Quantum interferometry with three-dimensional geometry

Abstract

Quantum interferometry uses quantum resources to improve phase estimation with respect to classical methods. Here we propose and theoretically investigate a new quantum interferometric scheme based on three-dimensional waveguide devices. These can be implemented by femtosecond laser waveguide writing, recently adopted for quantum applications. In particular, multiarm interferometers include "tritter" and "quarter" as basic elements, corresponding to the generalization of a beam splitter to a 3- and 4-port splitter, respectively. By injecting Fock states in the input ports of such interferometers, fringe patterns characterized by nonclassical visibilities are expected. This enables outperforming the quantum Fisher information obtained with classical fields in phase estimation. We also discuss the possibility of achieving the simultaneous estimation of more than one optical phase. This approach is expected to open new perspectives to quantum enhanced sensing and metrology performed in integrated photonic.

7 pages (+4 Supplementary Information), 5 figures

References in corpus (8)

• Silica-on-Silicon Waveguide Quantum Circuits
• A Quantum-Enhanced Prototype Gravitational-Wave Detector
• Multimode quantum interference of photons in multiport integrated devices
• Multi-photon quantum interference in a multi-port integrated photonic device
• Optimal estimation of joint parameters in phase space
• Phase detection at the quantum limit with multi-photon Mach-Zehnder interferometry
• Zero-Transmission Law for Multiport Beam Splitters
• The Computational Complexity of Linear Optics