Spatially entangled photon-pair generation using a partial spatially coherent pump beam

Defienne, H. and Gigan, S. (2019) Spatially entangled photon-pair generation using a partial spatially coherent pump beam. Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 99(5), 053831. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevA.99.053831)

Abstract

We demonstrate experimental generation of spatially entangled photon pairs by spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) using a partial spatially coherent pump beam. By varying the spatial coherence of the pump, we show its influence on the down-converted photon's spatial correlations and on its degree of entanglement, in excellent agreement with theory. We then exploit this property to produce pairs of photons with a specific degree of entanglement by tailoring of the pump coherence length. This work thus unravels the fundamental transfer of coherence occurring in SPDC processes, and provides a simple experimental scheme to generate photon pairs with a well-defined degree of spatial entanglement, which may be useful for quantum communication and information processing.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Defienne, Dr Hugo
• Authors: Defienne, H., and Gigan, S.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• ISSN: 1050-2947
• ISSN (Online): 1094-1622