All Reflective Field-widened Unbalanced Interferometer for Quantum Sensing and Communication Applications

Abstract

Interference of time-bin encoded signals over free-space optical channels typically requires stringent mode filtering on receivers due to wavefront distortions from atmospheric turbulence, conventionally addressed with adaptive optics. Passive multimode receivers based on field-widened interferometers present a compelling alternative, enabling direct interference without the overhead of wavefront correction. We demonstrate a field-widened interferometer design that is implemented solely with reflective surfaces and achieves a high interference visibility (greater than 0.97) for spatially multimode beams. The interference of the multimode beams is enabled by two imaging systems that consist of a cavity configuration between a spherical concave mirror and a flat mirror. The configuration enables small form-factors, is inherently achromatic, and is based on standard spherical mirrors which reduces the complexity of the system. The interferometer is applicable for spatially multimode and turbulent optical channels, such as satellite communication, and is designed for quantum systems that use time-bin encoded qubits.