Hybrid waveguide-bulk multi-path interferometer with switchable amplitude and phase

Abstract

We design and realise a hybrid interferometer consisting of three paths based on integrated as well as on bulk optical components. This hybrid construction offers a good compromise between stability and footprint on one side and means of intervention on the other. As experimentally verified by the absence of higher-order interferences, amplitude and phase can be manipulated in all paths independently. In conjunction with single photons, the setup can, therefore, be applied for fundamental investigations on quantum mechanics.