Tracking the kinematics of fast-moving objects is an important diagnostic tool for science and engineering. Existing optical methods include high-speed CCD/CMOS imaging, streak cameras, lidar, serial time-encoded imaging and sequentially timed all-op
tical mapping. Here, we demonstrate an entirely new approach to positional and directional sensing based on the concept of classical entanglement in vector beams of light. The measurement principle relies on the intrinsic correlations existing in such beams between transverse spatial modes and polarization. The latter can be determined from intensity measurements with only a few fast photodiodes, greatly outperforming the bandwidth of current CCD/CMOS devices. In this way, our setup enables two-dimensional real-time sensing with temporal resolution in the GHz range. We expect the concept to open up new directions in photonics-based metrology and sensing.
Cluster states are an essential component in one-way quantum computation protocols. We present two schemes to generate addressable continuous-variable cluster states from quadrature squeezed cylindrically polarized modes. By including polarization in
addition to the transverse spatial degree of freedom, elementary cluster states can be created in which four cluster nodes co-propagate within one paraxial vector beam. This approach is fundamentally compatible with existing time-multiplexed schemes that have been used to create the largest cluster states to date. We implement a proof-of-principle experiment of one of the proposed schemes and verify its feasibility by measuring the quantum correlations between the different nodes of the cluster state.
