Speaker
Description
Until recently, the fields of quantum optics and attosecond science appeared largely incompatible. The latter relies inherently on strong-field interactions, while quantum optics typically operates in single-photon regime. However, the development of high-gain spontaneous parametric down-conversion pumped by femtosecond lasers, has changed this landscape. These bright squeezed vacuum (BSV) sources are nearly single-mode and can reach energies of up to hundreds of nanojoules [1] enabling the nonlinear and strong-field experiments using non-classical light [2,3].
Here, we present an experimental investigation of two-photon photocurrents driven by 1600 nm BSV in a low-temperature-grown gallium arsenide (LT-GaAs) patterned with gold electrodes. The non-classical photon statistics of the BSV are mapped onto the photocurrent statistics, which exhibit a characteristic heavy-tailed exponential distribution. Both the mean and variance of the distribution change as a function of position within the electrode gap. Additionally, conditioning the photocurrents on the BSV photon number provides insights into the underlying electron excitation processes. The generation of photocurrents and their single-shot detection represent a first step toward realising a coherent control experiment with squeezed light—where interference between one-photon and two-photon pathways can enable terahertz radiation generation, a phenomenon previously demonstrated with coherent beams [4].
[1] Chekhova, M. V., G. Leuchs, and Marek Żukowski. "Bright squeezed vacuum: Entanglement of macroscopic light beams." Optics Communications 337 (2015): 27-43.
[2] Rasputnyi, Andrei, et al. "High-harmonic generation by a bright squeezed vacuum." Nature Physics 20.12 (2024): 1960-1965.
[3] Lemieux, S., et al. "Photon bunching in high-harmonic emission controlled by quantum light (2024)." arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.05474.
[4] Sederberg, Shawn, et al. "Vectorized optoelectronic control and metrology in a semiconductor." Nature Photonics 14.11 (2020): 680-685.
| Keyword-1 | Quantum Light |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | Semiconductors |
| Keyword-3 | Nonlinear Optics |