High-probability photon catalysis with non-linear photon beam splitter

Abstract

Photon catalysis (PC) is an intriguing quantum optical operation wherein the same number of photons are added to and subsequently subtracted from the relevant optical system. It is an important tool that facilitates photon number manipulation. However, most existing PC methods are suitable only for photonic states residing within few-photon subspace. In addition, the probability of PC decreases exponentially with increase in the number n of the Fock state |n〉. Thus, this study proposed a high probability PC scheme for optical quantum states with large Fock state population based on nonlinear beam splitters. The results indicate that the fidelity and the probability of PC are both substantially improved. Moreover, in case of detector inefficiency, the scheme of PC with non-linear beam splitter was more robust. Thus, the proposed method provides a useful tool for manipulating optical quantum states with large Fock number state population.