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Phys. Rev. A 81, 043844 (2010) [5 pages]

Entanglement of arbitrary superpositions of modes within two-dimensional orbital angular momentum state spaces

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B. Jack1, A. M. Yao2, J. Leach1, J. Romero1,2, S. Franke-Arnold1, D. G. Ireland1, S. M. Barnett2, and M. J. Padgett1
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
2Department of Physics, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0NG, United Kingdom

Received 27 October 2009; published 30 April 2010

We use spatial light modulators (SLMs) to measure correlations between arbitrary superpositions of orbital angular momentum (OAM) states generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. Our technique allows us to fully access a two-dimensional OAM subspace described by a Bloch sphere, within the higher-dimensional OAM Hilbert space. We quantify the entanglement through violations of a Bell-type inequality for pairs of modal superpositions that lie on equatorial, polar, and arbitrary great circles of the Bloch sphere. Our work shows that SLMs can be used to measure arbitrary spatial states with a fidelity sufficient for appropriate quantum information processing systems.

© 2010 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevA.81.043844
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevA.81.043844
PACS:
42.50.Tx, 03.65.Ud, 42.40.Eq