Quantum state engineering of light using intensity measurements and post-selection

TL;DR

This paper explores quantum state engineering of light through intensity measurements and post-selection, demonstrating the generation of bright optical cat states for advanced quantum and nonlinear optical applications.

Contribution

It analyzes post-selection schemes in high harmonic generation, providing insights to optimize quantum light engineering for intense optical cat states.

Findings

Post-selection enables generation of bright optical cat states.

Analysis guides improved quantum state engineering techniques.

Results support applications in non-linear optics and quantum information.

Abstract

Quantum state engineering of light is of great interest for quantum technologies, particularly generating non-classical states of light, and is often studied through quantum conditioning approaches. Recently, we demonstrated that such approaches can be applied in intense laser-atom interactions to generate optical "cat" states by using intensity measurements and classical post-selection of the measurement data. Post-processing of the sampled data set allows to select specific events corresponding to measurement statistics as if there would be non-classical states of light leading to these measurement outcomes. However, to fully realize the potential of this method for quantum state engineering, it is crucial to thoroughly investigate the role of the involved measurements and the specifications of the post-selection scheme. We illustrate this by analyzing post-selection schemes recently developed for the process of high harmonic generation, which enables generating optical cat states bright enough to induce non-linear phenomena. These findings provide significant guidance for quantum light engineering and the generation of high-quality, intense optical cat states for applications in non-linear optics and quantum information science.