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Classical Entanglement in Structured Optical Fields

Brown University
Cornell University
University of Central Florida
University of Southern California
Office of Naval Research
Principal Investigator University Subtitle
Ayman Abouraddy University of Central Florida Classical entanglement in structured optical fields
Kimani Toussaint Brown University Metrology with classically entangled light
Aristide Dogariu University of Central Florida Active sensing and optical action – new paradigms enabled by controlled classical entanglement
Demetrios Christodoulides University of Central Florida Optical thermodynamics of nonlinear systems with multiple degrees of freedom
Frank Wise Cornell University Generation and evolution of space-time wave packets
Mercedeh Khajavikhan University of Southern California On-chip synthesis of classically entangled light
Alan Willner University of Southern California Light Beams based on Classical Entanglement of Frequencies and Spatial Modes

This effort was sponsored, in part, by the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research under ONR award number N00014-20-1-2789. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Naval Research.

Continuous degrees of freedom: space and time

Introducing precise correlations between the degrees of freedom of an optical field leads to dramatic changes in the free propagation of such fields and their interaction with photonic devices. When this concept is applied to the spatial and temporal degrees of freedom of the field, a new realm of phenomena and applications that we call ‘space-time optics and photonics’ emerges.

A subset of potential avenues

  1. Diffraction-free, dispersion-free pulsed beams in free space
  2. Long-distance propagation
  3. Self-healing after obstructive objects
  4. High-power operation
  5. Incoherent fields
  6. Control of the group velocity in free space
  7. Control of the group velocity in materials
  8. Connection to relativistic propagation of sources and detectors
  9. Reversal of the roles of time and the axial coordinate

Synthesis of space-time beams

Synthesis of space-time beams
The desired correlation between ? and ?_? is implemented with a computer-controlled spatial light modulator (SLM)

Recent achievements

Diffraction-free propagation
Arbitrary group velocity in free space of space-time beams
Diffraction-free propagation
Arbitrary group velocity in free space of space-time beams
Diffraction-free propagation
Arbitrary group velocity in free space of space-time beams

Opt. Lett. 44, 2073 (2019)

Nat. Commun. 8, 739 (2019)

Hybrid guided ST modes in a planar waveguide

Hybrid guided ST modes in a planar waveguide

Nat. Comm. 11, 6273 (2020)