Two-Photon Interference Constructed by Two Hong–Ou–Mandel Effects in One Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

We present a two-photon interference experiment in a modified Mach-Zehnder （MZ） interferometer in which two Hong-Ou-Mandel effects occur in tandem and construct superposed two-photon states. The signal photons pass both the arms of the MZ interferometer while the idler photons pass one arm only. Interestingly, the probability of the idler photons emerging from any output port still shows a sine oscillation with the two-photon phase difference and it can be characterized only by the indistinguishability of the two-photon amplitudes. We also observe a two-photon interference pattern with a period being equal to the wavelength of the parametric photons instead of the two-photon photonie de Broglie wavelength due to the presence of two-photon phase difference, in particular, with complementary probabilities of finding the two-photon pairs in two output ports. The abundant observations can facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the two-photon interference.

Time-Modulated Hamiltonian for Interpreting Delayed-Choice Experiments via Mach-Zehnder Interferometers

Many delayed-choice experiments based on Mach-Zehnder interferometers （MZI） have been considered and made to address the fundamental problem of wave-particle duality. Conventional wisdom long holds that by inserting or removing the second beam splitter （BS2） in a controllable way, microscopic particles （photons, electrons, etc.） transporting within the MZI can lie in the quantum superposition of the wave and particle state as ψ= aw ψ wave ＋ ap ψ particle. Here we present an alternative interpretation to these delayed-choice experiments. We notice that as the BS2 is purely classical, the inserting and removing operation of the BS2 imposes a time- modulated Hamiltonian H mod （t） = a（t）Hin ＋ b（t）Hout, instead of a quantum superposition of H in and Hour as H = awHin ＋ apHout, to act upon the incident wave function. Solution of this quantum scattering problem, rather than the long held quantum eigen-problem yields a synchronically time-modulated output wave function as ψ mod （t） = a（t） ψ wave ＋b（t） ψ particle, instead of the stationary quantum superposition state ψ = aw ψ wave ＋ ap ψ particle. As a result, the probability of particle output from the MZI behaves as if they are in the superposition of the wave and particle state when many events over time accumulation are counted and averaged. We expect that these elementary but insightful analyses will shed a new light on exploring basic physics beyond the long-held wisdom of wave-particle duality and the principle of complementarity.

In-Fiber Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Based on Waist-Enlarged Taper and Core-Mismatching for Strain Sensing

An in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer for strain measurement is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The sensor consists of a taper followed by a short section of a multi-mode fiber （MMF） and a dispersion com- pensating fiber （DCF）, which is sandwiched between two single mode fibers （SMFs）. The taper is used as a fiber coupler to excite cladding modes in the SMF, and these cladding modes transmit within the MMF and the DCF. The core mode and the cladding modes interfere in the DCF SMF fusion point to form intermodal interference. A well-defined interference spectrum is obtained in the experiment. Selected interference dips are used to measure the strain changes. The experimental results show that this device is sensitive to strain with the wavelength-referenced sensitivity of 2.6 pm/με and the power-referenced sensitivity of 0. 0027 dB/με, respectively.

臂长差啁啾型级联Mach-Zehnder干涉仪滤波性能

为增大自由频谱区(FSR),优化级联Mach-Zehnder干涉仪(MZIs)的带通滤波性能,利用其与阶梯形滤波器原理的相似性,用啁啾型臂长差替代恒定臂长差.用传输矩阵法建立了臂长差啁啾型级联MZI的数学模型,分析3 dB带宽及FSR的变化规律,验证了理论模型及分析方法的正确性.仿真结果表明,通过合理选取啁啾系数,臂长差啁啾型级联MZI同时获得了较大的FSR和较小的3 dB带宽,且最佳啁啾系数随衍射级数增大而增大.

基于Mach-Zehnder干涉光纤湿度传感器研究进展

相对湿度检测在工农业生产中具有广泛应用。综述了当前基于Mach-Zehnder干涉光纤湿度传感器的国内外最新研究进展,比较了不同类型光纤干涉结构的灵敏度、响应时间、温敏特性等关键参数,分析了目前各种干涉结构所存在的优点与不足,并展望了对此类湿度传感器的发展前景。

Analysis of the Interference Signal of the Distributed Optical Fiber Sensing Based on DSP

In this paper, the author analyzes characteristics and extracting method of interference signal of the distributed optical fiber sensing. In the distributed optical fiber sensing, realizing alarm and positioning function only through the cross-correlation operation will increase the load of the system, can make misinformation rate of the system be improved greatly. Therefore, before the localization algorithm, adding a interference signal feature recognition is very necessary, can reduce unnecessary operation loss and reduce the load of the system, also reducing the number of the false positives.

一种基于MZI的聚合物光波导加速度计

提出了一种基于马赫增德尔干涉仪(MZI)的聚合物光学波导加速度计。理论推导了MZI结构的传输函数,仿真分析了悬臂梁结构参数与器件灵敏度的关系,制备得到了4μm×4μm单模传输芯层波导的传感芯片。搭建了集成光学加速度测试系统,采用比较校准法对探测器输出电压信号进行标定,实现了传感芯片因施加加速度后输出光强变化的测试,完成了加速度测量。该加速度传感芯片分辨率为10^(-2)g_n,动态范围为±2 gn。

An Integrated-Plasmonic Chip of Bragg Reflection and Mach-Zehnder Interference Based on Metal-Insulator-Metal Waveguide

In this paper,a Bragg reflector is proposed by placing periodic metallic gratings in the center of a metal-insulator-metal(MIM)waveguide.According to the effective refractive index modulation caused by different waveguide widths in a period,a reflection channel with a large bandwidth is firstly achieved.Besides,the Mach-Zehnder interference(MZI)effect arises by shifting the gratings away from the waveguide center.Owing to different optical paths with unequal indices on both sides of the grating,a narrow MZI band gap will be obtained.It is interesting to find out that the Bragg reflector and Mach-Zehnder interferometer are immune to each other,and their wavelengths can be manipulated by the period and the grating length,respectively.Additionally,we can obtain three MZI channels and one Bragg reflection channel by integrating three different gratings into a large period.The performances are investigated by finite-difference time-domain(FDTD)simulations.In the index range of 1.33–1.36,the maximum sensitivity for the structure is as high as 1500 nm/RIU,and it is believed that this proposed structure can find widely applications in the chip-scale optical communication and sensing areas.

Fiber up-taper assisted Mach-Zehnder interferometer for high sensitive temperature sensing

A new in-line Mach-Zehnder interferometer （MZI） sensor consisting of a stub of multi-mode fiber and an up-taper was proposed and demonstrated. Temperature measurement can be carried out by detecting wavelength shift. Dependency of sensitivity on interferometer length and dip wavelength was discussed. Experimental results showed a maximum temperature sensitivity of 113.6pm/℃ can be achieved, which is superior to most fiber temperature sensors based on in-line MZIs within the range from 20℃ to 80℃, also a good mechanical strength can be obtained. The proposed sensor is a good candidate for temperature measurement, due to the advantages of simple structure, easy fabrication, cost- effective and high sensitivity.

Using modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer to get better nonlinear correction term of an isotropic nonlinear material

Nonlinear materials have been well established as photo refractive switching material. Important applica- tions of isotropic nonlinear materials are seen in self-focusing, defocusing phenomena, switching systems, etc. The nonlinear correction term is basically responsible for the optical switches. Mach-Zehnder inter- ferometer （MZI） is a well-known arrangement for determining the above correction term, but there are some major problems for finding out the term by MZI. We propose a new method of finding the nonlinear correction term as well as the second order nonlinear susceptibility of the materials by using a modified MZI system. This method may be used to find out the above parameters for any unknown nonlinear material.

SiO_2基Mach-Zehnder型传感芯片的制备与敏感性研究

设计并制作了一种基于SiO2/Si材料的Mach-Zehnder干涉仪（MZI）型集成光波导传感芯片。采用不同浓度的NaCl溶液对传感芯片的敏感特性进行了测试分析,研究结果表明,该传感芯片对特定浓度NaCl溶液的响应和恢复时间分别为1.0 s和0.6 s,可测最小折射率变化为2×10-4RIU（单位折射率变化）,在NaCl溶液折射率1.3488~1.3736范围内具有较好的线性响应。

The bright and dark photon number states in Young’s interference experiment

In this paper, we derive the bright and dark photon number states for spatial interference of two or more light beams and succeed in the explanation of Young's interference experiment, and also achieve a better comprehension of the well known comment of Dirac 'each photon only interferences with itself'. Prom the fully quantum point of view, the origin of the interference fringes consists in the mode transformation and the detection of double-slit states.

A Quantum Neurological Model of Perception-Cognition and Awareness in Ambiguous Figures and the Case of the Dalmatian Dog

The present paper has mainly the aim to formulate a quantum neurological model of brain dynamics during perception and cognition of ambiguous figures here including the case of the Dalmatian dog. First of all, we summarize our previous experimental and theoretical studies, evidencing as the basic conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics enter in a decisive manner in explaining the basic functions of brain dynamics at perceptive and cognitive level and at the level of our consciousness. This is done in detail in Sections 2 and 3 where we discuss also the role of the so called quantum interference effect and we include here the results of an our recent experiment confirming the role of quantum theory and of its quantum interference effect also at perceptive-cognitive and awareness levels. In Section 4, following our previous study, we consider the so called Mach-Zehnder interferometer. It is a physical device that is employed in quantum mechanical experiments in order to analyze such quantum interference effect. Soon after the discussion of this device, we proceed with the elaboration of a detailed quantum neurological model in the sense that we consider the brain regions identified in V1;V2/V3/V4 and A20 and we obtain that they may behave just as the beam splitters involved in the Mach-Zehnder quantum mechanical interferometer. In this manner, we formulate a model of V1;V2/V3/V4, A20 brain dynamics as a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and such model delineates a proposed neurological mechanism explaining perception-cognition and awareness in humans under the input of ambiguous figures and in the particular case of the Dalmatian dog.

Simultaneous refractive index and temperature measurements by using dual interference in an all-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer

A Fourier analysis applied to the Mach-Zehnder interferometer （MZI） transmission spectrum for simultaneous refractive index （RI） and temperature measurements is proposed and experimentally demonstrated in this Letter. In the fast Fourier transform （FFT） spectrum of the MZI transmission spectrum, several frequency components are generally observed, which means that the transmission spectrum of the MZI is formed by the superposition of some dual-mode interference （DMI） spectra, and each frequency component represents different core-cladding interferences. We can select some dominant frequency components in the FFT spectrum of the MZI transmission spectrum to take the inverse FFT （IFFT）. Then, the corresponding DMI patterns can be obtained. Due to the shift of the wavelength of these DMI spectra with changes in the environmental parameters, we can use the coefficient matrix of these DMI spectra for multi-parameter sensing. In this Letter, two DMI patterns are separated from the resultant transmission spectrum of the MZI. As the RI and temperature change, the shifts of the two DMI patterns with respect to the RI and temperature will be observed. The sensitivities of the RI and temperature are -137.1806 nm/RIU （RI unit） and 0.0860 nm/℃, and -22.9955 nm/RIU and 0.0610 nm/℃ for the two DMIs. Accordingly, it can be used to simultaneously measure RI and temperature changes. The approach can eliminate the influence of multiple interferences and improve the accuracy of the sensor.

Single-Photon Interaction with Beam Splitters

The production of maxima and minima by the superposition of two or more light signals provides fundamental support for the wave nature of light. This result is based on the study of wave interference phenomena which remains the only approach to explain the production of those maxima and minima. In a system that is prepared to work with only one photon at a time, any detector can signal only one or zero. In 1986, a rigorously controlled experiment was designed by Grangier, G. Roger, and A. Aspect, [Europhys Lett. 1(4), p. 173, 1986] that guaranteed a single-photon beam. The explanation of the experimental results implied the interference of the wave function of a single-photon with itself. Thus, the explanation of interference that is accepted for an ensemble of photons was assumed to be valid for a single photon. In this study, we prepare a Mach-Zehnder interferometer using the same type of beam splitters used by Grangier et al. to test the assumption mentioned above. Our results allow us to explain the results of Grangier et al. because of the interaction between light and the beam splitters. Our results also verify that their wave interpretation of the results is not valid. Here, we present the essential findings of the extensive experimental evidence that supports our ideas.

Corpuscular Point of View to Explain Light’s Properties

This letter introduces a simple model to explain the Diffraction and Interference of Light. It was created using only a corpuscular point of view. The mean concept of the model introduced in this paper is that light has two independent states of polarization that oscillate with equal frequencies but with a π/2 difference of phase. This model allows the author to determine the intensity of light at any point after it exceeds no edge or any number of them.

基于级联FPI和MZI的游标效应的光纤温度传感器

为了兼顾较高温度传感灵敏度和较大的测量范围,提出了一种基于游标效应的级联法布里-珀罗干涉仪(Fabry-Perot interferometer, FPI)和马赫-曾德尔干涉仪(Mach-Zehnder interferometer, MZI)的温度传感器,并进行了实验验证。实验中所采用的FPI是由两段单模光纤和一个两端镀膜的石英波片构成,其结构稳定且不受恒温箱振动的影响,因此将其用来作为温度传感元件。MZI作为滤波结构是由两个3 dB耦合器自制而成,通过控制两个臂长使其自由光谱范围(free spectral range, FSR)与FPI的FSR相接近,从而能基于游标效应以级联的方式实现温度传感灵敏度的放大。实验结果表明,在20℃—70℃的温度变化下,级联干涉仪的温度灵敏度为72.4 pm/℃,相比于单个FPI(8.72 pm/℃),该结构将温度传感的灵敏度放大了8.3倍,同时还具有较大的测量范围,实验结果与理论相一致。

环形腔微光纤MZI的海水温/盐度同时测量的设计与模拟

为实现海水中温度和盐度(温/盐度)同时测量,设计了一种环形腔微光纤Mach-Zehnder干涉仪(MZI)。首先,计算了MZI在不同温/盐度下的输出光谱,光谱中同时存在谐振峰和干涉峰,分别由环形腔谐振和MZ干涉引起,由于谐振峰和干涉峰对温/盐度变化的响应不同,因而可将其运用于海水的温/盐度同时测量;其次,为了提升MZI的测量灵敏度,计算了灵敏度与其结构参数的关系。结果表明,谐振峰的温/盐度灵敏度只与制成环形腔的微光纤直径有关,而干涉峰灵敏度同时与MZI两个微光纤臂的直径和长度相关,当制成环形腔的微光纤臂是MZI两臂中直径较小且长度较大的一臂时,能得到较高的测量灵敏度。经过优化后,干涉峰的温/盐度灵敏度比传统的光纤光栅分别提升了75倍和约3 650倍。本文设计的MZI具有结构简单、灵敏度高的优点,可为研制新型的海洋微光纤传感器提供参考。

基于光子晶体光纤M-Z干涉仪的折射率传感器研究

研制了一种通过手工熔接方法在两段单模光纤（SMF）间焊接一段实芯光子晶体光纤（PCF）而形成的Mach-Zehnder干涉仪（MZI）传感器,研究了传感器传输光谱与外界折射率的关系。实验结果表明,这种MZI传感器的中心波长随着外界折射率的增加向长波方向漂移,在1.340-1.384的折射率变化范围内,干涉长为3.2cm的MZI传感器灵敏度为70.45 nm/RIU。通过腐蚀可以进一步提高传感器干涉光场与外界折射率的耦合程度,腐蚀后传感器的折射率灵敏度可提高到198.77 nm/RIU,约为腐蚀前的2.8倍。在30~100℃温度范围内,传感器的温度灵敏度仅为0.0019 nm/℃,因此在应用中可以克服温度交叉敏感问题,从而为生物化学领域的测量提供了一种全光纤型器件。

基于全光纤M-Z干涉仪的ASE光源增益谱平坦滤波器研究

基于马赫-曾德尔干涉仪(MZI)结构,在Matlab软件中,利用优化的迭代算法、Least Pth-norm算法和AMPSO算法,提出一种用于平坦掺Er光纤(EDF)放大自发辐射(ASE)光源增益谱的级联MZI型全光纤滤波器的优化设计方法,并进行了实验研究。结果表明:采用该方法设计的级联MZI型全光纤滤波器可以有效改善ASE宽带光源输出光谱的平坦度,被平坦波段(1525～1540nm)范围内输出光谱的不平坦度小于±0.73dB,整个C波段光谱3dB带宽为36.344nm。