We theoretically study the phase sensitivity of the SU(1,1) interferometer with a coherent light together with a squeezed vacuum input case using the method of homodyne. We find that the homodyne detection has better sensitivity than the intensity de
tection under this input case. For a certain intensity of coherent light (squeezed light) input, the relative phase sensitivity is not always better with increasing the squeezed strength (coherent light strength). The phase sensitivity can reach the Heisenberg limit only under a certain moderate parameter interval, which can be realized with current experiment ability.
We theoretically propose a method to enhance Raman scattering by injecting a seeded light field which is correlated with the initially prepared atomic spin wave. Such a light-atom correlation leads to an interference in the Raman scattering. The inte
rference is sensitive to the relative phase between the seeded light field and initially prepared atomic spin wave. For constructive interference, the Raman scattering is greatly enhanced. Such an enhanced Raman scattering may find applications in quantum information, nonlinear optics and optical metrology due to its simplicity.
By using parametric down-conversion process with a strong signal field injection, we demonstrate coherent frequency down-conversion from a pump photon to an idler photon. Contrary to a common misunderstanding, we show that the process can be free of
quantum noise. With an interference experiment, we demonstrate that the coherence is preserved in the conversion process. This may lead to a high fidelity quantum state transfer from high frequency photon to low frequency photon and connects a missing link in a quantum network. With this scheme of coherent frequency down-conversion of photons, we propose a method of single-photon wavelength division multiplexing.
A number of recent interference experiments involving multiple photons are reviewed. These experiments include generalized photon bunching effects, generalized Hong-Ou-Mandel interference effects and multi-photon interferometry for demonstrations of
multi-photon de Broglie wavelength. The multi-photon states used in these experiments are from two pairs of photons in parametric down-conversion. We find that the size of the interference effect in these experiments, characterized by the visibility of interference pattern, is governed by the degree of distinguishability among different pairs of photons. Based on this discovery, we generalize the concept of multi-photon temporal distinguishability and relate it to a number of multi-photon interference effects. Finally, we make an attempt to interpret the coherence theory by the multi-photon interference via the concept of temporal distinguishability of photons.
The complementary principle of quantum mechanics relates qualitatively the visibility of quantum interference with path indistinguishability. Here we propose a scheme of constructive quantum interference involving superposition between an $N$-photon
state and a single-photon state to characterize quantitatively the degree of temporal distinguishability of the $N$-photon state. This scheme is based on a generalized photon bunching effect. Such a scheme can be extended to other more general cases.
By using an asymmetric beam splitter, we observe the generalized Hong-Ou-Mandel effects for three and four photons, respectively. Furthermore, we can use this generalized Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer to characterize temporal distinguishability.
