Abstract
Although induced coherence is generally associated with induced or stimulated emission, in the process of spontaneous parametric downconversion of light induced coherence can be generated on its own. This is demonstrated in an experiment in which the signal beams from two coherently pumped downconverters come together and interfere whenever the idler beam from the first downconverter (DC1) passes through and is aligned with the second downconverter (DC2). Misaligning the idlers, or blocking the first idler, makes the interference disappear. More generally, the degree of coherence can be controlled by varying the amplitude of the idler from DC1 that reaches DC2. The interpretation of this nonclassical interference is discussed in terms of the interpretation of the wave function or state vector of the emitted photon.
© 1991 Optical Society of America
PDF ArticleMore Like This
C. A. Barbosa
QWF5 International Quantum Electronics Conference (IQEC) 1994
Axel Heuer, Sebastian Raabe, and Ralf Menzel
IA_P_22 International Quantum Electronics Conference (IQEC) 2013
Axel Heuer, Sarah Fritsch, and Ralf Menzel
QF3E.5 Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference (CLEO:FS) 2012