arXiv subjects

Wojciech Wasilewski

Publications and source records attributed to Wojciech Wasilewski.

67 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Noise reduction in 3D noncollinear parametric amplifier

We analytically find an approximate Bloch-Messiah reduction of a noncollinear parametric amplifier pumped with a focused monochromatic beam. We consider type I phase matching. The results are obtained using a perturbative expansion and scaled to a high gain regime. They allow a straightforward maximization of the signal gain and minimization of the parametric fluorescence noise. We find the fundamental mode of the amplifier, which is an elliptic Gaussian defining the optimal seed beam shape. We conclude that the output of the amplifier should be stripped of higher order modes, which are approximately Hermite-Gaussian beams. Alternatively, the pump waist can be adjusted such that the amount of noise produced in the higher order modes is minimized.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2009

Multimode Spontaneous Parametric Down-Conversion in the Lossy Medium

We study the process of multimode Spontaneous Parametric Down--Conversion (SPDC) in the lossy, one dimensional waveguide. We propose a description using first order Correlation Functions (CF) in the fluorescence fields, as a very fruitful and easy approach providing us with a complete information about the final multimode state. We formulate the equation of the evolution of the multimode CF along the crystal using four characteristic length scales. We solve it analytically in the one mode case and numerically in the multimode case. We capture simultaneous effects of three wave mixing with ultrashort pump, linear propagation and attenuation, and we are able to divide the evolution into three stages and predict it qualitatively. We find that losses do not destroy the quantum properties of SPDC but stabilize the final state.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2009

Modelling and optimization of photon pair sources based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion

We address the problem of efficient modelling of photon pairs generated in spontaneous parametric down-conversion and coupled into single-mode fibers. It is shown that when the range of relevant transverse wave vectors is restricted by the pump and fiber modes, the computational complexity can be reduced substantially with the help of the paraxial approximation, while retaining the full spectral characteristics of the source. This approach can serve as a basis for efficient numerical calculations, or can be combined with analytically tractable approximations of the phase matching function. We introduce here a cosine-gaussian approximation of the phase matching function which works for a broader range of parameters than the gaussian model used previously. The developed modelling tools are used to evaluate characteristics of the photon pair sources such as the pair production rate and the spectral purity quantifying frequency correlations. Strategies to generate spectrally uncorrelated photons, necessary in multiphoton interference experiments, are analyzed with respect to trade-offs between parameters of the source.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2009

Density matrix of a single photon produced in parametric down conversion derived

We introduce an effective numerical method of density matrix determination of fiber coupled single photon generated in process of spontaneous parametric down conversion in type I non-collinear configuration. The presented theory has been successfully applied in case of source exploited in Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 123601 (2007) to demonstrate the experimental characterization of spectral state of single photon.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2008

Statistics of multiphoton events in spontaneous parametric down-conversion

We present an experimental characterization of the statistics of multiple photon pairs produced by spontaneous parametric down-conversion realized in a nonlinear medium pumped by high-energy ultrashort pulses from a regenerative amplifier. The photon number resolved measurement has been implemented with the help of a fiber loop detector. We introduce an effective theoretical description of the observed statistics based on parameters that can be assigned direct physical nterpretation. These parameters, determined for our source from the collected experimental data, characterize the usefulness of down-conversion sources in multiphoton interference schemes that underlie protocols for quantum information processing and communication.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2008

Intensity of parametric fluorescence pumped by ultrashort pulses

We investigate intensity of the parametric down conversion of ultrashort, ultraviolet pulse both in a low- and high-conversion regime. In the first regime, we develop a simple analytical expressions for the photon flux of the fluorescence. Numerical simulations using three-dimensional stochastic Wigner method provide results in the latter regime. We find that the perturbative approximation for the photon flux as a function of the wavelength of the signal and the observation angle, quantitatively describes even the non-perturbative regime. For short pump pulses the intensity of the fluorescence is highest at frequencies where the group velocities of the pump and the down-conversion are equal. For longer pump pulses this requirement is gradually relaxed. Additionally, for small pump beams, the intensity strongly depends on the spatial divergence between interacting fields.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Complete characterization of weak, ultrashort near-UV pulses by spectral interferometry

We present a method for a complete characterization of a femtosecond ultraviolet pulse when a fundamental near-infrared beam is also available. Our approach relies on generation of second harmonic from the pre-characterized fundamental, which serves as a reference against which an unknown pulse is measured using spectral interference (SI). The characterization apparatus is a modified second harmonic frequency resolved optical gating setup which additionally allows for taking SI spectrum. The presented method is linear in the unknown field, simple and sensitive. We checked its accuracy using test pulses generated in a thick nonlinear crystal, demonstrating the ability to measure the phase in a broad spectral range, down to 0.1% peak spectral intensity as well as retrieving pi leaps in the spectral phase.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2007

Spectral density matrix of a single photon measured

We propose and demonstrate a method for measuring the spectral density matrix of a single photon pulse. The method is based on registering Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between photon to be measured and a pair of attenuated and suitably delayed laser pulses described by a known spectral amplitude. The density matrix is retrieved from a two-dimensional interferogram of coincidence counts. The method has been implemented for a type-I downconversion source, pumped by ultrashort laser pulses. The experimental results agree well with a theoretical model which takes into account the temporal as well as spatial effects in the source.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Linear-optics manipulations of photon-loss codes

We discuss codes for protecting logical qubits carried by optical fields from the effects of amplitude damping, i.e. linear photon loss. We demonstrate that the correctability condition for one-photon loss imposes limitations on the range of manipulations than can be implemented with passive linear-optics networks.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Protecting an optical qubit against photon loss

We consider quantum error-correction codes for multimode bosonic systems, such as optical fields, that are affected by amplitude damping. Such a process is a generalization of an erasure channel. We demonstrate that the most accessible method of transforming optical systems with the help of passive linear networks has limited usefulness in preparing and manipulating such codes. These limitations stem directly from the recoverability condition for one-photon loss. We introduce a three-photon code protecting against the first order of amplitude damping, i.e. a single photon loss, and discuss its preparation using linear optics with single-photon sources and conditional detection. Quantum state and process tomography in the code subspace can be implemented using passive linear optics and photon counting. An experimental proof-of-principle demonstration of elements of the proposed quantum error correction scheme for a one-photon erasure lies well within present technological capabilites.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

Pulsed squeezed light: simultaneous squeezing of multiple modes

We analyze the spectral properties of squeezed light produced by means of pulsed, single-pass degenerate parametric down-conversion. The multimode output of this process can be decomposed into characteristic modes undergoing independent squeezing evolution akin to the Schmidt decomposition of the biphoton spectrum. The main features of this decomposition can be understood using a simple analytical model developed in the perturbative regime. In the strong pumping regime, for which the perturbative approach is not valid, we present a numerical analysis, specializing to the case of one-dimensional propagation in a beta-barium borate waveguide. Characterization of the squeezing modes provides us with an insight necessary for optimizing homodyne detection of squeezing. For a weak parametric process, efficient squeezing is found in a broad range of local oscillator modes, whereas the intense generation regime places much more stringent conditions on the local oscillator. We point out that without meeting these conditions, the detected squeezing can actually diminish with the increasing pumping strength, and we expose physical reasons behind this inefficiency.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

Pairwise entanglement and readout of atomic-ensemble and optical wave-packet modes in traveling-wave Raman interactions

We analyze quantum entanglement of Stokes light and atomic electronic polarization excited during single-pass, linear-regime, stimulated Raman scattering in terms of optical wave-packet modes and atomic-ensemble spatial modes. The output of this process is confirmed to be decomposable into multiple discrete, bosonic mode pairs, each pair undergoing independent evolution into a two-mode squeezed state. For this we extend the Bloch-Messiah reduction theorem, previously known for discrete linear systems (S. L. Braunstein, Phys. Rev. A, vol. 71, 055801 (2005)). We present typical mode functions in the case of one-dimensional scattering in an atomic vapor. We find that in the absence of dispersion, one mode pair dominates the process, leading to a simple interpretation of entanglement in this continuous-variable system. However, many mode pairs are excited in the presence of dispersion-induced temporal walkoff of the Stokes, as witnessed by the photon-count statistics. We also consider the readout of the stored atomic polarization using the anti-Stokes scattering process. We prove that the readout process can also be decomposed into multiple mode pairs, each pair undergoing independent evolution analogous to a beam-splitter transformation. We show that this process can have unit efficiency under realistic experimental conditions. The shape of the output light wave packet can be predicted. In case of unit readout efficiency it contains only excitations originating from a specified atomic excitation mode.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

Joint spectrum of photon pairs measured by coincidence Fourier spectroscopy

We propose and demonstrate a method for measuring the joint spectrum of photon pairs via Fourier spectroscopy. The biphoton spectral intensity is computed from a two-dimensional interferogram of coincidence counts. The method has been implemented for a type-I downconversion source using a pair of common-path Mach-Zender interferometers based on Soleil compensators. The experimental results agree well with calculated frequency correlations that take into account the effects of coupling into single-mode fibers. The Fourier method is advantageous over scanning spectrometry when detectors exhibit high dark count rates leading to dominant additive noise.

quant-ph↗