• Surpassing the classical limit of microwave photonic frequency fading effect by quantum microwave photonics

    Subjects: Optics >> Quantum optics submitted time 2023-02-25

    Abstract: With energy-time entangled biphoton sources as the optical carrier and time-correlated single-photon detection for high-speed radio frequency (RF) signal recovery, the method of quantum microwave photonics (QMWP) has presented the unprecedented potential of nonlocal RF signal encoding and efficient RF signal distilling from the dispersion interference associated with ultrashort pulse carriers. In this letter, its capability in microwave signal processing and prospective superiority is further demonstrated. Both the QMWP RF phase shifting and transversal filtering functionality, which are the fundamental building blocks of microwave signal processing, are realized. Besides the perfect immunity to the dispersion-induced frequency fading effect associated with the broadband carrier in classical microwave photonics, a native two-dimensional parallel microwave signal processor is provided. These demonstrations fully prove the superiority of QMWP over classical MWP and open the door to new application fields of MWP involving encrypted processing.

  • Robust optical frequency transfer in a noisy urban fiber network

    Subjects: Optics >> Quantum optics submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: Optical fibers have been recognized as one of the most promising host material for high phase coherence optical frequency transfer over thousands of kilometers. In the pioneering work, the active phase noise cancellation (ANC) technique has been widely used for suppressing the fiber phase noise introduced by the environmental perturbations, in which an ideal phase detector with high resolution and unlimited detection range is needed to extract the fiber phase noise, in particular for noisy fiber links. We demonstrate the passive phase noise cancellation (PNC) technique without the need of phase detector could be preferable for noisy fiber links. To avoid the effect of the radio frequency (RF) from the time base at the local site in the conventional active or passive phase noise cancellation techniques, here we introduce a fiber-pigtailed acousto-optic modulator (AOM) with two diffraction order outputs (0 and +1 order) with properly allocating the AOM-driving frequencies allowing to cancel the time base effect. Using this technique, we demonstrate transfer of coherent light through a 260 km noisy urban fiber link. The results show the effect of the RF reference can be successfully removed. After being passively compensated, {we demonstrate a fractional frequency instability of $4.9\times10^{-14}$ at the integration time of 1 s and scales down to $10^{-20}$ level at 10,000 s in terms of modified Allan deviation over the 260 km noisy urban fiber link}. The frequency uncertainty of the retrieved light after transferring through this noise-compensated fiber link relative to that of the input light achieves $(0.41\pm4.7)\times10^{-18}$. The proposed technique opens a way to a broad distribution of an ultrastable frequency reference with high coherence without any effects coming from the RF reference and enables a wide range of applications beyond metrology over fiber networks.

  • Phase gradient protection of stored spatially multimode perfect optical vortex beams in a diffused rubidium vapor

    Subjects: Optics >> Quantum optics submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: We experimentally investigate the optical storage of perfect optical vortex (POV) and spatially multimode perfect optical vortex (MPOV) beams via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a hot vapor cell. In particular, we study the role that phase gradients and phase singularities play in reducing the blurring of the retrieved images due to atomic diffusion. Three kinds of manifestations are enumerated to demonstrate such effect. Firstly, the suppression of the ring width broadening is more prominent for POVs with larger orbital angular momentum (OAM). Secondly, the retrieved double-ring MPOV beams' profiles present regular dark singularity distributions that are related to their vortex charge difference. Thirdly, the storage fidelities of the triple-ring MPOVs are substantially improved by designing line phase singularities between multi-ring MPOVs with the same OAM number but $\pi$ offset phases between adjacent rings. Our experimental demonstration of MPOV storage opens new opportunities for increasing data capacity in quantum memories by spatial multiplexing, as well as the generation and manipulation of complex optical vortex arrays.

  • A proof-of-principle demonstration of quantum microwave photonics

    Subjects: Optics >> Quantum optics submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: With the rapid development of microwave photonics, which has expanded to numerous applications of commercial importance, eliminating the emerging bottlenecks becomes of vital importance. For example, as the main branch of microwave photonics, radio-over-fiber technology provides high bandwidth, low-loss, and long-distance propagation capability, facilitating wide applications ranging from telecommunication to wireless networks. With ultrashort pulses as the optical carrier, huge capacity is further endowed. However, the wide bandwidth of ultrashort pulses results in the severe vulnerability of high-frequency RF signals to fiber dispersion. With a time-energy entangled biphoton source as the optical carrier and combined with the single-photon detection technique, a quantum microwave photonics method is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. The results show that it not only realizes unprecedented nonlocal RF signal modulation with strong resistance to the dispersion associated with ultrashort pulse carriers but provides an alternative mechanism to effectively distill the RF signal out from the dispersion. Furthermore, the spurious-free dynamic range of both the nonlocally modulated and distilled RF signals has been significantly improved. With the ultra-weak detection and high-speed processing advantages endowed by the low-timing-jitter single-photon detection, the quantum microwave photonics method opens up new possibilities in modern communication and networks.

  • Visualization of magnetic fields with cylindrical vector beams in a warm atomic vapor

    Subjects: Optics >> Quantum optics submitted time 2023-02-19

    Abstract: We propose and demonstrate an experimental implementation for the observation of magnetic fields from spatial features of absorption profiles in a warm atomic vapor. A radially polarized vector beam that traverses an atomic vapor will generate an absorption pattern with petal-like structure by the mediation of a transverse magnetic field (TMF). The spatial absorption pattern rotates when the azimuthal angle of the TMF is changed, while its contrast decreases when the longitudinal component of the magnetic field increases. By analyzing the intensity distribution of the transmitted pattern we can determine the magnetic field strength. Our work provides a framework for investigating three-dimensional magnetic field distributions based on atoms.

  • Operating Unit: National Science Library,Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Production Maintenance: National Science Library,Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Mail: eprint@mail.las.ac.cn
  • Address: 33 Beisihuan Xilu,Zhongguancun,Beijing P.R.China