Programmable two-photon quantum interference in $10^3$ channels in opaque scattering media
Abstract
We investigate two-photon quantum interference in an opaque scattering medium that intrinsically supports transmission channels. By adaptive spatial phase-modulation of the incident wavefronts, the photons are directed at targeted speckle spots or output channels. From experimentally available coupled channels, we select two channels and enhance their transmission, to realize the equivalent of a fully programmable beam splitter. By sending pairs of single photons from a parametric down-conversion source through the opaque scattering medium, we observe two-photon quantum interference. The programmed beam splitter need not fulfill energy conservation over the two selected output channels and hence could be non-unitary. Consequently, we have the freedom to tune the quantum interference from bunching (Hong-Ou-Mandel-like) to antibunching. Our results establish opaque scattering media as a platform for high-dimensional quantum interference that is notably relevant for boson sampling and physical-key-based authentication.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1511.00897,
title = {Programmable two-photon quantum interference in $10^3$ channels in opaque scattering media},
author = {Tom A. W. Wolterink and Ravitej Uppu and Georgios Ctistis and Willem L. Vos and Klaus -J. Boller and Pepijn W. H. Pinkse},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1511.00897},
year = {2016}
}