Boston University

Other

Carl Zeiss Jena Gmbh

The Trustees of Boston College

Alexander Sergienko

Malvin C Teich

Bahaa E A Saleh

Ayman F Abouraddy

Ralf Wolleschensky

Michael Kempe

Robert H Webb

John T Fourkas

Lee E Goldstein

Milan Merhar

David Simon

Mark C Booth

Magued B Nasr

Kimani C Toussaint, Jr

Steven J Bielagus

A correlation confocal microscope uses correlated photon pairs to improve resolution. It employs a source of a light beam converging to a point location on a sample, and an objective that gathers light from the point location and generates an image beam. A modulator applies a spatial pattern of modulation to the source light beam to define spatially correlated photons whose spatial correlations are preserved in modulated light gathered from the sample. A filter applies a modulation-selective filter function to the image light beam to generate a filtered light beam of like-modulated photons. A coincidence detector detects temporally coincident photon pairs in the filtered light beam, generating a pulse output that indicates the magnitude of a light-detectable property (such as transmissivity or reflectivity) of the sample at the point location. The modulator may apply phase modulation and the filter may be a phase-sensitive component such as an interferometer.

Correlation confocal microscope

An apparatus for generating a strong source of doubly or multiply entangled photons emitted non-collinearly or collinearly with respect to the pump light that is at frequency 2f includes a laser medium producing classical laser light at fundamental frequency f. A medium for second harmonic generation transforms the light at fundamental frequency f to its second-harmonic frequency 2f and emitting entangled photons non-colinearly with respect to the light at the second harmonic frequency. An optical cavity element around the laser medium and the medium for second harmonic generation includes of at least two mirrors that are highly reflective at the light frequencies f and 2f. A parametric process or a set of simultaneous parametric processes are used to generate the entangled photons at light frequencies around including at least one optical cavity resonant at frequency 2f at least around the medium for entangled photon generation, comprising of at least two mirrors that are highly reflective at the light frequency 2f.

High-flux entangled photon generation via parametric processes in a laser cavity

The disclosed Quantum Optical Coherence Tomography apparatus and method includes a source of quantum entangled photons and a quantum interference device. The pair of entangled photons is divided into two beams, one of which illuminates a semi-reflective object and the second of which is reflected from a variable optical time-delay element (VTE). The VTE is scanned and the quantum interference in the QID is recorded to build up a reflectance profile of the object. A real scanning produces a full tomographic reflectance image. A method of processing the data to eliminate the effects of optical dispersion is disclosed.

Quantum optical coherence tomography data collection apparatus and method for processing therefor

A system for obtaining ellipsometric data from a sample. The system includes a source for providing a monochromatic light beam. The system also includes a nonlinear crystal for converting the monochromatic light beam into photon pairs by disintegrating photons from the monochromatic light beam, such that each of the photon pairs exhibits entanglement properties, wherein one of the photons of the pair is directed to the sample and the other of the photons of the pair is not directed to the sample. The system further includes a circuit for calculating the coincidence of one of the photons of the photon pair reflected from the sample and the other of the photons of the photon pair, wherein the measurements of the sample are obtained by analyzing the coincidence and the entanglement properties between one of the photons of the photon pair reflected from the sample and the other of the photons of the photon pair.

Entangled-photon ellipsometry

The invention relates to an entangled-photon apparatus capable of measuring particular characteristics of an optical element, device or channel. Specifically, the apparatus and a method of using said apparatus to measure polarization mode dispersion in an optical communications fiber is disclosed. The apparatus includes a source of entangled photons, which are injected into the device under test, and a quantum interference device for determining the state of entanglement of said photons after they pass through the device. The quantum interference device includes a variable, polarization-specific delay element that is incremented to null out polarization mode dispersion in the device under test, and a wavelength demultiplexer/array detector that permits simultaneous measurements across a wide wavelength band. A second preferred embodiment of the invention and method is suitable for characterizing PMD in-situ that is, PMD measurements can be made while an optical fiber is in use for optical communications.

Polarization mode dispersion characterization apparatus and method

Growing community of inventors

Boston, MA, United States of America

Alexander Sergienko