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arXiv · 2012.08544

Experimental Fock-State Bunching Capability of Non-Ideal Single-Photon States

Abstract

Advanced quantum technologies, as well as fundamental tests of quantum physics, crucially require the interference of multiple single photons in linear-optics circuits. This interference can result in the bunching of photons into higher Fock states, leading to a complex bosonic behaviour. These challenging tasks timely require to develop collective criteria to benchmark many independent initial resources. Here we determine whether n independent imperfect single photons can ultimately bunch into the Fock state $|n \rangle$. We thereby introduce an experimental Fock-state bunching capability for single-photon sources, which uses phase-space interference for extreme bunching events as a quantifier. In contrast to autocorrelation functions, this operational approach takes into account not only residual multi-photon components but also vacuum admixture and the dispersion of the individual photon statistics. We apply this approach to high-purity single photons generated from an optical parametric oscillator and show that they can lead to a Fock-state capability of at least 14. Our work demonstrates a novel collective benchmark for single-photon sources and their use in subsequent stringent applications.

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P. Zapletal, T. Darras, H. Le Jeannic, A. Cavaillès, G. Guccione, J. Laurat, R. Filip. 2020-12-15. Experimental Fock-State Bunching Capability of Non-Ideal Single-Photon States. https://doi.org/10.1364/optica.419230

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