Accurate and precise optical phase sensor based on a non-linear quantum Sagnac interferometer

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel quantum non-linear Sagnac interferometer for highly precise and accurate optical phase measurements, demonstrating superior performance in measuring chromatic dispersion of optical fibers.

Contribution

The work presents an original self-stabilized quantum interferometer that significantly improves measurement precision and accuracy over existing methods for optical phase and dispersion measurements.

Findings

Achieved a statistical error of 0.007% in phase measurement.

Measured second-order dispersion with over ten times better precision than current techniques.

Determined third-order dispersion with a quadratic error as low as 5%.

Abstract

Optical phase measurements play a key role in the detection of macroscopic parameters such as position, velocity, and displacement. They also permit to qualify the microscopic properties of photonic waveguides such as polarization mode dispersion, refractive index difference, and chromatic dispersion. In the quest for ever-better measurement performance and relevance, we report an original quantum non-linear interferometer based on a Sagnac configuration allowing precise, accurate, self-stabilized, and reproductible optical phase measurement. The potential of this system is demonstrated through the measurement of second-order dispersion, namely chromatic dispersion, of a commercial dispersion-shifted fiber at telecommunication wavelength. We assess precision by exhibiting a statistical error of $7.10^{-3}\, \%$, showing more that one order of magnitude compares to state-of-the-art measurements. Additionally, the accuracy of the second-order dispersion value is determined through the measurement of the third-order dispersion, showing a quadratic error as low as 5\,\%. Our system promises the development of photonic-based sensors enabling the measurements of optical-material properties in a user-friendly manner.