Non-classical photon correlation in a two-dimensional photonic lattice

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental observation of non-classical photon correlations in a two-dimensional photonic lattice, demonstrating quantum interference effects crucial for quantum information processing.

Contribution

First experimental demonstration of non-classical photon correlation in a 2D photonic lattice using femtosecond laser writing, advancing quantum simulation capabilities.

Findings

Observed 36 Hong-Ou-Mandel interference events

Detected 9 photon bunching occurrences

Achieved high overlap between measured and simulated distributions (0.890)

Abstract

Quantum interference and quantum correlation, as two main features of quantum optics, play an essential role in quantum information applications, such as multi-particle quantum walk and boson sampling. While many experimental demonstrations have been done in one-dimensional waveguide arrays, it remains unexplored in higher dimensions due to tight requirement of manipulating and detecting photons in large-scale. Here, we experimentally observe non-classical correlation of two identical photons in a fully coupled two-dimensional structure, i.e. photonic lattice manufactured by three-dimensional femtosecond laser writing. Photon interference consists of 36 Hong-Ou-Mandel interference and 9 bunching. The overlap between measured and simulated distribution is up to $0.890\pm0.001$. Clear photon correlation is observed in the two-dimensional photonic lattice. Combining with controllably engineered disorder, our results open new perspectives towards large-scale implementation of quantum simulation on integrated photonic chips.