Generation of hybrid polarization-orbital angular momentum entangled states

TL;DR

This paper reports the first experimental creation of hybrid polarization-OAM entangled states, demonstrating their potential for asymmetric quantum networks and confirming their quantum nature through Bell inequality violation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to generate and characterize hybrid polarization-OAM entangled states using SPDC and a polarization-OAM transferrer.

Findings

Successful generation of hybrid entangled states.

Quantum state tomography confirms entanglement.

Bell inequality violation demonstrates quantum nonlocality.

Abstract

Hybrid entangled states exhibit entanglement between different degrees of freedom of a particle pair and thus could be useful for asymmetric optical quantum network where the communication channels are characterized by different properties. We report the first experimental realization of hybrid polarization-orbital angular momentum (OAM) entangled states by adopting a spontaneous parametric down conversion source of polarization entangled states and a polarization-OAM transferrer. The generated quantum states have been characterized through quantum state tomography. Finally, the violation of Bell's inequalities with the hybrid two photon system has been observed.