Quantum metasurface for multiphoton interference and state reconstruction
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 5, 2026

Measurement of Quantum Interference in a Silicon Ring Resonator Photon Source
Published on: April 4, 2017
Kai Wang1, James G Titchener1,2, Sergey S Kruk1
1Nonlinear Physics Centre, Research School of Physics and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
Abstract:
Metasurfaces based on resonant nanophotonic structures have enabled innovative types of flat-optics devices that often outperform the capabilities of bulk components, yet these advances remain largely unexplored for quantum applications. We show that nonclassical multiphoton interferences can be achieved at the subwavelength scale in all-dielectric metasurfaces. We simultaneously image multiple projections of quantum states with a single metasurface, enabling a robust reconstruction of amplitude, phase, coherence, and entanglement of multiphoton polarization-encoded states. One- and two-photon states are reconstructed through nonlocal photon correlation measurements with polarization-insensitive click detectors positioned after the metasurface, and the scalability to higher photon numbers is established theoretically. Our work illustrates the feasibility of ultrathin quantum metadevices for the manipulation and measurement of multiphoton quantum states, with applications in free-space quantum imaging and communications.
Related Concept Videos
Quantum Numbers
Interference and Diffraction
The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom
RNA Interference
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...
Interference and Decay
Interference occurs when competing memories hinder the retrieval of particular information. It can be classified into two types: proactive and retroactive interference. Proactive...
Sound Waves: Interference

