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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

A Photonic System for Generating Unconditional Polarization-Entangled Photons Based on Multiple Quantum Interference
Published on: September 5, 2019
Synthesis and analysis of entangled photonic qubits in spatial-parity space
Timothy Yarnall1, Ayman F Abouraddy, Bahaa E A Saleh
1Quantum Imaging Laboratory, Departments of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Physics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215-2421, USA.
Abstract:
We present the novel embodiment of a photonic qubit that makes use of one continuous spatial degree of freedom of a single photon and relies on the parity of the photon's transverse spatial distribution. Using optical spontaneous parametric down-conversion to produce photon pairs, we demonstrate the controlled generation of entangled-photon states in this new space. Specifically, two Bell states, and a continuum of their superpositions, are generated by simple manipulation of a classical parameter, the optical-pump spatial parity, and not by manipulation of the entangled photons themselves. An interferometric device, isomorphic in action to a polarizing beam splitter, projects the spatial-parity states onto an even-odd basis. This new physical realization of photonic qubits could be used as a foundation for future experiments in quantum information processing.
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