Tunable two-photon quantum interference of structured light

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a method to control two-photon quantum interference between structured vectorial light modes using a spin-orbit device, enabling tunable quantum interference without complex interferometers, with potential applications in quantum technologies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, tunable control of quantum interference between vectorial modes of light using a spin-orbit device, avoiding traditional interferometric setups.

Findings

Achieved tunable quantum interference between vectorial modes.

Controlled interference by adjusting device parameters.

Potential applications in quantum communication and sensing.

Abstract

Structured photons are nowadays an interesting resource in classical and quantum optics due to the richness of properties they show under propagation, focusing and in their interaction with matter. Vectorial modes of light in particular, a class of modes where the polarization varies across the beam profile, have already been used in several areas ranging from microscopy to quantum information. One of the key ingredients needed to exploit the full potential of complex light in quantum domain is the control of quantum interference, a crucial resource in fields like quantum communication, sensing and metrology. Here we report a tunable photon-photon interference between vectorial modes of light. We demonstrate how a properly designed spin-orbit device can be used to control quantum interference between vectorial modes of light by simply adjusting the device parameters and no need of interferometric setups. We believe our result can find applications in fundamental research and quantum technologies based on structured light by providing a new tool to control quantum interference in a compact, efficient and robust way.