Observation of quantum interference in the plasmonic Hong-Ou-Mandel effect

2014 
We report direct evidence of the bosonic nature of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in a scattering-based beamsplitter. A parametric down-conversion source is used to produce two indistinguishable photons, each of which is converted into a SPP on a metal-stripe waveguide and then made to interact through a semi-transparent Bragg mirror. In this plasmonic analog of the Hong-Ou-Mandel experiment, we measure a coincidence dip with a visibility of 72%, a key signature that SPPs are bosons and that quantum interference is clearly involved.
    • Correction
    • Source
    • Cite
    • Save
    • Machine Reading By IdeaReader
    37
    References
    90
    Citations
    NaN
    KQI
    []