Coherent multi-photon interference and compensation of polarization dispersion

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-233).This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.This thesis will explore strategies for coherent manipulation of multi-photon packets. Correlated multi-photon states can arise in nonlinear optical devices. A nonlinear quantum interferometer which includes these states can have interesting and strikingly different behavior from a conventional interferometer. The special quantum states set up in these devices are degraded by loss. In this thesis, we will set up theory for describing the interesting quantum behavior of these devices and the limitations imposed by loss decoherence. The underlying structure of interferometer states is shared by all two-mode systems-including classical polarization states of a single-mode fiber. We are exploring bire-fringent systems as a possible implementation of nonlinear quantum coupler ideas, but also because of its practical importance in optical communications. Polarization mode dispersion an important source of signal distortion in high-bitrate communications arising from unwanted birefringence in the fiber. We will describe theoretical analysis of compensated PMD systems, as well as our theoretical and experimental effeots to develop novel PMD compensators.by John Michael Fini.Ph.D