We report on an imaging-inspired measurement of orbital angular momentum (OAM) using only a simple tilted lens and an intensified charged coupled device camera, allowing us to monitor the propagation of OAM structured photons over distance, which is crucial for free-space quantum communication networks. We demonstrate the measurement of OAM orders as high as ls = 14 in a heralded single-photon source and show, for the first time, the imaged self-interference of photons carrying OAM in a modified Mach–Zehnder interferometer. The described methods reveal both the charge and order of a photon's OAM and provide a proof of concept for the interference of a single OAM photon with itself. Using these tools, we are able to study the propagation characteristics of OAM photons over a distance, which is important for estimating transport in free-space quantum links. By translating these classical tools into the quantum domain, we offer a robust and direct approach for the complete characterization of a twisted single-photon source, an important building block of a quantum network.
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March 2022
Research Article|
February 11 2022
Imaging inspired characterization of single photons carrying orbital angular momentum
Special Collection:
Quantum Networks: Past, Present and Future
Vimlesh Kumar
;
Vimlesh Kumar
a)
1
Photonic Sciences Lab, Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad
, Navrangpura, Gujarat 380009, India
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: vimlesh@prl.res.in
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Varun Sharma
;
Varun Sharma
1
Photonic Sciences Lab, Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad
, Navrangpura, Gujarat 380009, India
2
Institute of Physics, University of Graz, NAWI Graz
, Universitätsplatz 5, 8010 Graz, Austria
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Sandeep Singh
;
Sandeep Singh
1
Photonic Sciences Lab, Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad
, Navrangpura, Gujarat 380009, India
3
Indian Institute of Technology-Gandhinagar
, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 382424, India
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S. Chaitanya Kumar
;
S. Chaitanya Kumar
4
ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
, Castelldefels, 08860 Barcelona, Spain
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Andrew Forbes
;
Andrew Forbes
5
School of Physics, University of the Witwatersrand
, Private Bag 3, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa
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M. Ebrahim-Zadeh
;
M. Ebrahim-Zadeh
4
ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
, Castelldefels, 08860 Barcelona, Spain
6
Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats (ICREA)
, Passeig Lluis Companys 23, Barcelona 08010, Spain
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G. K. Samanta
G. K. Samanta
1
Photonic Sciences Lab, Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad
, Navrangpura, Gujarat 380009, India
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: vimlesh@prl.res.in
Note: This paper is part of the special topic on Quantum Networks: Past, Present and Future.
AVS Quantum Sci. 4, 015001 (2022)
Article history
Received:
November 16 2021
Accepted:
January 25 2022
Citation
Vimlesh Kumar, Varun Sharma, Sandeep Singh, S. Chaitanya Kumar, Andrew Forbes, M. Ebrahim-Zadeh, G. K. Samanta; Imaging inspired characterization of single photons carrying orbital angular momentum. AVS Quantum Sci. 1 March 2022; 4 (1): 015001. https://doi.org/10.1116/5.0078870
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