Observation of Four-Photon Interference with a Beam Splitter by Pulsed Parametric Down-Conversion

Z. Y. Ou; J.-K. Rhee; L. J. Wang

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.959

Observation of Four-Photon Interference with a Beam Splitter by Pulsed Parametric Down-Conversion

Z. Y. Ou, J.-K. Rhee, and L. J. Wang

Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 959 – Published 2 August 1999

Abstract

When four photons arrive at a beam splitter, two from each side, a four-photon, six-path interference effect occurs to yield a sixfold enhancement of the probability for all four photons to exit together from the beam splitter. We produce the four-photon state by using the stimulated emission process in a pulsed parametric down-conversion and measure the probability for all four photons to exit from one side of the beam splitter. The observed enhancement factor is in good agreement with a multimode treatment of pulsed down-conversion.

Received 25 November 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.959

Authors & Affiliations

Z. Y. Ou¹, J.-K. Rhee², and L. J. Wang^2,*

¹Department of Physics, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
²NEC Research Institute, Inc., 4 Independence Way, Princeton, New Jersey 08540