Measurement of the Wigner distribution and the density matrix of a light mode using optical homodyne tomography: Application to squeezed states and the vacuum
Abstract
We have measured probability distributions of quadrature-field amplitude for both vacuum and quadrature-squeezed states of a mode of the electromagnetic field. From these measurements we demonstrate the technique of optical homodyne tomography to determine the Wigner distribution and the density matrix of the mode. This provides a complete quantum mechanical characterization of the measured mode.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- March 1993
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.70.1244
- Bibcode:
- 1993PhRvL..70.1244S
- Keywords:
-
- Electromagnetic Wave Transmission;
- Photoelectrons;
- Polarized Light;
- Propagation Modes;
- Quadrature Amplitude Modulation;
- Homodyne Reception;
- Quantum Mechanics;
- Statistical Distributions;
- Tomography;
- Wigner Coefficient;
- Optics;
- 42.50.Dv;
- 42.65.Ky;
- Nonclassical states of the electromagnetic field including entangled photon states;
- quantum state engineering and measurements;
- Frequency conversion;
- harmonic generation including higher-order harmonic generation