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Berra F, Agnesi C, Stanco A, Avesani M, Kuklewski M, Matter D, Vallone G, Villoresi P. Synchronization of quantum communications over an optical classical communications channel. Appl Opt 2023; 62:7994-7999. [PMID: 38038093 DOI: 10.1364/ao.500416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
Precise synchronization between a transmitter and receiver is crucial for quantum communications protocols such as quantum key distribution (QKD) to efficiently correlate the transmitted and received signals and increase the signal-to-noise ratio. In this work, we introduce a synchronization technique that exploits a co-propagating classical optical communications link and tests its performance in a free-space QKD system. Previously, existing techniques required additional laser beams or relied on the capability to retrieve the synchronization from the quantum signal itself; this approach, however, is not applicable in high channel loss scenarios. On the contrary, our method exploits classical and quantum signals locked to the same master clock, allowing the receiver to synchronize both the classical and quantum communications links by performing a clock-data-recovery routine on the classical signal. In this way, by exploiting the same classical communications already required for post-processing and key generation, no additional hardware is required, and the synchronization can be reconstructed from a high-power signal. Our approach is suitable for both satellite and fiber infrastructures, where a classical and quantum channel can be transmitted through the same link.
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2
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Tavani G, Barri C, Mafakheri E, Franzò G, Celebrano M, Castriotta M, Di Giancamillo M, Ferrari G, Picciariello F, Foletto G, Agnesi C, Vallone G, Villoresi P, Sorianello V, Rotta D, Finazzi M, Bollani M, Prati E. Fully Integrated Silicon Photonic Erbium-Doped Nanodiode for Few Photon Emission at Telecom Wavelengths. Materials (Basel) 2023; 16:2344. [PMID: 36984223 PMCID: PMC10055106 DOI: 10.3390/ma16062344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Recent advancements in quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols opened the chance to exploit nonlaser sources for their implementation. A possible solution might consist in erbium-doped light emitting diodes (LEDs), which are able to produce photons in the third communication window, with a wavelength around 1550 nm. Here, we present silicon LEDs based on the electroluminescence of Er:O complexes in Si. Such sources are fabricated with a fully-compatible CMOS process on a 220 nm-thick silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer, the common standard in silicon photonics. The implantation depth is tuned to match the center of the silicon layer. The erbium and oxygen co-doping ratio is tuned to optimize the electroluminescence signal. We fabricate a batch of Er:O diodes with surface areas ranging from 1 µm × 1 µm to 50 µm × 50 µm emitting 1550 nm photons at room temperature. We demonstrate emission rates around 5 × 106 photons/s for a 1 µm × 1 µm device at room temperature using superconducting nanowire detectors cooled at 0.8 K. The demonstration of Er:O diodes integrated in the 220 nm SOI platform paves the way towards the creation of integrated silicon photon sources suitable for arbitrary-statistic-tolerant QKD protocols.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulio Tavani
- L-NESS, Department of Physics, Politecnico di Milano, Via Francesco Anzani 42, I-22100 Como, Italy
| | - Chiara Barri
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Erfan Mafakheri
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Giorgia Franzò
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per la Microelettronica e i Microsistemi (CNR-IMM), Via Santa Sofia 64, I-95123 Catania, Italy
| | - Michele Celebrano
- Department of Physics, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Michele Castriotta
- Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Matteo Di Giancamillo
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milan, Italy
- Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Giorgio Ferrari
- Department of Physics, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Francesco Picciariello
- Department of Information Engineering, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Gradenigo 6B, I-35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Giulio Foletto
- Department of Information Engineering, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Gradenigo 6B, I-35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Costantino Agnesi
- Department of Information Engineering, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Gradenigo 6B, I-35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Vallone
- Department of Information Engineering, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Gradenigo 6B, I-35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Department of Information Engineering, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Gradenigo 6B, I-35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Vito Sorianello
- Photonic Networks and Technologies Lab., Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Telecomunicazioni (CNIT), I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Davide Rotta
- CamGraPhIC Srl, Via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
- TeCIP Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Marco Finazzi
- Department of Physics, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Monica Bollani
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Enrico Prati
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milan, Italy
- Department of Physics “Aldo Pontremoli”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, I-20133 Milan, Italy
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Mohageg M, Mazzarella L, Anastopoulos C, Gallicchio J, Hu BL, Jennewein T, Johnson S, Lin SY, Ling A, Marquardt C, Meister M, Newell R, Roura A, Schleich WP, Schubert C, Strekalov DV, Vallone G, Villoresi P, Wörner L, Yu N, Zhai A, Kwiat P. The deep space quantum link: prospective fundamental physics experiments using long-baseline quantum optics. EPJ Quantum Technol 2022; 9:25. [PMID: 36227029 PMCID: PMC9547810 DOI: 10.1140/epjqt/s40507-022-00143-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Deep Space Quantum Link mission concept enables a unique set of science experiments by establishing robust quantum optical links across extremely long baselines. Potential mission configurations include establishing a quantum link between the Lunar Gateway moon-orbiting space station and nodes on or near the Earth. This publication summarizes the principal experimental goals of the Deep Space Quantum Link. These goals, identified through a multi-year design study conducted by the authors, include long-range teleportation, tests of gravitational coupling to quantum states, and advanced tests of quantum nonlocality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Makan Mohageg
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California USA
| | - Luca Mazzarella
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California USA
| | | | - Jason Gallicchio
- Department of Physics, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, California USA
| | - Bei-Lok Hu
- Maryland Center for Fundamental Physics and Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland USA
| | - Thomas Jennewein
- Institute for Quantum Computing and Dep. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
| | - Spencer Johnson
- Department of Physics, Illinois Quantum Information Science & Technology Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois USA
| | - Shih-Yuin Lin
- Department of Physics, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua, Taiwan
| | - Alexander Ling
- Centre for Quantum Technologies and Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | | | - Matthias Meister
- Institute of Quantum Technologies, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Ulm, Germany
| | - Raymond Newell
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico USA
| | - Albert Roura
- Institute of Quantum Technologies, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Ulm, Germany
| | - Wolfgang P. Schleich
- Institute of Quantum Technologies, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Ulm, Germany
- Institut für Quantenphysik and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQst), Universität Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- Hagler Institute for Advanced Study, AgriLife Research, Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering (IQSE), and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A& M University, College Station, Texas USA
| | - Christian Schubert
- Institute for Satellite Geodesy and Inertial Sensing, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Hanover, Germany
- Institute for Quantum Optics, Germany Leibniz University Hannover, Hanover, Germany
| | - Dmitry V. Strekalov
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California USA
| | - Giuseppe Vallone
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
- Padua Quantum Technologies Research Center, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
- Padua Quantum Technologies Research Center, Universitá degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Lisa Wörner
- Institute of Quantum Technologies, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Ulm, Germany
| | - Nan Yu
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California USA
| | - Aileen Zhai
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California USA
| | - Paul Kwiat
- Department of Physics, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
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Kaltenbaek R, Acin A, Bacsardi L, Bianco P, Bouyer P, Diamanti E, Marquardt C, Omar Y, Pruneri V, Rasel E, Sang B, Seidel S, Ulbricht H, Ursin R, Villoresi P, van den Bossche M, von Klitzing W, Zbinden H, Paternostro M, Bassi A. Quantum technologies in space. Exp Astron (Dordr) 2021; 51:1677-1694. [PMID: 34744306 PMCID: PMC8536585 DOI: 10.1007/s10686-021-09731-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/11/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Recently, the European Commission supported by many European countries has announced large investments towards the commercialization of quantum technology (QT) to address and mitigate some of the biggest challenges facing today's digital era - e.g. secure communication and computing power. For more than two decades the QT community has been working on the development of QTs, which promise landmark breakthroughs leading to commercialization in various areas. The ambitious goals of the QT community and expectations of EU authorities cannot be met solely by individual initiatives of single countries, and therefore, require a combined European effort of large and unprecedented dimensions comparable only to the Galileo or Copernicus programs. Strong international competition calls for a coordinated European effort towards the development of QT in and for space, including research and development of technology in the areas of communication and sensing. Here, we aim at summarizing the state of the art in the development of quantum technologies which have an impact in the field of space applications. Our goal is to outline a complete framework for the design, development, implementation, and exploitation of quantum technology in space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rainer Kaltenbaek
- Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Antonio Acin
- ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA-Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Pg. Lluis Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Laszlo Bacsardi
- Department of Networked Systems and Services, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
| | | | - Philippe Bouyer
- LP2N, Laboratoire Photonique, Numérique et Nanosciences, Université Bordeaux–IOGS–CNRS: UMR5298, Talence, France
| | | | | | - Yasser Omar
- Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
- Instituto de Telecomunicações, Lisbon, Portugal
- Y Quantum, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Valerio Pruneri
- ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA-Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Pg. Lluis Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ernst Rasel
- Institute for Quantum Optics, Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | | | - Stephan Seidel
- Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, 82024 Taufkirchen, Germany
| | - Hendrik Ulbricht
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Rupert Ursin
- Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Department of Information and Engineering, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- Padua Quantum Technologies Research Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | | | - Wolf von Klitzing
- Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, Heraklion, Greece
| | | | - Mauro Paternostro
- Centre for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | - Angelo Bassi
- Department of Physics, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Trieste Section, Via Valerio 2, 34127 Trieste, Italy
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Avesani M, Calderaro L, Foletto G, Agnesi C, Picciariello F, Santagiustina FBL, Scriminich A, Stanco A, Vedovato F, Zahidy M, Vallone G, Villoresi P. Resource-effective quantum key distribution: a field trial in Padua city center. Opt Lett 2021; 46:2848-2851. [PMID: 34129556 DOI: 10.1364/ol.422890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Field trials are of key importance for novel technologies seeking commercialization and widespread adoption. This is also the case for quantum key distribution (QKD), which allows distant parties to distill a secret key with unconditional security. Typically, QKD demonstrations over urban infrastructures require complex stabilization and synchronization systems to maintain a low quantum bit error and high secret key rates over time. Here we present a field trial that exploits low-complexity self-stabilized hardware and a novel synchronization technique, to perform QKD over optical fibers deployed in the city center of Padua, Italy. Two techniques recently introduced by our research group are evaluated in a real-world environment: the iPOGNAC polarization encoder was used for preparation of the quantum states, while temporal synchronization was performed with the Qubit4Sync algorithm. The results here presented demonstrate the validity and robustness of our resource-effective QKD system, which can be easily and rapidly installed in an existing telecommunication infrastructure, thus representing an important step towards mature, efficient, and low-cost QKD systems.
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Avesani M, Agnesi C, Stanco A, Vallone G, Villoresi P. Stable, low-error, and calibration-free polarization encoder for free-space quantum communication. Opt Lett 2020; 45:4706-4709. [PMID: 32870837 DOI: 10.1364/ol.396412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/11/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Polarization-encoded free-space quantum communication requires a quantum state source featuring fast modulation, long-term stability, and a low intrinsic error rate. Here we present a polarization encoder that, contrary to previous solutions, generates predetermined polarization states with a fixed reference frame in free-space. The proposed device does not require calibration either at the transmitter or at the receiver and achieves long-term stability. A proof-of-concept experiment is also reported, demonstrating a quantum bit error rate lower than 0.2% for several hours without any active recalibration.
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Agnesi C, Avesani M, Stanco A, Villoresi P, Vallone G. All-fiber self-compensating polarization encoder for quantum key distribution. Opt Lett 2019; 44:2398-2401. [PMID: 31090697 DOI: 10.1364/ol.44.002398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2019] [Accepted: 04/04/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Quantum key distribution (QKD) allows distant parties to exchange cryptographic keys with unconditional security by encoding information on the degrees of freedom of photons. Polarization encoding has been extensively used for QKD along free-space, optical fiber, and satellite links. However, the polarization encoders used in such implementations are unstable, expensive, and complex and can even exhibit side channels that undermine the security of the protocol. Here we propose a self-compensating polarization encoder based on a lithium niobate phase modulator inside a Sagnac interferometer and implement it using only commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. Our polarization encoder combines a simple design and high stability reaching an intrinsic quantum bit error rate as low as 0.2%. Since realization is possible from the 800 to the 1550 nm band using COTS devices, our polarization modulator is a promising solution for free-space, fiber, and satellite-based QKD.
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Agnesi C, Da Lio B, Cozzolino D, Cardi L, Ben Bakir B, Hassan K, Della Frera A, Ruggeri A, Giudice A, Vallone G, Villoresi P, Tosi A, Rottwitt K, Ding Y, Bacco D. Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between independent III-V on silicon waveguide integrated lasers. Opt Lett 2019; 44:271-274. [PMID: 30644878 DOI: 10.1364/ol.44.000271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2018] [Accepted: 12/05/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The versatility of silicon photonic integrated circuits has led to a widespread usage of this platform for quantum information-based applications, including quantum key distribution (QKD). However, the integration of simple high-repetition-rate photon sources is yet to be achieved. The use of weak-coherent pulses (WCPs) could represent a viable solution. For example, measurement device independent QKD (MDI-QKD) envisions the use of WCPs to distill a secret key immune to detector side channel attacks at large distances. Thus, the integration of III-V lasers on silicon waveguides is an interesting prospect for quantum photonics. Here we report the experimental observation of Hong-Ou-Mandel interference with 46±2% visibility between WCPs generated by two independent III-V on silicon waveguide integrated lasers. This quantum interference effect is at the heart of many applications, including MDI-QKD. This Letter represents a substantial first step towards an implementation of MDI-QKD fully integrated in silicon and could be beneficial for other applications such as standard QKD and novel quantum communication protocols.
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Avesani M, Marangon DG, Vallone G, Villoresi P. Source-device-independent heterodyne-based quantum random number generator at 17 Gbps. Nat Commun 2018; 9:5365. [PMID: 30560900 PMCID: PMC6299089 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07585-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2018] [Accepted: 10/31/2018] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Random numbers are commonly used in many different fields, ranging from simulations in fundamental science to security applications. In some critical cases, as Bell's tests and cryptography, the random numbers are required to be both private and to be provided at an ultra-fast rate. However, practical generators are usually considered trusted, but their security can be compromised in case of imperfections or malicious external actions. In this work we introduce an efficient protocol which guarantees security and speed in the generation. We propose a source-device-independent protocol based on generic Positive Operator Valued Measurements and then we specialize the result to heterodyne measurements. Furthermore, we experimentally implemented the protocol, reaching a secure generation rate of 17.42 Gbit/s, without the need of an initial source of randomness. The security of the protocol has been proven for general attacks in the finite key scenario.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Avesani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Gradenigo 6B, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Davide G Marangon
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Gradenigo 6B, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Vallone
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Gradenigo 6B, 35131, Padova, Italy
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie-CNR, Via Trasea 7, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Gradenigo 6B, 35131, Padova, Italy.
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie-CNR, Via Trasea 7, 35131, Padova, Italy.
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Calderaro L, Foletto G, Dequal D, Villoresi P, Vallone G. Direct Reconstruction of the Quantum Density Matrix by Strong Measurements. Phys Rev Lett 2018; 121:230501. [PMID: 30576212 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.121.230501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
New techniques based on weak measurements have recently been introduced to the field of quantum state reconstruction. Some of them allow the direct measurement of each matrix element of an unknown density operator and need only O(d) different operations, compared to d^{2} linearly independent projectors in the case of standard quantum state tomography, for the reconstruction of an arbitrary mixed state. However, due to the weakness of these couplings, these protocols are approximated and prone to large statistical errors. We propose a method which is similar to the weak measurement protocols but works regardless of the coupling strength: our protocol is not approximated and thus improves the accuracy and precision of the results with respect to weak measurement schemes. We experimentally apply it to the polarization state of single photons and compare the results to those of preexisting methods for different values of the coupling strength. Our results show that our method outperforms previous proposals in terms of accuracy and statistical errors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Calderaro
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, via Gradenigo 6B, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Centro di Ateneo di Studi e Attività Spaziali "Giuseppe Colombo", Università di Padova, via Venezia 15, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Giulio Foletto
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, via Gradenigo 6B, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Daniele Dequal
- Matera Laser Ranging Observatory, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Matera 75100, Italy
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, via Gradenigo 6B, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, CNR, via Trasea 7, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Vallone
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, via Gradenigo 6B, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, CNR, via Trasea 7, 35131 Padova, Italy
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11
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Vedovato F, Agnesi C, Tomasin M, Avesani M, Larsson JÅ, Vallone G, Villoresi P. Postselection-Loophole-Free Bell Violation with Genuine Time-Bin Entanglement. Phys Rev Lett 2018; 121:190401. [PMID: 30468593 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.121.190401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2018] [Revised: 09/11/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Entanglement is an invaluable resource for fundamental tests of physics and the implementation of quantum information protocols such as device-independent secure communications. In particular, time-bin entanglement is widely exploited to reach these purposes both in free space and optical fiber propagation, due to the robustness and simplicity of its implementation. However, all existing realizations of time-bin entanglement suffer from an intrinsic postselection loophole, which undermines their usefulness. Here, we report the first experimental violation of Bell's inequality with "genuine" time-bin entanglement, free of the postselection loophole. We introduced a novel function of the interferometers at the two measurement stations, that operate as fast synchronized optical switches. This scheme allowed us to obtain a postselection-loophole-free Bell violation of more than 9 standard deviations. Since our scheme is fully implementable using standard fiber-based components and is compatible with modern integrated photonics, our results pave the way for the distribution of genuine time-bin entanglement over long distances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Vedovato
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, via Gradenigo 6B, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Centro di Ateneo di Studi e Attività Spaziali "G. Colombo", Università di Padova, via Venezia 15, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Costantino Agnesi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, via Gradenigo 6B, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Marco Tomasin
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, via Gradenigo 6B, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Marco Avesani
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, via Gradenigo 6B, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Jan-Åke Larsson
- Institutionen för systemteknik, Linköping Universitet, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Giuseppe Vallone
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, via Gradenigo 6B, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, CNR, via Trasea 7, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, via Gradenigo 6B, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, CNR, via Trasea 7, 35131 Padova, Italy
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Agnesi C, Vedovato F, Schiavon M, Dequal D, Calderaro L, Tomasin M, Marangon DG, Stanco A, Luceri V, Bianco G, Vallone G, Villoresi P. Exploring the boundaries of quantum mechanics: advances in satellite quantum communications. Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci 2018; 376:20170461. [PMID: 29807904 PMCID: PMC5990660 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2017.0461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/16/2018] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Recent interest in quantum communications has stimulated great technological progress in satellite quantum technologies. These advances have rendered the aforesaid technologies mature enough to support the realization of experiments that test the foundations of quantum theory at unprecedented scales and in the unexplored space environment. Such experiments, in fact, could explore the boundaries of quantum theory and may provide new insights to investigate phenomena where gravity affects quantum objects. Here, we review recent results in satellite quantum communications and discuss possible phenomena that could be observable with current technologies. Furthermore, stressing the fact that space represents an incredible resource to realize new experiments aimed at highlighting some physical effects, we challenge the community to propose new experiments that unveil the interplay between quantum mechanics and gravity that could be realizable in the near future.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Foundations of quantum mechanics and their impact on contemporary society'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Costantino Agnesi
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Francesco Vedovato
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Matteo Schiavon
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Daniele Dequal
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Matera Laser Ranging Observatory, Italian Space Agency, 75100 Matera, Italy
| | - Luca Calderaro
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Marco Tomasin
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Davide G Marangon
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Andrea Stanco
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | | | - Giuseppe Bianco
- Matera Laser Ranging Observatory, Italian Space Agency, 75100 Matera, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Vallone
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
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Vedovato F, Agnesi C, Schiavon M, Dequal D, Calderaro L, Tomasin M, Marangon DG, Stanco A, Luceri V, Bianco G, Vallone G, Villoresi P. Extending Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment to space. Sci Adv 2017; 3:e1701180. [PMID: 29075668 PMCID: PMC5656428 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1701180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2017] [Accepted: 10/03/2017] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Gedankenexperiments have consistently played a major role in the development of quantum theory. A paradigmatic example is Wheeler's delayed-choice experiment, a wave-particle duality test that cannot be fully understood using only classical concepts. We implement Wheeler's idea along a satellite-ground interferometer that extends for thousands of kilometers in space. We exploit temporal and polarization degrees of freedom of photons reflected by a fast-moving satellite equipped with retroreflecting mirrors. We observe the complementary wave- or particle-like behaviors at the ground station by choosing the measurement apparatus while the photons are propagating from the satellite to the ground. Our results confirm quantum mechanical predictions, demonstrating the need of the dual wave-particle interpretation at this unprecedented scale. Our work paves the way for novel applications of quantum mechanics in space links involving multiple photon degrees of freedom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Vedovato
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Costantino Agnesi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Matteo Schiavon
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Daniele Dequal
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
- Matera Laser Ranging Observatory, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Matera, Italy
| | - Luca Calderaro
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Marco Tomasin
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Davide G. Marangon
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Andrea Stanco
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | | | - Giuseppe Bianco
- Matera Laser Ranging Observatory, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Matera, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Vallone
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Italy
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14
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Mousavi SF, Nouroozi R, Vallone G, Villoresi P. Integrated optical modulator manipulating the polarization and rotation handedness of Orbital Angular Momentum states. Sci Rep 2017. [PMID: 28630486 PMCID: PMC5476591 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-04118-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies demonstrated that the optical channels encoded by Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) are capable candidates for improving the next generation of communication systems. OAM states can enhance the capacity and security of high-dimensional communication channels in both classical and quantum regimes based on optical fibre and free space. Hence, fast and precise control of the beams encoded by OAM can provide their commercial applications in the compatible communication networks. Integrated optical devices are good miniaturized options to perform this issue. This paper proposes a numerically verified integrated high-frequency electro-optical modulator for manipulation of the guided modes encoded in both OAM and polarization states. The proposed modulator is designed as an electro-optically active Lithium Niobate (LN) core photonic wire with silica as its cladding in a LN on Insulator (LNOI) configuration. It consists of two successive parts; a phase shifter to reverse the rotation handedness of the input OAM state and a polarization converter to change the horizontally polarized OAM state to the vertically polarized one. It is shown that all four possible output polarization-OAM encoded states can be achieved with only 6 V and 7 V applied voltages to the electrodes in the two parts of the modulator.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Faezeh Mousavi
- Department of Physics, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences, 45195-1159, Zanjan, Iran
| | - Rahman Nouroozi
- Department of Physics, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences, 45195-1159, Zanjan, Iran.
| | - Giuseppe Vallone
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, I-35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, I-35131, Padova, Italy
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15
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Marangon DG, Vallone G, Villoresi P. Source-Device-Independent Ultrafast Quantum Random Number Generation. Phys Rev Lett 2017; 118:060503. [PMID: 28234525 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.118.060503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2015] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Secure random numbers are a fundamental element of many applications in science, statistics, cryptography and more in general in security protocols. We present a method that enables the generation of high-speed unpredictable random numbers from the quadratures of an electromagnetic field without any assumption on the input state. The method allows us to eliminate the numbers that can be predicted due to the presence of classical and quantum side information. In particular, we introduce a procedure to estimate a bound on the conditional min-entropy based on the entropic uncertainty principle for position and momentum observables of infinite dimensional quantum systems. By the above method, we experimentally demonstrated the generation of secure true random bits at a rate greater than 1.7 Gbit/s.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide G Marangon
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italia
| | - Giuseppe Vallone
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italia
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, CNR, Padova 35131, Italia
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italia
- Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, CNR, Padova 35131, Italia
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16
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Vallone G, Sponselli A, D'Ambrosio V, Marrucci L, Sciarrino F, Villoresi P. Birth and evolution of an optical vortex. Opt Express 2016; 24:16390-16395. [PMID: 27464091 DOI: 10.1364/oe.24.016390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
When a phase singularity is suddenly imprinted on the axis of an ordinary Gaussian beam, an optical vortex appears and starts to grow radially, by effect of diffraction. This radial growth and the subsequent evolution of the optical vortex under focusing or imaging can be well described in general within the recently introduced theory of circular beams, which generalize the hypergeometric-Gaussian beams and which obey novel kinds of ABCD rules. Here, we investigate experimentally these vortex propagation phenomena and test the validity of circular-beam theory. Moreover, we analyze the difference in radial structure between the newly generated optical vortex and the vortex obtained in the image plane, where perfect imaging would lead to complete closure of the vortex core.
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Vallone G, Dequal D, Tomasin M, Vedovato F, Schiavon M, Luceri V, Bianco G, Villoresi P. Interference at the Single Photon Level Along Satellite-Ground Channels. Phys Rev Lett 2016; 116:253601. [PMID: 27391721 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.116.253601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Quantum interference arising from the superposition of states is striking evidence of the validity of quantum mechanics, confirmed in many experiments and also exploited in applications. However, as for any scientific theory, quantum mechanics is valid within the limits in which it has been experimentally verified. In order to extend such limits, it is necessary to observe quantum interference in unexplored conditions such as moving terminals at large distances in space. Here, we experimentally demonstrate single photon interference at a ground station due to the coherent superposition of two temporal modes reflected by a rapidly moving satellite a thousand kilometers away. The relative speed of the satellite induces a varying modulation in the interference pattern. The measurement of the satellite distance in real time by laser ranging allows us to precisely predict the instantaneous value of the interference phase. We then observed the interference patterns with a visibility up to 67% with three different satellites and with a path length up to 5000 km. Our results attest to the viability of photon temporal modes for fundamental tests of physics and quantum communication in space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Vallone
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - Daniele Dequal
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - Marco Tomasin
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - Francesco Vedovato
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - Matteo Schiavon
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
| | | | - Giuseppe Bianco
- Matera Laser Ranging Observatory, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Matera 75100, Italy
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
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Vallone G, Dequal D, Tomasin M, Schiavon M, Vedovato F, Bacco D, Gaiarin S, Bianco G, Luceri V, Villoresi P. Satellite quantum communication towards GEO distances. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016. [DOI: 10.1117/12.2228613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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Endo H, Fujiwara M, Kitamura M, Ito T, Toyoshima M, Takayama Y, Takenaka H, Shimizu R, Laurenti N, Vallone G, Villoresi P, Aoki T, Sasaki M. Free-space optical channel estimation for physical layer security. Opt Express 2016; 24:8940-8955. [PMID: 27137325 DOI: 10.1364/oe.24.008940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
We present experimental data on message transmission in a free-space optical (FSO) link at an eye-safe wavelength, using a testbed consisting of one sender and two receiver terminals, where the latter two are a legitimate receiver and an eavesdropper. The testbed allows us to emulate a typical scenario of physical-layer (PHY) security such as satellite-to-ground laser communications. We estimate information-theoretic metrics including secrecy rate, secrecy outage probability, and expected code lengths for given secrecy criteria based on observed channel statistics. We then discuss operation principles of secure message transmission under realistic fading conditions, and provide a guideline on a multi-layer security architecture by combining PHY security and upper-layer (algorithmic) security.
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Vallone G, Bacco D, Dequal D, Gaiarin S, Luceri V, Bianco G, Villoresi P. Experimental Satellite Quantum Communications. Phys Rev Lett 2015; 115:040502. [PMID: 26252672 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.115.040502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2015] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Quantum communication (QC), namely, the faithful transmission of generic quantum states, is a key ingredient of quantum information science. Here we demonstrate QC with polarization encoding from space to ground by exploiting satellite corner cube retroreflectors as quantum transmitters in orbit and the Matera Laser Ranging Observatory of the Italian Space Agency in Matera, Italy, as a quantum receiver. The quantum bit error ratio (QBER) has been kept steadily low to a level suitable for several quantum information protocols, as the violation of Bell inequalities or quantum key distribution (QKD). Indeed, by taking data from different satellites, we demonstrate an average value of QBER=4.6% for a total link duration of 85 s. The mean photon number per pulse μ_{sat} leaving the satellites was estimated to be of the order of one. In addition, we propose a fully operational satellite QKD system by exploiting our communication scheme with orbiting retroreflectors equipped with a modulator, a very compact payload. Our scheme paves the way toward the implementation of a QC worldwide network leveraging existing receivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Vallone
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - Davide Bacco
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - Daniele Dequal
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
| | - Simone Gaiarin
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
| | | | - Giuseppe Bianco
- Matera Laser Ranging Observatory, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Matera 75100, Italy
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
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Vallone G, D'Ambrosio V, Sponselli A, Slussarenko S, Marrucci L, Sciarrino F, Villoresi P. Free-space quantum key distribution by rotation-invariant twisted photons. Phys Rev Lett 2014; 113:060503. [PMID: 25148310 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.113.060503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2014] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
"Twisted photons" are photons carrying a well-defined nonzero value of orbital angular momentum (OAM). The associated optical wave exhibits a helical shape of the wavefront (hence the name) and an optical vortex at the beam axis. The OAM of light is attracting a growing interest for its potential in photonic applications ranging from particle manipulation, microscopy, and nanotechnologies to fundamental tests of quantum mechanics, classical data multiplexing, and quantum communication. Hitherto, however, all results obtained with optical OAM were limited to laboratory scale. Here, we report the experimental demonstration of a link for free-space quantum communication with OAM operating over a distance of 210 m. Our method exploits OAM in combination with optical polarization to encode the information in rotation-invariant photonic states, so as to guarantee full independence of the communication from the local reference frames of the transmitting and receiving units. In particular, we implement quantum key distribution, a protocol exploiting the features of quantum mechanics to guarantee unconditional security in cryptographic communication, demonstrating error-rate performances that are fully compatible with real-world application requirements. Our results extend previous achievements of OAM-based quantum communication by over 2 orders of magnitude in the link scale, providing an important step forward in achieving the vision of a worldwide quantum network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Vallone
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy
| | | | - Anna Sponselli
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Sergei Slussarenko
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II and CNR-SPIN, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Marrucci
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II and CNR-SPIN, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Fabio Sciarrino
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma, I-00185 Roma, Italy
| | - Paolo Villoresi
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy
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Minozzi M, Bonora S, Sergienko AV, Vallone G, Villoresi P. Optimization of two-photon wave function in parametric down conversion by adaptive optics control of the pump radiation. Opt Lett 2013; 38:489-91. [PMID: 23455112 DOI: 10.1364/ol.38.000489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
We present an efficient method for optimizing the spatial profile of entangled-photon wave function produced in a spontaneous parametric down conversion process. A deformable mirror that modifies a wavefront of a 404 nm CW diode laser pump interacting with a nonlinear β-barium borate type-I crystal effectively controls the profile of the joint biphoton function. The use of a feedback signal extracted from the biphoton coincidence rate is used to achieve the optimal wavefront shape. The optimization of the two-photon coupling into two, single spatial modes for correlated detection is used for a practical demonstration of this physical principle.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Minozzi
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
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23
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Schiavon M, Marulli G, Zuin A, Lunardi F, Villoresi P, Bonora S, Calabrese F, Rea F. Experimental evaluation of a new system for laser tissue welding applied on damaged lungs. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg 2013; 16:577-82. [PMID: 23396621 DOI: 10.1093/icvts/ivt029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Alveolar air leaks represent a challenging problem in thoracic surgery, leading to increased patient morbidity and prolonged hospitalization. Several methods have been used, but no ideal technique exists yet. We investigated the lung-sealing capacity of an experimental kit for laser tissue welding. METHODS The kit is composed of a semiconductor laser system applied on a protein substrate associated with a chromophore that increases absorption. In vitro tests on porcine lung tissue were done to define ideal laser parameters (power 100 Å, frequency 50 Hz, pulse duration 400 µs) and protein substrate dilution (50%). For in vivo tests, through a left thoracotomy, 14 pigs received two different lung damages: a linear incision and a circular incision. Protein substrate applied on damaged areas was treated with laser to obtain a layer that reconstituted the integrity of the visceral pleura. Air leaks were intraoperatively evaluated by water submersion test with an airway pressure of 20 cmH2O. Animals were sacrificed at postoperative days 0 and 7 to study early and late pathological features. RESULTS After applying laser treatment, no air leaks were seen in all proofs except in 2 cases in which a second application was required. At time 0, pathological damage mostly consisted of superficial alveolar necrotic tissue covered by protein membrane. At time 7, a complete recovery of lung lesions by fibrous scar with slight inflammatory reaction of adjacent lung tissue was seen. CONCLUSIONS This experimental study demonstrated the effectiveness of laser tissue welding applied to seal air leaks after lung surgery. Further studies are needed to verify acceptability for human application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Schiavon
- Department of Cardio-Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
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24
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Capraro I, Tomaello A, Dall'Arche A, Gerlin F, Ursin R, Vallone G, Villoresi P. Impact of turbulence in long range quantum and classical communications. Phys Rev Lett 2012; 109:200502. [PMID: 23215467 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.109.200502] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
The study of the free-space distribution of quantum correlations is necessary for any future application of quantum and classical communication aiming to connect two remote locations. Here we study the propagation of a coherent laser beam over 143 km (between Tenerife and La Palma Islands of the Canary archipelagos). By attenuating the beam we also studied the propagation at the single photon level. We investigated the statistic of arrival of the incoming photons and the scintillation of the beam. From the analysis of the data, we propose the exploitation of turbulence to improve the signal to noise ratio of the signal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Capraro
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, via Gradenigo 6/B, 35131 Padova, Italy
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25
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Abstract
Attosecond extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) pulses generated in gases via high-order harmonic generation typically carry an intrinsic positive chirp. Compression of such pulses has been demonstrated using metallic transmission filters, a method with very limited tunability. We compare here the compression achievable with a diffraction grating based method with that of metallic filters using simulated high harmonic waveforms in the transmission window of metal films.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Mero
- HAS Research Group on Laser Physics, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Dom ter 9., Hungary
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26
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Frassetto F, Cacho C, Froud CA, Turcu ICE, Villoresi P, Bryan WA, Springate E, Poletto L. Single-grating monochromator for extreme-ultraviolet ultrashort pulses. Opt Express 2011; 19:19169-81. [PMID: 21996859 DOI: 10.1364/oe.19.019169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Extreme-ultraviolet high-order-harmonic pulses with 1.6·10(7) photons/pulse at 32.5 eV have been separated from multiple harmonic orders by a time-preserving monochromator using a single grating in the off-plane mount. This grating geometry gives minimum temporal broadening and high efficiency. The pulse duration of the monochromatized harmonic pulses has been measured to be in the range 20 to 30 fs when the harmonic process is driven by an intense 30 fs near-infrared pulse. The harmonic photon energy is tunable between 12 and 120 eV. The instrument is used in the monochromatized branch of the Artemis beamline at the Central Laser Facility (UK) for applications in ultrafast electron spectroscopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Frassetto
- National Research Council of Italy- Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnologies (CNR-IFN), via Trasea 7, 35131-Padova, Italy
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27
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Abstract
We report the programmable pulse shaping of ultrabroadband pulses by the use of a novel design of electrostatic deformable mirror based on push pull technology. We shape few-optical pulses from near-IR and visible optical parametric amplifiers, and demonstrate strong-field control of excited state population transfer in a dye molecule.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Bonora
- IFN-CNR, Laboratory for Ultraviolet and X-Ray Optical Research, DEI – Università degli studi di Padova, Padova, Italy.
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28
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Altucci C, Velotta R, Tosa V, Villoresi P, Frassetto F, Poletto L, Vozzi C, Calegari F, Negro M, De Silvestri S, Stagira S. Interplay between group-delay-dispersion-induced polarization gating and ionization to generate isolated attosecond pulses from multicycle lasers. Opt Lett 2010; 35:2798-2800. [PMID: 20717461 DOI: 10.1364/ol.35.002798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
We implemented a new experimental scheme for the generation of single-shot extreme-UV continua that exploits a combination of transform-limited 15 fs, 800 nm pulses and chirped 35 fs, 800 nm pulses with orthogonal polarizations. Continua are interpreted as the formation of a single attosecond pulse and attributed to the interplay between polarization, ionization gating, and trajectory selection operated by suitable phase-matching conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlo Altucci
- CNISM-Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, via Cintia, 26-Ed. 6-80126, Napoli, Italy.
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29
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Poletto L, Villoresi P, Frassetto F, Calegari F, Ferrari F, Lucchini M, Sansone G, Nisoli M. Time-delay compensated monochromator for the spectral selection of extreme-ultraviolet high-order laser harmonics. Rev Sci Instrum 2009; 80:123109. [PMID: 20059133 DOI: 10.1063/1.3273964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The design and the characterization of a monochromator for the spectral selection of ultrashort high-order laser harmonics in the extreme ultraviolet are presented. The instrument adopts the double-grating configuration to preserve the length of the optical paths of different diffracted rays, without altering the extremely short duration of the pulse. The gratings are used in the off-plane mount to have high efficiency. The performances of the monochromator have been characterized in terms of spectral response, efficiency, photon flux, imaging properties, and temporal response. In particular, the temporal characterization of the harmonic pulses has been obtained using a cross-correlation method: Pulses as short as 8 fs have been measured at the output of the monochromators, confirming the effectiveness of the time-delay compensated configuration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Poletto
- Laboratory for UV and X-Ray Optical Research, CNR-INFM and Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Padova 35131, Italy.
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30
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Calegari F, Vozzi C, Negro M, Sansone G, Frassetto F, Poletto L, Villoresi P, Nisoli M, De Silvestri S, Stagira S. Efficient continuum generation exceeding 200 eV by intense ultrashort two-color driver. Opt Lett 2009; 34:3125-3127. [PMID: 19838247 DOI: 10.1364/ol.34.003125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
A temporal gating on the high-order harmonic emission process is achieved using an intense 20 fs, 1.45 microm pulse (IR) in combination with an intense 13 fs, 800 nm pulse [visible (VIS)]. Exploiting this two-color gating scheme, a coherent continuous emission extending up to 160 eV using Ar gas and 200 eV using Ne gas is efficiently generated. The IR pulse contributes to significantly extending the harmonic emission to higher photon energies, whereas the VIS pulse improves the conversion efficiency of the process. These results indicate the possibility to produce bright attosecond pulses approaching the soft X spectral region.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Calegari
- Dipartimento di Fisica, National Laboratory for Ultrafast and Ultraintense Optical Science-CNR-INFM,Politecnico di Milano, Milano I-20133, Italy.
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31
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Brida D, Bonora S, Manzoni C, Marangoni M, Villoresi P, De Silvestri S, Cerullo G. Generation of 8.5-fs pulses at 1.3 microm for ultrabroadband pump-probe spectroscopy. Opt Express 2009; 17:12510-12515. [PMID: 19654652 DOI: 10.1364/oe.17.012510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
We report on a near-infrared non-collinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA) based on periodically poled stoichiometric lithium tantalate. The NOPA generates muJ-energy pulses with spectrum spanning the 1-1.7 microm wavelength range, which are compressed to nearly transformlimited 8.5 fs duration by a deformable mirror. By synchronizing this source with a sub-10-fs visible NOPA, we demonstrate an unprecedented combination of temporal resolution and spectral coverage in two-colour pump-probe spectroscopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Brida
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy
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32
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Ursin R, Jennewein T, Kofler J, Perdigues JM, Cacciapuoti L, de Matos CJ, Aspelmeyer M, Valencia A, Scheidl T, Acin A, Barbieri C, Bianco G, Brukner C, Capmany J, Cova S, Giggenbach D, Leeb W, Hadfield RH, Laflamme R, Lütkenhaus N, Milburn G, Peev M, Ralph T, Rarity J, Renner R, Samain E, Solomos N, Tittel W, Torres JP, Toyoshima M, Ortigosa-Blanch A, Pruneri V, Villoresi P, Walmsley I, Weihs G, Weinfurter H, Zukowski M, Zeilinger A. Space-quest, experiments with quantum entanglement in space. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1051/epn/2009503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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33
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Bonato C, Sergienko AV, Saleh BEA, Bonora S, Villoresi P. Even-order aberration cancellation in quantum interferometry. Phys Rev Lett 2008; 101:233603. [PMID: 19113552 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.101.233603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2008] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
We report the first experimental demonstration of even-order aberration cancellation in quantum interferometry. The effect is a spatial counterpart of the spectral group velocity dispersion cancellation, which is associated with spectral entanglement. It is manifested in temporal interferometry by virtue of the multiparameter spatial-spectral entanglement. Spatially entangled photons, generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion, were subjected to spatial aberrations introduced by a deformable mirror that modulates the wave front. We show that only odd-order spatial aberrations affect the quality of quantum interference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristian Bonato
- Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA
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34
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Frassetto F, Villoresi P, Poletto L. Beam separator for high-order harmonic radiation in the 3-10 nm spectral region. J Opt Soc Am A Opt Image Sci Vis 2008; 25:1104-1114. [PMID: 18451917 DOI: 10.1364/josaa.25.001104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
We present the scheme of a beam separator for ultrashort high-order harmonic radiation below 10 nm. The system consists of a collimating mirror and two plane grazing-incidence gratings in compensated configuration. The first grating acts as the beam separator: it diffracts the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) light into the first order while reflecting the fundamental laser beam into the zero order. The diffracted light goes to a second grating that compensates both for the spectral dispersion and for the temporal broadening of the XUV ultrashort pulse caused by the diffraction at the first grating. The system can be designed for any wavelength in the 3-40 nm region. Since the gratings are operated at extreme grazing incidence, the area of the optical surface illuminated by the fundamental laser pulse is large, and therefore there is no risk of damage of the optical surfaces. The effects on the phase of the ultrashort pulse for narrowband applications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Frassetto
- CNR/INFM Laboratory for Ultraviolet and X-Ray Optical Research, Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Via Gradenigo 6/b, Padua, Italy
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35
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Abstract
We discuss the phase properties of a double-grating compressor with grazing-incidence gratings in the off-plane mount, designed for the temporal compression of XUV attosecond pulses produced with the technique of high-order harmonic generation. Its purpose is to introduce a negative chirp that compensates for the intrinsic chirp of the pulse. The study is based on the path lengths of the rays at different wavelengths, and their control in order to achieve either positive or negative group-delay dispersion. We demonstrate that the sign and the amount of the dispersion introduced is controlled by a linear translation of a grating. Beside the instrument is expected to present a high throughput, constant along the spectrum of interest. The compressor can be designed for any spectral region in the XUV and soft X-ray domain. As a test case, the applications to the compression of attosecond pulses centered at 70 eV and at 160 eV are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Frassetto
- CNR/INFM Laboratory for Ultraviolet and X-Ray Optical Research, Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Via Gradenigo 6/b, 35131 Padova, Italy
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36
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Brida D, Cirmi G, Manzoni C, Bonora S, Villoresi P, De Silvestri S, Cerullo G. Sub-two-cycle light pulses at 1.6 microm from an optical parametric amplifier. Opt Lett 2008; 33:741-3. [PMID: 18382536 DOI: 10.1364/ol.33.000741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
We generate ultrabroadband pulses, spanning the 1200-2100 nm wavelength range, from an 800 nm pumped optical parametric amplifier (OPA) working at degeneracy. We compress the microjoule-level energy pulses to nearly transform-limited 8.5 fs duration by an adaptive system employing a deformable mirror. To our knowledge, these are the shortest light pulses generated at 1.6 microm.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Brida
- National Laboratory for Ultrafast and Ultraintense Optical Science--INFM-CNR, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano, Italy
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37
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Poletto L, Villoresi P, Benedetti E, Ferrari F, Stagira S, Sansone G, Nisoli M. Intense femtosecond extreme ultraviolet pulses by using a time-delay-compensated monochromator. Opt Lett 2007; 32:2897-9. [PMID: 17909610 DOI: 10.1364/ol.32.002897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Extreme-ultraviolet pulses, produced by high-order harmonic generation, have been spectrally selected by a time-delay-compensated grating monochromator. Temporal characterization of the harmonic pulses has been obtained using cross-correlation method: pulses as short as 8 fs, with high photon flux, have been measured at the output of the monochromator.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Poletto
- Laboratory of Ultraviolet and X-ray Optical Research, CNR-INFM, DEI-University of Padova, Itlay
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38
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Calegari F, Valentini G, Vozzi C, Benedetti E, Cabanillas-Gonzalez J, Faenov A, Gasilov S, Pikuz T, Poletto L, Sansone G, Villoresi P, Nisoli M, De Silvestri S, Stagira S. Elemental sensitivity in soft x-ray imaging with a laser-plasma source and a color center detector. Opt Lett 2007; 32:2593-5. [PMID: 17767316 DOI: 10.1364/ol.32.002593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Elemental sensitivity in soft x-ray imaging of thin foils with known thickness is observed using an ultrafast laser-plasma source and a LiF crystal as detector. Measurements are well reproduced by a simple theoretical model. This technique can be exploited for high spatial resolution, wide field of view imaging in the soft x-ray region, and it is suitable for the characterization of thin objects with thicknesses ranging from hundreds down to tens of nanometers.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Calegari
- National Laboratory for Ultrafast and Ultraintense Optical Science, CNR-INFM, Politecnico, Milan, Italy
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39
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Poletto L, Villoresi P. Time-delay compensated monochromator in the off-plane mount for extreme-ultraviolet ultrashort pulses. Appl Opt 2006; 45:8577-85. [PMID: 17119552 DOI: 10.1364/ao.45.008577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
The design of ultrafast monochromators using grazing-incidence gratings in the off-plane mount for the spectral selection of extreme-ultraviolet femtosecond pulses in a broad spectral region is presented. Their application in the selection of high-order laser harmonics is analyzed in detail. The main advantage of the off-plane mount is a much higher efficiency than that of the classical mount. It is shown that two-grating configurations preserve the length of the optical paths of different diffracted rays, maintaining the extremely short time duration of the pulse. Configurations with plane or toroidal gratings are discussed. As a test case, the design of a monochromator for the 17-61 nm region with a time compensation better than 1 fs is presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Poletto
- Department of Information Engineering, National Research Council, National Institute for the Physics of Matter, Padova, Italy.
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40
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Sansone G, Benedetti E, Calegari F, Vozzi C, Avaldi L, Flammini R, Poletto L, Villoresi P, Altucci C, Velotta R, Stagira S, De Silvestri S, Nisoli M. Isolated Single-Cycle Attosecond Pulses. Science 2006; 314:443-6. [PMID: 17053142 DOI: 10.1126/science.1132838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 355] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
We generated single-cycle isolated attosecond pulses around approximately 36 electron volts using phase-stabilized 5-femtosecond driving pulses with a modulated polarization state. Using a complete temporal characterization technique, we demonstrated the compression of the generated pulses for as low as 130 attoseconds, corresponding to less than 1.2 optical cycles. Numerical simulations of the generation process show that the carrier-envelope phase of the attosecond pulses is stable. The availability of single-cycle isolated attosecond pulses opens the way to a new regime in ultrafast physics, in which the strong-field electron dynamics in atoms and molecules is driven by the electric field of the attosecond pulses rather than by their intensity profile.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Sansone
- National Laboratory for Ultrafast and Ultraintense Optical Science-CNR-Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, Department of Physics, Politecnico, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy
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41
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Bonato C, Aspelmeyer M, Jennewein T, Pernechele C, Villoresi P, Zeilinger A. Influence of satellite motion on polarization qubits in a Space-Earth quantum communication link. Opt Express 2006; 14:10050-10059. [PMID: 19529399 DOI: 10.1364/oe.14.010050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
In a Space quantum-cryptography experiment a satellite pointing system is needed to send single photons emitted by the source on the satellite to the polarization analysis apparatus on Earth. In this paper a simulation is presented regarding how the satellite pointing systems affect the polarization state of the single photons, to help designing a proper compensation system.
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42
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Sansone G, Benedetti E, Caumes JP, Stagira S, Vozzi C, Pascolini M, Poletto L, Villoresi P, De Silvestri S, Nisoli M. Measurement of harmonic phase differences by interference of attosecond light pulses. Phys Rev Lett 2005; 94:193903. [PMID: 16090174 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.94.193903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2005] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
By using a self-referencing technique, we have experimentally measured the influence of the carrier-envelope phase of femtosecond light pulses on the phase of the electric field of the radiation produced by high-order harmonic generation. We show that, in particular experimental conditions, the temporal evolution of the electric field of the attosecond pulses, is directly controlled by the carrier-envelope phase of the driving pulses.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Sansone
- Dipartimento di Fisica, National Laboratory for Ultrafast and Ultraintense Optical Science-INFM, Politecnico, Milano, Italy
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43
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Sansone G, Vozzi C, Stagira S, Pascolini M, Poletto L, Villoresi P, Tondello G, De Silvestri S, Nisoli M. Observation of carrier-envelope phase phenomena in the multi-optical-cycle regime. Phys Rev Lett 2004; 92:113904. [PMID: 15089138 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.92.113904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2003] [Revised: 11/24/2003] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
So far the role of the carrier-envelope phase of a light pulse has been clearly experimentally evidenced only in the sub-6-fs temporal regime. Here we show, both experimentally and theoretically, the influence of the carrier-envelope phase of a multi-optical-cycle light pulse on high-order harmonic generation. For the first time, we demonstrate that the short and long electron quantum paths contributing to harmonic generation are influenced in a different way by the pulse carrier-envelope phase.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Sansone
- National Laboratory for Ultrafast and Ultraintense Optical Science--INFM, Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico, Milano, Italy
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44
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Villoresi P, Bonora S, Pascolini M, Poletto L, Tondello G, Vozzi C, Nisoli M, Sansone G, Stagira S, De Silvestri S. Optimization of high-order harmonic generation by adaptive control of a sub-10-fs pulse wave front. Opt Lett 2004; 29:207-9. [PMID: 14744012 DOI: 10.1364/ol.29.000207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
We present a method for the optimization of high-order harmonic generation based on wave-front correction of the driving laser beam. The technique exploits wave-front adaptive control by means of a deformable mirror, governed by an optimization procedure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Villoresi
- Laboratory for Ultraviolet and X-Ray Optical Research, Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Università degli Studi, Padova 35131, Italy.
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45
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Nisoli M, Sansone G, Stagira S, De Silvestri S, Vozzi C, Pascolini M, Poletto L, Villoresi P, Tondello G. Effects of carrier-envelope phase differences of few-optical-cycle light pulses in single-shot high-order-harmonic spectra. Phys Rev Lett 2003; 91:213905. [PMID: 14683305 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.91.213905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2003] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
For the first time single-shot harmonic spectra generated by few-optical-cycle pulses have been measured. Clear carrier-envelope phase effects have been observed in the cutoff harmonic spectral structure. Results have been interpreted in terms of the nonadiabatic single-atom response of the nonlinear medium excited by few-optical-cycle pulses.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Nisoli
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico, Milano, Italy.
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46
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Poletto L, Tondello G, Villoresi P. Optical design of a spectrometer-monochromator for the extreme-ultraviolet and soft-x-ray emission of high-order harmonics. Appl Opt 2003; 42:6367-6373. [PMID: 14649280 DOI: 10.1364/ao.42.006367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
A grazing-incidence spectrometer-monochromator for diagnostics and application of the extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) and soft-x-ray high-order harmonics generated by the interaction between a few-optical-cycle laser pulse and a gas jet has been fabricated. We address the necessity of high-resolution spectral and spatial analyses of the high-order harmonics as well as their use as short EUV backlighters in pump-probe experiments. The spectrometer that we present uses a variable-line-spaced flat grating illuminated in the converging light coming from a toroidal mirror. The spectrum is stigmatic, and the focal surface is almost flat in a wide spectral region. The detector is a microchannel plate intensifier with a phosphor screen optically coupled to a CCD camera; it can be moved by means of a linear drive to acquire different portions of the spectrum in the 5-75-nm region. The resolution is almost limited by the pixel size of the detector. We apply the same optical scheme to achieve a constant-deviation-angle monochromator by substituting an exit slit for the detector block: The rotation of the grating gives the spectral scanning. A monochromator for the 5-50 nm spectral region is achieved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Poletto
- Laboratory for Ultraviolet and X-Ray Optical Research, Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, via Gradenigo 6/B, 35131 Padova, Italy.
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47
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Grasbon F, Paulus GG, Walther H, Villoresi P, Sansone G, Stagira S, Nisoli M, De Silvestri S. Above-threshold ionization at the few-cycle limit. Phys Rev Lett 2003; 91:173003. [PMID: 14611341 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.91.173003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2003] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Photoelectron spectra measured for rare-gas atoms ionized with intense few-cycle laser pulses are presented. Several aspects of the few-cycle regime are discussed. In particular, the persistence of the plateaulike structure of spectra for high electron energies is shown. In contrast, a resonancelike feature at similar electron energies is suppressed as compared with longer laser pulses. Differences in the behavior of different species and implications for the electron-ion scattering cross section are pointed out.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Grasbon
- Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics, 85748 Garching, Germany
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48
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Nisoli M, Priori E, Sansone G, Stagira S, Cerullo G, De Silvestri S, Altucci C, Bruzzese R, de Lisio C, Villoresi P, Poletto L, Pascolini M, Tondello G. High-brightness high-order harmonic generation by truncated bessel beams in the sub-10-fs regime. Phys Rev Lett 2002; 88:033902. [PMID: 11801059 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.88.033902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2001] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Low-divergence, high-brightness harmonic emission has been generated by using a fundamental beam with a truncated Bessel intensity profile. Such a beam is directly obtained by using the hollow-fiber compression technique, which indeed allows one to optimize both temporal and spatial characteristics of the high-order harmonic generation process. This is particularly important for the applications of radiation, where extreme temporal resolution and high brightness are required.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Nisoli
- Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, Centro di Elettronica Quantistica e Strumentazione Elettronica-C.N.R., Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico, Milano, Italy.
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49
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Bortolozzo U, Villoresi P, Ramazza PL. Experimental evidence for detuning induced pattern selection in nonlinear optics. Phys Rev Lett 2001; 87:274102. [PMID: 11800881 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.87.274102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2000] [Revised: 07/03/2001] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
We give quantitative experimental evidence of the influence of cavity detuning in determining the pattern selection in a one-dimensional large Fresnel number optical oscillator. The issues of the selection of the transverse mode close to threshold and the value of the pump parameter at threshold are addressed. Competition between right and left traveling waves, resulting in a winner takes all dynamics, is also reported. Experimental results are in quantitative agreement with the theoretical predictions formulated for a broad class of systems comparable to the one here considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- U Bortolozzo
- DEI-Università degli Studi di Padova and Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, Padova, Italy
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50
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Paulus GG, Grasbon F, Walther H, Villoresi P, Nisoli M, Stagira S, Priori E, De Silvestri S. Absolute-phase phenomena in photoionization with few-cycle laser pulses. Nature 2001; 414:182-4. [PMID: 11700551 DOI: 10.1038/35102520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 595] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Currently, the shortest laser pulses that can be generated in the visible spectrum consist of fewer than two optical cycles (measured at the full-width at half-maximum of the pulse's envelope). The time variation of the electric field in such a pulse depends on the phase of the carrier frequency with respect to the envelope-the absolute phase. Because intense laser-matter interactions generally depend on the electric field of the pulse, the absolute phase is important for a number of nonlinear processes. But clear evidence of absolute-phase effects has yet to be detected experimentally, largely because of the difficulty of stabilizing the absolute phase in powerful laser pulses. Here we use a technique that does not require phase stabilization to demonstrate experimentally the influence of the absolute phase of a short laser pulse on the emission of photoelectrons. Atoms are ionized by a short laser pulse, and the photoelectrons are recorded with two opposing detectors in a plane perpendicular to the laser beam. We detect an anticorrelation in the shot-to-shot analysis of the electron yield.
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Affiliation(s)
- G G Paulus
- Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany.
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