Producing single-photon wave packets of the infrared spectrum range with an orbital angular momentum using “vortex” phase plates

D.A Turaykhanov,I.R Imangulova,A.A Kalachev,A.V Shkalikov,N.N Losevsky,S.A Samagin,S.P Kotova,E.V Razova,A.V Naumov,K.R Karimullin,M.G Gladush

doi:10.1051/epjconf/201819004025

Abstract

We consider the peculiarities of formation and registration of axially symmetric vortex fields in the context of applying diffractive optical elements such as vortex lenses and vortex axicons for the generation of single-photon states with a nonzero orbital angular momentum in the process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion.

Highlights

Single-photon states at a wavelength around 800 nm corresponding to one of the atmospheric transparency windows can be effectively obtained in the process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) of light in a nonlinear medium [7]
We studied theoretically and experimentally the evolution of the generated fields during their propagation near the focusing region for a vortex lens and a vortex axicon
When creating an experimental setup, the problem of choosing between vortex lenses and vortex axicons should be solved taking into account the geometry of the pump field and the geometry of the registration scheme

Summary

Introduction

Single-photon states at a wavelength around 800 nm corresponding to one of the atmospheric transparency windows can be effectively obtained in the process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) of light in a nonlinear medium [7]. To create optical vortices we used diffractive optical elements (DOE) in the form of a vortex lens and a vortex axicon [8, 9], which is one of the most flexible and energetically effective methods. We studied theoretically and experimentally the evolution of the generated fields during their propagation near the focusing region for a vortex lens and a vortex axicon.

Results

Conclusion