Abstract
We explore the suitability of a virtually imaged phased array as a spectral-to-spatial mode-mapper (SSMM) for applications in quantum communication such as a quantum repeater. To this end, we demonstrate spectrally resolved Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) interference with weak coherent states (WCSs). Spectral sidebands are generated on a common optical carrier, and WCSs are prepared in each spectral mode and sent to a beam splitter followed by two SSMMs and two single-photon detectors, allowing us to measure spectrally resolved HOM interference. We show that the so-called HOM dip can be observed in the coincidence detection pattern of matching spectral modes with visibilities as high as 45% (maximum 50% for WCSs). For unmatched modes, the visibility drops significantly, as expected. Due to the similarity between HOM interference and a linear-optics Bell-state measurement (BSM), this simple optical arrangement figures as a candidate for the implementation of a spectrally resolved BSM. Finally, we simulate the secret key generation rate using current and state-of-the-art parameters in a measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution scenario and explore the trade-off between rate and complexity of a spectrally multiplexed quantum communication link.
© 2023 Optica Publishing Group
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
Peng-Cheng Wang, Oriol Pietx-Casas, Mohsen Falamarzi Askarani, and Gustavo Castro do Amaral
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 38(4) 1140-1146 (2021)
Yingwen Zhang, Duncan England, Andrei Nomerotski, and Benjamin Sussman
Opt. Express 29(18) 28217-28227 (2021)
Heonoh Kim, Danbi Kim, Jiho Park, and Han Seb Moon
Photon. Res. 8(9) 1491-1495 (2020)