Aberration-corrected quantum temporal imaging system

Abstract

We describe the design of a temporal imaging system that simultaneously reshapes the temporal profile and converts the frequency of a photonic wavepacket, while preserving its quantum state. A field lens, which imparts a temporal quadratic phase modulation, is used to correct for the residual phase caused by field curvature in the image, thus enabling temporal imaging for phase-sensitive quantum applications. We show how this system can be used for temporal imaging of time-bin entangled photonic wavepackets and compare the field lens correction technique to systems based on a temporal telescope and far-field imaging. The field-lens approach removes the residual phase using four dispersive elements. The group delay dispersion (GDD) $D$ is constrained by the available bandwidth $\Delta\nu$ by $D>t/\Delta\nu$, where $t$ is the temporal width of the waveform associated with the dispersion $D$. This is compared to the much larger dispersion $D\gg \pi t^2/8$ required to satisfy the Fraunhofer condition in the far field approach.