Dispersion cancellation in high-resolution two-photon interference

Abstract

The dispersion cancellation observed in Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference between frequency-entangled photon pairs has been the basis of quantum optical coherence tomography and quantum clock synchronization. Here we explore the effect of phase dispersion on ultranarrow HOM dips. We show that the higher-order dispersion, the linewidth of the pump laser, and the spectral shape of the parametric fluorescence have a strong effect on the dispersion cancellation in the high-resolution regime with several experimental verifications. Perfect dispersion cancellation with a linewidth of 3 μm is also demonstrated through 25 mm of water.

0.54 μm resolution two-photon interference with dispersion cancellation for quantum optical coherence tomography

“…4d ) calculated taking the higher-order dispersion of the 1 mm thickness of water 38 into account fits also well with the experimental data. Note that the asymmetricity of the HOM dip observed in the experimental data is due to the higher odd-order dispersion 28 39 , which can be also observed in the theoretical curve. Our theoretical calculation suggests that the resolution will be still kept 0.60 μ m even when a thickness of water is increased to 3 mm.…”

“…3a upper inset). The temperature T is controlled by a thermoelectric cooler with an accuracy of 0.1 K. We have found that in ultra-high resolution regime the linewidth of a pump laser degrades the dispersion tolerance 28 . To ensure the dispersion tolerance, we used a narrowband pump laser (~100 kHz) with a wavelength of 401 nm.…”

“…Due to the frequency correlation of entangled photon pairs, the resolution of QOCT (the width of the HOM dip) does not change even with group velocity dispersion (GVD) in the medium 26 27 . This ‘dispersion cancellation’ of TPI was first demonstrated with 19 μ m resolution 21 and very recently with 3 μ m resolution, where the GVD effect becomes significant 28 .…”

“…For highly efficient generation of ultra-broadband (166 THz, λ = 660–1040 nm) frequency-entangled photon pairs, we developed a 1st-order chirped quasi-phase-matched (QPM) 29 lithium tantalate 30 device using the nanofabrication technology for fine electrode patterns. The device was pumped using a narrowband (~100 kHz) pump laser to ensure the dispersion cancellation of TPI 28 . We also constructed stable interferometer setup with hybrid ultra-broadband detection systems (HUBDeS) operated at room temperature.…”

High-order dispersion effects in two-photon interference

“…In view of its relevance for quantum technology [9,13], * Electronic address: zeudi.mazzotta@unimi.it † Electronic address: simone.cialdi@unimi.it ‡ Electronic address: daniele.cipriani@mi.infn.it § Electronic address: stefano.olivares@fisica.unimi.it ¶ Electronic address: matteo.paris@fisica.unimi.it theoretical [14][15][16] and experimental [17][18][19][20] studies have been performed to characterize TPI and the HOM dip. However, a full analysis of both the visibility and the width of the HOM dip as a function of the pump spectrum and of the PDC spectrum is still missing.…”