAM-mode detector

The high-dimensional basis of orbital angular momentum (OAM) has several added and unique advantages for photonics quantum technologies compared to the polarization basis, which is only two-dimensional. However, one of the major roadblocks in implementing OAM-based applications with their full potentials is the absence of an ideal OAM-mode detector. Despite the plethora of efforts in the last three decades, currently, there is no OAM detector that can detect a broad OAM-mode spectrum, has uniform detection-efficiency over all the modes, measures the true spectrum, and works for an arbitrary quantum state without the need for any prior information. In this article, we experimentally demonstrate just such an OAM detector. We report detection of pure and mixed OAM states with fidelities more than 98% and with measurement times of only a few minutes for dimensionalities up to 100. We expect our work to substantially boost the OAM-based photonics quantum technology efforts.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Structured position-momentum entangled two-photon fields

Structured optical fields have led to several ground-breaking techniques in classical imaging and microscopy. At the same time, in the quantum domain, position-momentum entangled photon fields have been shown to have several unique features that can lead to beyond-classical imaging and microscopy capabilities. Therefore, it is natural to expect that position-momentum entangled two-photon fields that are structured can push the boundaries of quantum imaging and microscopy even further beyond. Nonetheless, the existing experimental schemes are able to produce either structured two-photon fields without position-momentum entanglement, or position-momentum entangled two-photon fields without structures. In this article, by manipulating the phase-matching condition of the spontaneous parametric down-conversion process, we report experimental generation of two-photon fields with various structures in their spatial correlations. We experimentally measure the minimum bound on the entanglement of formation and thereby verify the position-momentum entanglement of the structured two-photon field. We expect this work to have important implications for quantum technologies related to imaging and sensing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

A wavefront rotator with near-zero mean polarization change

A K-mirror is a device that rotates the wavefront of an incident optical field. It has recently gained prominence over Dove prism, another commonly used wavefront rotator, due to the fact that while a K-mirror has several controls for adjusting the internal reflections, a Dove prism is made of a single glass element with no additional control. Thus, one can obtain much lower angular deviations of transmitting wavefronts using a K-mirror than with a Dove prism. However, the accompanying polarization changes in the transmitted field due to rotation persist even in the commercially available K-mirrors. A recent theoretical work [Applied Optics, 61, 8302 (2022)] shows that it is possible to optimize the base angle of a K-mirror for a given refractive index such that the accompanying polarization changes are minimum. In contrast, we show in this article that by optimizing the refractive index it is possible to design a K-mirror at any given base angle and with any given value for the mean polarization change, including near-zero values. Furthermore, we experimentally demonstrate a K-mirror with an order-of-magnitude lower mean polarization change than that of the commercially available K-mirrors. This can have important practical implications for OAM-based applications that require precise wavefront rotation control.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Postselection-free controlled generation of a high-dimensional orbital-angular-momentum entangled state

High-dimensional entangled states in orbital angular momentum (OAM) basis offer several unique advantages for quantum information applications. However, for the optimal performance of a given application, one requires a generation technique for OAM entangled states that is completely postselection-free and fully controllable. Nonetheless, despite several efforts in the past, no such technique currently exists. In this article, we propose just such a technique and experimentally demonstrate postselection-free generation of up to about 150-dimensional OAM entangled states. We report the generation accuracy, which is a measure of the control, to be more than 98% for states with Gaussian and triangular OAM Schmidt spectra and up to 90% for the maximally-entangled OAM states, which have rectangular spectra.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Quantifying polarization changes induced by rotating Dove prisms and K-mirrors

Dove prisms and K-mirrors are devices extensively used for rotating the wavefront of an optical field. These devices have several applications, including measurement of orbital angular momentum, microscopy, beam steering and pattern recognition. However, the wavefront rotation achieved through these devices is always accompanied by polarization changes in the incident field, which is an undesirable feature in many of these applications. Although the polarization changes induced by a Dove prism have been explored to quite some extent, no such study is available for a K-mirror. In this letter, we theoretically and experimentally investigate polarization changes induced in the transmitted field by a rotating K-mirror. For quantifying such polarization changes, we define a quantity, mean polarization change D, which ranges from 0 to π. We find that K-mirrors can reduce D to about 0.03π, for any incident state of polarization; however, reducing D to the same extent with a Dove prism is practically unviable. Therefore, K-mirrors are better alternatives to Dove prisms in applications in which the polarization changes accompanying wavefront rotation need to be minimum.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Propagation-induced entanglement revival

The practical implementation of free-space quantum information tasks requires entanglement to be sustained over long distances and in the presence of turbulent and noisy environments. The transverse position-momentum entanglement of photon pairs produced by parametric down-conversion has found several uses in quantum information science, however, it is not suitable for applications involving long-distance propagation as the entanglement decays very rapidly when photons propagate away from their source. Entanglement is lost after a few centimetres of propagation, and the effect becomes even more pronounced in turbulent environments. In contrast, in this article, we show that entanglement in the angle-orbital angular momentum (OAM) bases exhibits a remarkably different behaviour. As with the position-momentum case, initially, the angle-OAM entanglement decays with propagation, but as the photons continue to travel further from the source, the photons regain their strongly correlated behaviour, and the entanglement returns. We theoretically and experimentally demonstrate this behaviour and show that entanglement returns even in the presence of strong turbulence. The only effect of turbulence is to increase the propagation distance for revival, but once revived, the two photons remain entangled up to an arbitrary propagation distance. This work highlights the role that OAM-angle entanglement will play in applications where quantum information is shared over long distances.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2020

Phase matching in $β$-barium borate crystals for spontaneous parametric down-conversion

Spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) is the most widely used process for generating entangled photon pairs. In SPDC, a pump photon interacts with a nonlinear optical crystal and splits into two entangled photons called the signal and the idler photons. The SPDC process has been studied extensively in the last few decades for various pump and crystal configurations, and the entangled photon pairs produced by SPDC have been used in numerous experimental studies on quantum entanglement and entanglement-based real-world quantum-information applications. In this tutorial article, we present a thorough study of phase matching in $β$-barium borate (BBO) crystals for spontaneous parametric down-conversion and thereby also investigate the generation of entangled photons in such crystals. First, we present a theoretical derivation of two-photon wavefunction produced by SPDC in the frequency and transverse momentum bases. We then discuss in detail the effects due to various crystal and pump parameters including the length of the crystal, the angle between the optic axis and the pump propagation direction, the pump incidence angle on the crystal surface, the refraction at the crystal surfaces, and the pump propagation direction inside the crystal. These effects are extremely relevant in experimental situations. We then present our numerical and experimental results in order to illustrate how various experimental parameters affect the phase matching and thus the generation of entangled photons. Finally, using the two-photon wavefunction in the transverse wave-vector basis, we show how to derive the two-photon wavefunction in the OAM basis and thereby calculate the two-photon angular Schmidt spectrum. We expect this article to be useful for researchers working in various capacities with entangled photons generated by SPDC in BBO crystals.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2020

Measurement of pure states of light in the orbital-angular-momentum basis using nine multipixel image acquisitions

The existing techniques for measuring high-dimensional pure states of light in the orbital angular momentum (OAM) basis either involve a large number of single-pixel data acquisitions and substantial postselection errors that increase with dimensionality, or involve substantial loss, or require interference with a reference beam of known phase. Here, we propose an interferometric technique that can measure an unknown pure state using only nine multipixel image acquisitions without involving postselection, loss, or a separate reference beam. The technique essentially measures two complex correlation functions of the input field and then employs a recursive postprocessing algorithm to infer the state. We experimentally demonstrate the technique for pure states up to dimensionality of 25, reporting a mean fidelity greater than 90 % up to 11 dimensions. Our technique can significantly improve the performance of OAM-based information processing applications.

physics.optics↗