Discrete spatial entanglement in multimode nonlinear waveguides (Conference Presentation)

Abstract

We present a scheme for generation and characterization of entangled spatial qubits based on type-II spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) in a periodically poled titanyl phosphate (PPKTP) multimode nonlinear waveguide [1]. Our scheme exploits intermodal dispersion which has been hitherto successfully employed to produce spatially pure SPDC photon pairs from a multimode waveguide without spatial filtering [2]. Production of discrete entanglement relies on driving simultaneously two SPDC processes that involve different combinations of transverse spatial modes for which phase matching bandwidths significantly overlap. We propose a procedure for experimental identification of the spatial qubit subspace based on a scan of the spatial Wigner function via the displaced parity measurement using an inverting Sagnac interferometer and photon counting. We numerically verified the robustness of the mode reconstruction procedure against experimental imperfections. We also propose an experimental method for detecting spatial entanglement in the position-wave vector phase space. Numerical simulations indicate that waveguide parameters required for experimental demonstrations are compatible with current manufacturing capabilities. Using simulated mode profiles we calculate the maximum attainable Clauser-Horne- Shimony-Holt combination value reaching 2.12, which clearly violates the classical limit and confirms the feasibility of observing non-classical features of the generated state. [1] M. Jachura et al. Physical Review A, 95, 032322 (2017). [2] M. Jachura, M. Karpinski, C. Radzewicz, K. Banaszek, Optics Express, 22, 8624-8632 (2014).