Teaching quantum mechanics with the Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer

摘要

The Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer is an optical device which allows us to prove experimentally the quantum nature of light via the quantum amplitude superposition of two indistinguishable photons. We have implemented this experiment as an advanced undergraduate laboratory experience. We were able to overcome well known difficulties with this experiment using recently reported techniques by Thomas et al. [Rev. Sci. Instr. 80, 036101 (2009), ].