Demonstration of lossy linear transformations and two-photon interference on a photonic chip

Abstract

Studying quantum correlations in the presence of loss is of critical importance for the physical modeling of real quantum systems. Here, we demonstrate the control of spatial correlations between entangled photons in a photonic chip, designed and modeled using the singular value decomposition approach. We show that engineered loss, using an auxiliary waveguide, allows one to invert the spatial statistics from bunching to antibunching. Furthermore, we study the photon statistics within the loss-emulating channel and observe photon coincidences, which may provide insights into the design of quantum photonic integrated chips.