Bounding the outcome of a two-photon interference measurement using weak coherent states.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

The interference of two photons at a beam splitter is at the core of many quantum photonic technologies, such as quantum key distribution or linear-optics quantum computing. Observing high-visibility interference is challenging because of the difficulty of realizing indistinguishable single-photon sources. Here, we perform a two-photon interference experiment using phase-randomized weak coherent states with different mean photon numbers. We place a tight upper bound on the expected coincidences for the case when the incident wavepackets contain single photons, allowing us to observe the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect. We find that the interference visibility is at least as large as 0.995-0.013+0.005.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Aragoneses, A; Islam, NT; Eggleston, M; Lezama, A; Kim, J; Gauthier, DJ

Published Date

  • August 2018

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 43 / 16

Start / End Page

  • 3806 - 3809

PubMed ID

  • 30106888

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1539-4794

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0146-9592

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1364/ol.43.003806

Language

  • eng