Fiber transport of spatially entangled photons

W. Löffler; E. R. Eliel; J. P. Woerdman; T. G. Euser; M. Scharrer; P. Russell

doi:10.1117/12.905418

10 February 2012 Fiber transport of spatially entangled photons

W. Löffler, E. R. Eliel, J. P. Woerdman, T. G. Euser, M. Scharrer, P. Russell

Proceedings Volume 8274, Complex Light and Optical Forces VI; 82740F (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.905418
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2012, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

High-dimensional entangled photons pairs are interesting for quantum information and cryptography: Compared to the well-known 2D polarization case, the stronger non-local quantum correlations could improve noise resistance or security, and the larger amount of information per photon increases the available bandwidth. One implementation is to use entanglement in the spatial degree of freedom of twin photons created by spontaneous parametric down-conversion, which is equivalent to orbital angular momentum entanglement, this has been proven to be an excellent model system. The use of optical fiber technology for distribution of such photons has only very recently been practically demonstrated and is of fundamental and applied interest. It poses a big challenge compared to the established time and frequency domain methods: For spatially entangled photons, fiber transport requires the use of multimode fibers, and mode coupling and intermodal dispersion therein must be minimized not to destroy the spatial quantum correlations. We demonstrate that these shortcomings of conventional multimode fibers can be overcome by using a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber, which follows the paradigm to mimic free-space transport as good as possible, and are able to confirm entanglement of the fiber-transported photons. Fiber transport of spatially entangled photons is largely unexplored yet, therefore we discuss the main complications, the interplay of intermodal dispersion and mode mixing, the influence of external stress and core deformations, and consider the pros and cons of various fiber types.

Citation Download Citation

W. Löffler, E. R. Eliel, J. P. Woerdman, T. G. Euser, M. Scharrer, and P. Russell "Fiber transport of spatially entangled photons", Proc. SPIE 8274, Complex Light and Optical Forces VI, 82740F (10 February 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.905418

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available