arXiv subjects

Viviane Cotte

Publications and source records attributed to Viviane Cotte.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Sub-Poissonian Statistics and Quantum Non-Gaussianity from High-Harmonic Generation

Quantum technologies are powered by platforms to generate complex non-classical states of matter or light to realize applications. We investigate the non-classical properties of high-harmonic generation in semiconductors, an emerging photonic platform. Measuring the click statistics of three double-digit orders, we evaluate witness operators to certify the non-classicality of the generated states. We show that higher-order harmonics driven by a coherent laser are squeezed and entangled. The properties of the emission are well retrieved with an entangled Gaussian state model, obtained by numerical state optimization to multiple observables. Additionally, we perform inter-order heralded measurements to engineer the quantum state of the emission. The heralded states have distinct properties, showing sub-Poissonian photon statistics. Further, we witness the generation of a quantum non-Gaussian state, a resource highly relevant for quantum information. With this, we establish high-harmonic generation as a platform for generating quantum optical resources.

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arXiv2026

Quantum optical photoelectron interferometry

We present a general theoretical framework for multiphoton processes driven by quantum light fields, establishing a direct link between photon statistics and photoelectron observables. Our results show that the autocorrelation and cross-correlation functions, which quantify the underlying photon statistics, are directly mapped onto the resulting photoelectron spectra. Although our framework is broadly applicable, we demonstrate specifically in the example of reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon transitions (RABBIT) the influence of the light statistical properties. In this approach, the amplitude, contrast and phase of the oscillations of the sideband signal as a function of pump-probe delay reveal the quantum nature of light. We analyze these observables across several quantum configurations, including correlated infrared and harmonic modes, as well as the uncorrelated case with non-classical harmonic statistics, thereby establishing a general framework for quantum-light RABBIT spectroscopy. We compare the analytical theory with numerical simulations for the case of classical harmonics and an infrared field in a squeezed coherent state, obtaining excellent agreement. Our results reveal how the interplay between classical and quantum correlations dictates the coherence of the photoemission process, providing a new window into the quantum-optical foundations of attosecond science.

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arXiv2024

Observation of a Multimode Displaced Squeezed State in High-Harmonic Generation

High harmonic generation is a resource of extremely broad frequency combs of ultrashort light pulses. The non-classical nature of this new quantum source has been recently evidenced in semiconductors by showing that high harmonic generation generates multimode squeezed states of light. Applications in quantum information science require the knowledge of the mode structure of the created states, defining how the quantum properties distribute over the spectral modes. To achieve that, an effective Schmidt decomposition of the reduced photonic state is performed on a tripartite harmonic set by simultaneously measuring the second- and third-order intensity correlation function. The Schmidt number is estimated which indicates an almost single-mode structure for each harmonic, a useful resource in quantum technology. By modelling our data with a displaced squeezed state, we retrieve the dependencies of the measured correlation as a function of the high harmonic driving laser intensity. The effective high-harmonic mode distribution is retrieved, and the strength of the contributing squeezing modes is estimated. Additionally, we demonstrate a significant violation of a Cauchy-Schwarz-type inequality for three biseparable partitions by multiple standard deviations. Our results confirm non-classicality of the high-harmonic generation process in semiconductors. The source operates at room temperature with compact lasers, and it could become a useful resource for future applications in quantum technologies.

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arXiv2024

Evidence of the quantum-optical nature of high-harmonic generation

High-harmonic generation is a light up-conversion process occurring in a strong laser field, leading to coherent bursts of extreme ultrashort broadband radiation [1]. As a new perspective, we propose that ultrafast strong-field electronic or photonic processes such as high-harmonic generation can potentially generate non-classical states of light well before the decoherence of the system occurs [2, 3]. This could address fundamental challenges in quantum technology such as scalability, decoherence or the generation of massively entangled states [4]. Here, we report experimental evidence of the non-classical nature of the harmonic emission in several semiconductors excited by a femtosecond infrared laser. By investigating single- and double beam intensity cross-correlation [5], we measure characteristic, non-classical features in the single photon statistics. We observe two-mode squeezing in the generated harmonic radiation, which depends on the laser intensity that governs the transition from Super-Poissonian to Poissonian photon statistics. The measured violation of the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality realizes a direct test of multipartite entanglement in high-harmonic generation [6]. This result is supported by the theory of multimodal detection and the Hamiltonian from which the effective squeezing modes of the harmonics can be derived [7, 8]. With this work, we show experimentally that high-harmonic generation is a new quantum bosonic platform that intrinsically produces non-classical states of light with unique features such as multipartite broadband entanglement or multimode squeezing. The source operates at room temperature using standard semiconductors and a standard commercial fiber laser, opening new routes for the quantum industry, such as optical quantum computing, communication and imaging.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Experimental demonstration of a versatile and scalable scheme for iterative generation of non-Gaussian states of light

Non-Gaussian states of light, such as GKP states, are essential resources for optical continuous-variable quantum computing. The ability to efficiently produce these states would open up tremendous prospects for quantum technologies in general and fault-tolerant quantum computing in particular. This letter demonstrates a versatile method using a quantum memory cavity to overcome the probabilistic nature of the breeding protocols and generate non-Gaussian states at high rates with scalability perspectives. The performances of our experimental setup are illustrated with the generation of Schrödinger cat states of amplitude alpha = 1.63 with a fidelity of more than 60% at a generation rate in the kHz range, which is higher than the state of the art for such states.

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