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Frequency-domain Hong–Ou–Mandel interference

Nature Photonics volume 10, pages 441–444 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) interference is one of the most prominent features of quantum indistinguishable particles, and has been used as the core of many quantum information protocols1. Since its first observation in 19872, it has been understood as a phenomenon that occurs when two identical bosons are fed to two input ports of a beam splitter. Here, we report the observation of HOM interference exhibited by two photons with different colours3. We developed a frequency-domain beam splitter via a second-order nonlinear medium driven by strong coherent light4,5. A photon passing through the device changes its colour probabilistically. When a single pulse containing two photons with different colours was fed to the beam splitter, the pair of output photons showed a tendency to assume the same colour, with a visibility exceeding the classical limit. Combined with wavelength-division multiplexing, our results will pave the way towards the miniaturization of highly integrated optical circuits for quantum information processing.

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Figure 1: Frequency-domain HOM interferometer.
Figure 2: The count rate versus the pump power.
Figure 3: The peak value of the internal transition probability.
Figure 4: Observed frequency-domain HOM interference.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (Grant No. 14J04677) and MEXT/JSPS KAKENHI Grant Nos 25247068, 15H03704, 15KK0164 and 25286077.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, 560-8531, Osaka, Japan

    Toshiki Kobayashi, Rikizo Ikuta, Shuto Yasui, Takashi Yamamoto & Nobuyuki Imoto

  2. Advanced ICT Research Institute, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Kobe, 651-2492, Japan

    Shigehito Miki, Taro Yamashita & Hirotaka Terai

  3. Photon Science Center, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-8656, Tokyo, Japan

    Masato Koashi

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  1. Toshiki Kobayashi
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Contributions

T.K., R.I and T.Y. designed the experiment. T.K., R.I and S.Y. carried out the experiments under supervision of T.Y., M.K. and N.I. S.M., T.Y. and H.T. developed the system of the superconducting single-photon detectors. All authors analysed the experimental results and contributed to the discussions and interpretations. T.K. wrote the manuscript, with input from all authors.

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Correspondence to Nobuyuki Imoto.

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Kobayashi, T., Ikuta, R., Yasui, S. et al. Frequency-domain Hong–Ou–Mandel interference. Nature Photon 10, 441–444 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2016.74

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