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Updated: Mar 16, 2026

A Photonic System for Generating Unconditional Polarization-Entangled Photons Based on Multiple Quantum Interference
Published on: September 5, 2019
Coherent control of light-matter interactions in polarization standing waves
Xu Fang1, Kevin F MacDonald1, Eric Plum1
1Optoelectronics Research Centre &Centre for Photonic Metamaterials, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK.
Abstract:
We experimentally demonstrate that standing waves formed by two coherent counter-propagating light waves can take a variety of forms, offering new approaches to the interrogation and control of polarization-sensitive light-matter interactions in ultrathin (subwavelength thickness) media. In contrast to familiar energy standing waves, polarization standing waves have constant electric and magnetic energy densities and a periodically varying polarization state along the wave axis. counterintuitively, anisotropic ultrathin (meta)materials can be made sensitive or insensitive to such polarization variations by adjusting their azimuthal angle.
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