Experimental Study of the Validity of Entangled Two-Photon Absorption Measurements in Organic Compounds.

Entangled two-photon absorption (ETPA) has recently become a topic of lively debate, mainly due to the apparent inconsistencies in the experimentally reported ETPA cross sections of organic molecules obtained by a number of groups. In this work, we provide a thorough experimental study of ETPA in the organic molecules Rhodamine B (RhB) and zinc tetraphenylporphirin (ZnTPP). Our contribution is 3-fold: first, we reproduce previous results from other groups; second, we on the one hand determine the effects of different temporal correlations─introduced as a controllable temporal delay between the signal and idler photons to be absorbed─on the strength of the ETPA signal, and on the other hand, we introduce two concurrent and equivalent detection systems with and without the sample in place as a useful experimental check; third, we introduce, and apply to our data, a novel method to quantify the ETPA rate based on taking into account the full photon-pair behavior rather than focusing on singles or coincidence counts independently.

Effective Michelson interference observed in fiber-optical analogue of Hawking radiation.

We experimentally observe the stimulated analogue of Hawking radiation produced in a photonic-crystal fiber, with a pulsed pump and a continuous-wave probe. In particular, we propose and demonstrate an innovative method to boost the efficiency and probe the coherence characteristics of the analogue Hawking effect relying on a double pump pulse with a controlled temporal delay. We show that the emitted analogue Hawking radiation corresponds to the coherently-added, interfering Hawking signals resulting from the probe interacting with each pump pulse.

Identification of high-risk COVID-19 patients using machine learning.

The current COVID-19 public health crisis, caused by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), has produced a devastating toll both in terms of human life loss and economic disruption. In this paper we present a machine-learning algorithm capable of identifying whether a given patient (actually infected or suspected to be infected) is more likely to survive than to die, or vice-versa. We train this algorithm with historical data, including medical history, demographic data, as well as COVID-19-related information.

Frequency and polarization emission properties of a photon-pair source based on a photonic crystal fiber.

In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a photon-pair source with correlations in the frequency and polarization degrees of freedom. We base our source on the spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) process in a photonic crystal fiber. We show theoretically that the two-photon state is the coherent superposition of up to six distinct SFWM processes, each corresponding to a distinct combination of polarizations for the four waves involved and giving rise to an energy-conserving pair of peaks.

Direct observation of OAM correlations from spatially entangled bi-photon states.

We present spatially-resolved observations of orbital angular momentum (OAM) conservation, via a Laguerre-Gauss (LG) basis decomposition, of spatially-entangled photon pairs produced in type-I collinear spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC). These results were obtained with a novel detection system for OAM-entangled photon pairs that combines a projective measurement for the signal photon to a specific value of the azimuthal index ls, with a spatially-resolved measurement for the idler photon using an intensified charge coupled (ICCD) camera. In combination with far-field diffraction of the idler photon through a triangular aperture, we are able to obtain: i) the spatial structure of the heralded idler photon, as governed by the user-selected topological charge of the signal photon; ii) the OAM spectrum; and iii) the topological charge (both magnitude and sign) for the heralded idler photon.

Temperature-Controlled Entangled-Photon Absorption Spectroscopy.

Entangled two-photon absorption spectroscopy (TPA) has been widely recognized as a powerful tool for revealing relevant information about the structure of complex molecular systems. However, to date, the experimental implementation of this technique has remained elusive, mainly because of two major difficulties: first, the need to perform multiple experiments with two-photon states bearing different temporal correlations, which translates into the necessity to have at the experimenter's disposal tens, if not hundreds, of sources of entangled photons; second, the need to have a priori knowledge of the absorbing medium's lowest-lying intermediate energy level. In this work, we put forward a simple experimental scheme that successfully overcomes these two limitations.

Interference effects in quantum-optical coherence tomography using spectrally engineered photon pairs.

Optical-coherence tomography (OCT) is a technique that employs light in order to measure the internal structure of semitransparent, e.g. biological, samples.

Advanced Statistical Testing of Quantum Random Number Generators.

Pseudo-random number generators are widely used in many branches of science, mainly in applications related to Monte Carlo methods, although they are deterministic in design and, therefore, unsuitable for tackling fundamental problems in security and cryptography. The natural laws of the microscopic realm provide a fairly simple method to generate non-deterministic sequences of random numbers, based on measurements of quantum states. In practice, however, the experimental devices on which quantum random number generators are based are often unable to pass some tests of randomness.

Improving randomness characterization through Bayesian model selection.

Random number generation plays an essential role in technology with important applications in areas ranging from cryptography to Monte Carlo methods, and other probabilistic algorithms. All such applications require high-quality sources of random numbers, yet effective methods for assessing whether a source produce truly random sequences are still missing. Current methods either do not rely on a formal description of randomness (NIST test suite) on the one hand, or are inapplicable in principle (the characterization derived from the Algorithmic Theory of Information), on the other, for they require testing all the possible computer programs that could produce the sequence to be analysed.

Systematic afterpulsing-estimation algorithms for gated avalanche photodiodes.

We present a method designed to efficiently extract optical signals from InGaAs avalanche photodiodes (APDs) operated in gated mode. In particular, our method permits an estimation of the fraction of counts that actually results from the signal being measured, as opposed to being produced by noise mechanisms, specifically by afterpulsing. Our method in principle allows the use of InGaAs APDs at high detection efficiencies, with the full operation bandwidth, either with or without resorting to the application of a dead-time.

Heralded single-photon source utilizing highly nondegenerate, spectrally factorable spontaneous parametric downconversion.

We report on the generation of an indistinguishable heralded single-photon state, using highly nondegenerate spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC). Spectrally factorable photon pairs can be generated by incorporating a broadband pump pulse and a group-velocity matching (GVM) condition in a periodically-poled potassium titanyl phosphate (PPKTP) crystal. The heralding photon is in the near IR, close to the peak detection efficiency of off-the-shelf Si single-photon detectors; meanwhile, the heralded photon is in the telecom L-band where fiber losses are at a minimum.

Engineering of near-IR photon pairs to be factorable in space-time and entangled in polarization.

We present a source of near-infrared photon pairs based on the process of spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC), for which the joint signal-idler quantum state is designed to be factorable in the frequency-time and in the transverse position-momentum degrees of freedom. Our technique is based on the use of a broadband pump and vector group velocity matching between the pump, signal, and idler waves. We show experimentally that a source based on this technique can be configured for the generation of: i) pure heralded single photons, and ii) polarization-entangled photon pairs which are free from spectral correlations, in both cases without resorting to spectral filtering.

Classical to quantum transfer of optical vortices.

We show that an optical vortex beam, implemented classically, can be transferred to the transverse amplitude of a heralded single photon. For this purpose we have relied on the process of spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) for the generation of signal and idler photon pairs, using a pump in the form of a Bessel-Gauss (BG) beam with orbital angular momentum (specifically, with topological charge l = 1 and l = 2). We have designed our source so that it operates within the short SPDC crystal regime for which, the amplitude and phase of the pump may be transferred to a heralded single photon.

Configurable spatiotemporal properties in a photon-pair source based on spontaneous four-wave mixing with multiple transverse modes.

We present an experimental and theoretical study of photon pairs generated by spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM), based on birefringent phasematching, in a fiber that supports more than one transverse mode. We present SFWM spectra, obtained through single-channel and coincidence photon counting, which exhibit multiple peaks shown here to be the result of multiple SFWM processes associated with different combinations of transverse modes for the pump, signal, and idler waves.

Observation of non-diffracting behavior at the single-photon level.

We demonstrate the generation of non-diffracting heralded single photons, i.e. which are characterized by a single-photon transverse intensity distribution which remains essentially unchanged over a significant propagation distance.

Experimental proposal for the generation of entangled photon triplets by third-order spontaneous parametric downconversion in optical fibers.

We present an experimental proposal for the generation of photon triplets based on third-order spontaneous parametric downconversion in thin optical fibers. Our analysis includes expressions for the quantum state, which describes the photon triplets and for the generation rate in terms of all experimental parameters. We also present, for a specific source design, numerically calculated generation rates.

Time-resolved up-conversion of entangled photon pairs.

In the process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion, photons from a pump field are converted to signal and idler photon pairs in a nonlinear crystal. The reversed process, or up-conversion of these pairs back to single photons in a second crystal, is also possible. Here, we present experimental measurements of the up-conversion rate with a controlled time delay introduced between the signal and idler photons.

Heralded generation of ultrafast single photons in pure quantum States.

We present an experimental demonstration of heralded single photons prepared in pure quantum states from a parametric down-conversion source. It is shown that, through controlling the modal structure of the photon pair emission, one can generate pairs in factorable states and thence eliminate the need for spectral filters in multiple-source interference schemes. Indistinguishable heralded photons were generated in two independent spectrally engineered sources and Hong-Ou-Mandel interference observed between them without spectral filters.

Observation of ultrabroadband, beamlike parametric downconversion.

We report spontaneous parametric downconversion having an unusually wide spectral bandwidth. A collinear type 1 phase-matching configuration is employed with degeneracy near the zero group-velocity dispersion frequency. With a spectral width of 1080 nm and degenerate wavelength of 1885 nm, the source also emits a high flux of 3.

Generation of two-photon States with an arbitrary degree of entanglement via nonlinear crystal superlattices.

We demonstrate a general method of engineering the joint quantum state of photon pairs produced in spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The method makes use of a superlattice structure of nonlinear and linear materials, in conjunction with a broadband pump, to manipulate the group delays of the signal and idler photons relative to the pump pulse, and realizes photon pairs described by a joint spectral amplitude with arbitrary degree of entanglement. This method of group-delay engineering has the potential of synthesizing a broad range of states including factorizable states crucial for quantum networking and states optimized for Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometry.

Simplified spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction by using a thick nonlinear crystal.

We propose and demonstrate a novel implementation of spectral-shearing interferometry (SSI) for reconstructing the electric field of ultrashort pulses by utilizing asymmetric group velocity matching in a long nonlinear crystal. The proposed configuration eliminates the requirement for a linearly chirped auxiliary pulse that is in common in all existing SSI methods, relying on nonlinear conversion to produce a spectral shear.

Efficient conditional preparation of high-fidelity single photon states for fiber-optic quantum networks.

Highly correlated photons or, accordingly, high-fidelity single-photon states are a prerequisite for closing detection loopholes in experimental tests of local realism and implementing scalable linear optical quantum computation. We demonstrate a parametric down-conversion source exhibiting a conditional detection efficiency of 51% (with corresponding preparation efficiency of 85%) and extraordinarily high detection rates of up to 8.5 x 10(5) coincidences/(s mW).

Managing photons for quantum information processing.

We study distinguishing information in the context of photonic quantum interference tailored for practical implementations of quantum information processing schemes. In particular, we consider the character of single-photon states optimized for multiple-source interference experiments and for experiments relying on Bell-state measurement and arrive at specific design criteria for photons produced by parametric down-conversion. Such states can be realistically implemented with available technology.