On unitary reconstruction of linear optical networks

Author(s)
Max Tillmann, Christian Schmidt, Philip Walther
Abstract

Linear optical elements are pivotal instruments in the manipulation of classical and quantum states of light. Recent progress in integrated quantum photonic technology enabled the implementation of large numbers of such elements on chip, in particular passively stable interferometers. However, it is a challenge to characterize the optical transformation of such a device as the individual optical elements are not directly accessible. Thus only an effective overall transformation can be recovered. Here we present a reconstruction approach based on a global optimization of element parameters and compare it to two prominently used approaches. We numerically evaluate their performance for networks up to 14 modes and various levels of error on the primary data.

Organisation(s)
Quantum Optics, Quantum Nanophysics and Quantum Information
Journal
Journal of Optics
Volume
18
No. of pages
12
ISSN
2040-8978
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1088/2040-8978/18/11/114002
Publication date
11-2016
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103021 Optics
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/on-unitary-reconstruction-of-linear-optical-networks(a4771ab1-f223-4318-b5fe-a4c1ad0a37eb).html