Erecting time telescope for photonic quantum networks.

A time lens allows one to stretch or compress optical waveforms in time, similar to the conventional lens in space. However, a single-time-lens imaging system always imparts a residual temporal chirp on the image, which may be detrimental for quantum networks, where the temporal image interacts with other fields. We show that a two-time-lens imaging system satisfying the telescopic condition, a time telescope, is necessary and sufficient for creating a chirpless image. We develop a general theory of a time telescope, find the conditions for loss minimization, and show how an erecting time telescope creating a real image of a temporal object can be constructed. We consider several applications of such a telescope to making indistinguishable the photons generated by spontaneous parametric downconversion or single emitters such as quantum dots.

Multimode single-pass spatio-temporal squeezing.

We present a single-pass source of broadband multimode squeezed light with potential application in quantum information and quantum metrology. The source is based on a type I parametric down-conversion (PDC) process inside a bulk nonlinear crystal in a non-collinear configuration. The generated squeezed light exhibits a spatio-temporal multimode behavior that is probed using a homodyne measurement with a local oscillator shaped both spatially and temporally. Finally we follow a covariance matrix based approach to reveal the distribution of the squeezing among several independent temporal and spatial modes. This unambiguously validates the multimode feature of our source.

Measuring Nonclassicality of Bosonic Field Quantum States via Operator Ordering Sensitivity.

We introduce a new distance-based measure for the nonclassicality of the states of a bosonic field, which outperforms the existing such measures in several ways. We define for that purpose the operator ordering sensitivity of the state which evaluates the sensitivity to operator ordering of the Renyi entropy of its quasiprobabilities and which measures the oscillations in its Wigner function. Through a sharp control on the operator ordering sensitivity of classical states we obtain a precise geometric image of their location in the density matrix space allowing us to introduce a distance-based measure of nonclassicality. We analyze the link between this nonclassicality measure and a recently introduced quantum macroscopicity measure, showing how the two notions are distinct.

Broadband bright twin beams and their upconversion.

We report on the observation of broadband (40 THz) bright twin beams through high-gain parametric downconversion in an aperiodically poled lithium niobate crystal. The output photon number is shown to scale exponentially with the pump power and not with the pump amplitude, as in homogeneous crystals. Photon number correlations and the number of frequency/temporal modes are assessed by spectral covariance measurements. By using sum-frequency generation on the surface of a non-phase-matched crystal, we measure a cross-correlation peak with the temporal width of 90 fs.

Quantum temporal imaging by four-wave mixing.

We investigate temporal imaging of broadband squeezed light by four-wave-mixing. We consider two possible imaging configurations: phase-conjugating (PC) and phase-preserving (PP). Both of these configurations have been successfully used for temporal imaging of classical temporal waveforms. We demonstrate that for quantum temporal imaging, precisely, temporal imaging of broadband squeezed light, these two schemes have very different behavior: the PC configuration deteriorates squeezing, while the PP configuration leaves it intact. These results are very important for the applications of temporal imaging for quantum communications and quantum information processing.

Experimental observation of quantum correlations in four-wave mixing with a conical pump.

Generation of multimode quantum states has drawn much attention recently due to its importance for both fundamental science and the future development of quantum technologies. Here, by using a four-wave mixing process with a conical pump beam, we have experimentally observed about -3.8 dB of intensity-difference squeezing between a single-axial probe beam and a conical conjugate beam. The multi-spatial-mode nature of the generated quantum-correlated beams has been shown by comparing the variation tendencies of the intensity-difference noise of the probe and conjugate beams under global attenuation and local cutting attenuation. Due to its compactness, phase-insensitive nature, and easy scalability, our scheme may find potential applications in quantum imaging, quantum information processing, and quantum metrology.

Temporal imaging with squeezed light.

We generalize the scheme of conventional temporal imaging to quantum temporal imaging viable for nonclassical states of light. As an example, we apply our scheme to temporally broadband squeezed light and demonstrate a possibility of its noiseless magnification. In particular, we show that one can magnify by a given factor the coherence time of squeezed light and match it to the response time of the photodetector. This feature opens new possibilities for practical applications of temporally broadband squeezed light in quantum optics and quantum information.

Quantum limits of super-resolution of optical sparse objects via sparsity constraint.

Sparsity constraint is a priori knowledge of the signal, which means that in some properly chosen basis only a small percentage of the total number of the signal components is nonzero. Sparsity constraint has been used in signal and image processing for a long time. Recent publications have shown that the Sparsity constraint can be used to achieve super-resolution of optical sparse objects beyond the diffraction limit. In this paper we present the quantum theory which establishes the quantum limits of super-resolution for the sparse objects. The key idea of our paper is to use the discrete prolate spheroidal sequences (DPSS) as the sensing basis. We demonstrate both analytically and numerically that this sensing basis gives superior performance of super-resolution over the Fourier basis conventionally used for sensing of sparse signals. The explanation of this phenomenon is in the fact that the DPSS are the eigenfunctions of the optical imaging system while the Fourier basis are not. We investigate the role of the quantum fluctuations of the light illuminating the object, in the performance of reconstruction algorithm. This analysis allows us to formulate the criteria for stable reconstruction of sparse objects with super-resolution. Our results imply that sparsity of the object is not the only parameter which describes super-resolution achievable via sparsity constraint.

Experimental realization of optical eigenmode super-resolution.

We experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of a super-resolution technique based on eigenmode decomposition. This technique has been proposed theoretically but, to the best of our knowledge, has not previously been realized experimentally for optical imaging systems with circular apertures. We use a standard diffraction-limited 4f imaging system with circular apertures for which the radial eigenmodes are the circular prolate spheroidal functions. For three original objects with different content of angular information we achieve 45%, 49%, and 89% improvement of resolution over the Rayleigh limit. The work presented can be considered as progress towards the goal of reaching the quantum limits of super-resolution.

Quantum limits of superresolution for imaging discrete subwavelength structures.

We present the quantum theory of superresolution for discrete subwavelength structures. It allows to formulate, in particular, the standard quantum limit of superresolution achieved for illumination of the structure by light in coherent state. Our theory is based on discrete prolate spheroidal sequences and functions which are the proper basis set of the problem. We demonstrate that the superresolution factor is much higher for discrete structures than for continuous objects for the same signal-to-noise ratio. This result is a clear illustration of the crucial role of a priori information in superresolution problems.

Squeezed-light source for superresolving microscopy.

We propose a source of multimode squeezed light that can be used for superresolving microscopy. This source is an optical parametric amplifier with a properly chosen diaphragm on its output and a Fourier lens. We demonstrate that such an arrangement produces squeezed prolate spheroidal waves that are the eigenmodes of the optical imaging scheme used in microscopy and discuss the conditions of the degree of squeezing and of the number of spatial modes in illuminating light.