Generation of heralded optical `Schroedinger cat' states by photon-addition

Résumé fourni par la source

Optical "Schrödinger cat" states, the non-classical superposition of two quasi-classical coherent states, serve as a basis for gedanken experiments testing quantum physics on mesoscopic scales and are increasingly recognized as a resource for quantum information processing. Here, we report the first experimental realization of optical "Schrödinger cats" by adding a photon to a squeezed vacuum state, so far only photon-subtraction protocols have been realized. Photon-addition gives us the advantage of using heralded signal photons as experimental triggers, and we can generate "Schrödinger cats" at rates exceeding $8.5 \times 10^4$ counts per second; at least one order of magnitude higher than all previously reported realizations. Wigner distributions with pronounced negative parts are demonstrated at down to -8.89 dB squeezing, even when the initial squeezed vacuum input state has low purity. Benchmarking against such a degraded squeezed input state we report a maximum fidelity of more than 80% with a maximum cat amplitude of $|α| \approx 1.66$. Our experiment uses photon-addition from pairs, one of those photons is used for monitoring, giving us enhanced control; moreover the pair production rates are high and should allow for repeated application of photon-addition via repeat-stages.

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