Hiding images in quantum correlations

Abstract

Photon-pair correlations in spontaneous parametric down conversion are ubiquitous in quantum photonics. The ability to engineer their properties for optimising a specific task is essential, but often challenging in practice. We demonstrate the shaping of spatial correlations between entangled photons in the form of arbitrary amplitude and phase objects. By doing this, we encode image information within the pair correlations, making it undetectable by conventional intensity measurements. It enables the transmission of complex, high-dimensional information using quantum correlations of photons, which can be useful for developing quantum communication and imaging protocols.