Phase sensitivity of gain-unbalanced nonlinear interferometers

Enno Giese, Samuel Lemieux, Mathieu Manceau, Robert Fickler, and Robert W. Boyd
Phys. Rev. A 96, 053863 – Published 29 November 2017

Abstract

The phase uncertainty of an unseeded nonlinear interferometer, where the output of one nonlinear crystal is transmitted to the input of a second crystal that analyzes it, is commonly said to be below the shot-noise level but highly dependent on detection and internal loss. Unbalancing the gains of the first (source) and second (analyzer) crystals leads to a configuration that is tolerant against detection loss. However, in terms of sensitivity, there is no advantage in choosing a stronger analyzer over a stronger source, and hence the comparison to a shot-noise level is not straightforward. Internal loss breaks this symmetry and shows that it is crucial whether the source or analyzer is dominating. Based on these results, claiming a Heisenberg scaling of the sensitivity is more subtle than in a balanced setup.

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  • Received 29 September 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.96.053863

©2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Enno Giese1, Samuel Lemieux1, Mathieu Manceau2, Robert Fickler1, and Robert W. Boyd1,3

  • 1Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
  • 2Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Light, Staudtstraße 2, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
  • 3Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA

See Also

Detection Loss Tolerant Supersensitive Phase Measurement with an SU(1,1) Interferometer

Mathieu Manceau, Gerd Leuchs, Farid Khalili, and Maria Chekhova
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 223604 (2017)

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Vol. 96, Iss. 5 — November 2017

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