Direct Temporal Mode Measurement for the Characterization of Temporally Multiplexed High Dimensional Quantum Entanglement in Continuous Variables

Abstract

Field-orthogonal temporal mode analysis of optical fields has recently been developed for a new framework of quantum information science. However, so far, the exact profiles of the temporal modes are not known, which makes it difficult to achieve mode selection and demultiplexing. Here, we report a novel method that measures directly the exact form of the temporal modes. This, in turn, enables us to make mode-orthogonal homodyne detection with mode-matched local oscillators. We apply the method to a pulse-pumped, specially engineered fiber parametric amplifier and demonstrate temporally multiplexed multidimensional quantum entanglement of continuous variables in telecom wavelength. The temporal mode characterization technique can be generalized to other pulse-excited systems to find their eigenmodes for multiplexing in the temporal domain.