Conditional generation of arbitrary single-mode quantum states of light by repeated photon subtractions

Abstract

We propose a scheme for the conditional generation of arbitrary finite superpositions of (squeezed) Fock states in a single mode of a traveling optical field. The suggested setup requires only a source of squeezed states, beam splitters, strong coherent beams, and photodetectors with single-photon sensitivity. The method does not require photodetectors with a high efficiency nor with a single-photon resolution.