REPORTS

leads to enhanced phase sensitivity, which can be

High-NOON States by Mixing Quantum used for reaching the fundamental Heisenberg
limit (2), and to phase super-resolution, which
and Classical Light is the key to sub-Rayleigh resolution in quan-
tum lithography (7). NOON states based on nu-
Itai Afek, Oron Ambar, Yaron Silberberg* clear spin (8) and atomic spin waves (9) have
also been shown to allow enhanced measure-
Precision measurements can be brought to their ultimate limit by harnessing the principles of ment sensitivity.
quantum mechanics. In optics, multiphoton entangled states, known as NOON states, can be used Our goal is to generate optical NOON states
to obtain high-precision phase measurements, becoming more and more advantageous as the with high photon numbers. Various schemes
number of photons grows. We generated “high-NOON” states (N = 5) by multiphoton interference for generating such states have been suggested
of quantum down-converted light with a classical coherent state in an approach that is inherently (2, 10–15). However, existing realizations (16–18)
scalable. Super-resolving phase measurements with up to five entangled photons were produced have been limited to three-photon states. We
with a visibility higher than that obtainable using classical light only. note that a “NOON-like” four-photon state has
been generated, but only by using four rather
ntanglement is a distinctive feature of which contain N indistinguishable particles in than two spatial modes (19). In addition, a num-

E quantum mechanics that lies at the core

of many new applications in the emerg-
ing science of quantum information. Multi-
an equal superposition of all being in one of two
possible paths A and B (2). These states are
“Schrödinger cats,” as they consist of a superpo-
ber of experiments have used state projection to
focus on the NOON component of various initial
N-photon states (20–23).
particle entangled states are central to quantum sition of two highly distinct states correspond- We present an experimental realization of an
computing, quantum teleportation, and quan- ing to the “dead and alive” cat. The larger the approach that yields NOON states with arbitrar-

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tum metrology (1). A particularly useful class of value of N, the bigger the cat is, thus bringing us ily high photon numbers (24, 25). The underly-
states are the maximally path-entangled multi- closer to the regime of macroscopic entangle- ing principle is that when a classical coherent
photon entangled states (NOON states) ment envisioned originally by Schrödinger (3). state and quantum down-converted light are
Realization of such states is required for the ex- mixed properly using a standard beamsplitter,
1   perimental study of fundamental questions such the emerging state shows “Schrödinger cat”–
jN::0〉A, B ≡ pffiffiffi jN, 0〉A, B þ j0, N 〉A, B ð1Þ
2 as the effect of decoherence on many-particle en- like behavior; that is, virtually all the photons
tanglement (4, 5). In addition, NOON states are exit collectively from one of the beamsplitter
Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute the enabling technology behind various quantum ports or the other (Fig. 1A). The approach is
of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. measurement schemes. In optics, a NOON state appealing because of its inherent simplicity, as it
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: with N entangled photons acquires a phase at a relies on a fundamental unmodified multiphoton
[email protected] rate N times as fast as classical light (6). This interference effect. Consider a 50/50 beamsplit-

Fig. 1. Theoretical properties of the generated states. (A)

Classical light is mixed on a beamsplitter with quantum photon
pairs produced by collinear SPDC. Bar heights represent the
probability for m, n photons in output modes c, d, respectively.
The “corner”-like shape illustrates the tendency of all the
photons to collectively exit from the same output port, exhibiting
“Schrödinger cat”–like behavior. The effect occurs for arbitrary
photon fluxes and is demonstrated here using 1.2 photons per
pulse from each input. (B) The same as (A) but using only the
classical light, shown for comparison. The photons at the outputs
are clearly in a separable (unentangled) state. (C) Fidelity FN
versus N in an ideal setup. The pair amplitude ratio g, which
maximizes the NOON state overlap, was chosen separately for
each N. Optimal fidelity is always larger than 0.92, and it
approaches 0.943 asymptotically for large N. The inset shows
that when g is optimized for N = 15, the fidelity for nearby N is
also high. In this case F > 0.75 for N = 12 to 19, simultaneously.
(D) Simulated N-fold coincidences as a function of Mach-Zehnder
phase for N = 5 or 12, demonstrating N-fold super-resolution.

www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 328 14 MAY 2010 879

REPORTS
Fig. 2. Experimental setup. A SPDC ter fed by a coherent state, |a〉a, in one input port
(A) Schematic of the setup de- and collinear degenerate spontaneous parame-
picting a Mach-Zehnder interfer- Coherent
state tric down-conversion (SPDC), |x〉b, in the other
ometer (MZ) fed by a coherent (Fig. 1A). The input states are defined in the
state and SPDC. The NOON conventional way (6):
states occur in modes ^c and d^
after the first beamsplitter. Mea-   n
surement of multiphoton co-
∞ 1 a
ja〉 ¼ ∑ exp − jaj2 pffiffiffiffi jn〉,
incidences is performed using n¼0 2 n!
photon number–resolving de- ϕ
tectors. (B) Detailed layout of a ¼ jaj expðiqcs Þ ð2Þ
the setup. A pulsed Ti:sapphire Photon number
oscillator with 120-fs pulses resolving detectors
at a repetition rate of 80 MHz pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
m ð2mÞ!
1 ∞
is doubled using a 2.74-mm
B State preparation jx〉 ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ∑ ð−1Þ ðtanh rÞm j2m〉
lithium triborate (LBO) crystal Ti: Sapphire cosh r m¼0 2m m!
to obtain 404-nm ultraviolet 120 fs LBO SPF BBO ð3Þ
pulses with maximum power UV
of 225 mW. These pulses where the phase of |x〉 has been set arbitrarily to
SPDC H
then pump collinear degen- zero, leaving the relative phase of the two inputs
erate type I SPDC at 808 nm to be determined by qcs. We denote the pair
using a 1.78-mm beta barium amplitude ratio of the coherent state and SPDC
Atten. ϕ(H,V) Coherent

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borate (BBO) crystal. The SPDC inputs by g ≡ |a|2/r. In physical terms, g2 is the
(H^ polarization) is mixed with state V
two-photon probability of the classical source
attenuated coherent light (V ^
divided by that of the quantum source. The larger
polarization) using a polarizing the value of g, the higher the relative weight of
beamsplitter (PBS). A ther- Detection Mach Zehnder
the classical resources. The state at the beamsplit-
mally induced drift in the rel- D2 D1 ter output, |yout〉c,d, is highly path-entangled. A
ative phase is corrected every general N-photon two-mode state can be written
few minutes with the use of a (H,V) ϕ (X,Y) as ∑Nk¼0 uk jk〉c jN − k〉d . The creation of an ideal
liquid crystal (LC) phase re-
NOON state would require elimination of all the
tarder. The MZ is polarization-
“non-NOON” components (i.e., u1, …, uN−1 = 0).
based in a collinear, inherently PBS PMF
phase-stable design. The MZ The present scheme does this almost perfectly
phase is controlled using an by using the naturally emerging multiphoton
LC SPCM
additional LC phase retarder at BPF interference (Fig. 1A). The fidelity of the output
45°, which adjusts the phase state’s normalized N-photon component, jyNout 〉,
2
between X^ and Y^ polarizations. The spatial and spectral modes are matched using a polarization-maintaining with a NOON state is F N ≡ j〈N::0jyNout 〉j . It can
fiber (PMF) and a 3-nm (full width at half maximum) bandpass filter (BPF). Photon number–resolving be shown that by choosing qcs = p/2 and op-
detection is performed using an array of single-photon counting modules (SPCM, Perkin Elmer). timizing g for each N, one can achieve FN > 0.92

Fig. 3. Experimental re-

400 A C 0.3
sults: Coincidence measure-
2 photon rate [Hz]

3 photon rate [Hz]

ments demonstrating N-fold 0.2
super-resolution for N = 2, 200
0.1
3, 4, and 5 with no back-
ground subtraction. Error 0 0
bars indicate Ts statistical
B 0 90 180 270 360 D 0 90 180 270 360 0.04
140
uncertainty. Solid lines are
obtained using an analytical 70 0.02
model (26). Numbers of
simultaneous “clicks” in de- 0 0
0.03 0.03
tectors D1 and D2 are denoted E G
N1 and N2, respectively (Fig.
4 photon rate [Hz]

5 photon rate [Hz]

0.02
2B). (A and B) Two-photon
rate with N1, N2 = 1, 1 (A) 0.01 0.02
and N1, N2 = 2, 0 (B). (C
0
and D) Three-photon rate F 0 90 180 270 360
with N1, N2 = 2, 1 (C) and 0.06 0.01
N1, N2 = 3, 0 (D). (E and F) 0.04
Four-photon rate with N1, 0.02
N2 = 3, 1 (E) and N1, N2 =
0 π π 0
2, 2 (F). (G) Five-photon 0 π/2 3π/2 2π 0 π/2 3π/2 2π
rate with N1, N2 = 3, 2. For MZ Phase [rad] MZ Phase [rad]
each N the pair amplitude
ratio g was chosen separately to maximize the NOONpstate ffiffiffi fidelity. The p
optimal
ffiffiffiffiffi a weighted least-squares sine-cosine decomposition restricted to frequencies of 0,
values (obtained analytically) are g2 = g3 = 1, g4 = 3, and g5 = 9/( 10 + 1, …, N (27). The values for plots (A) to (G) are V = 95 T 0.0%, 88 T 0.03%, 86 T
1) ≈ 2:16. Visibility of the sinusoidal patterns with N oscillations is determined by 0.6%, 80 T 1.9%, 74 T 3%, 73 T 2.4%, and 42 T 2%, respectively.

880 14 MAY 2010 VOL 328 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org

 REPORTS
for arbitrary N (Fig. 1C). The theoretical overlaps rate. In the current setup we estimate h ≈ 0.12 on matched to coherent states (28–30). Improved
for the states generated in this work are FN = 1, the basis of the SPDC coincidence-to-singles single-mode coupling of the photon pairs and
1, 0.933, and 0.941 for N = 2, 3, 4, and 5, ratio. high-efficiency photon number–resolving de-
respectively. We note that the four-photon val- The realized scheme works naturally for tectors (31, 32) would also be extremely ben-
ue is much higher than the theoretical fidelity arbitrary N (24). This requires no alterations to eficial. The inherent scalability opens the way
of 0.75 obtainable using down-conversion only the setup, except for the use of detectors that to exciting applications in high-sensitivity inter-
(22, 23). can resolve N-photon events and setting g ap- ferometry, quantum imaging, and sub-Rayleigh
To verify the N-photon coherence of the gen- propriately. This is in contrast to previous ex- lithography.
erated states, we use a Mach-Zehnder interfer- periments that were customized to a specific
ometer (Fig. 2). This is the prototypical setup used value of N (16–18). Our implementation is
in schemes for quantum lithography and reduced- limited to N = 5 mainly by the overall setup References and Notes
1. M. Nielsen, I. Chuang, Quantum Computation and
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polarizations (H, V ) and spatially overlapped using Furthermore, most of the photons in this scheme 2. J. Dowling, Contemp. Phys. 49, 125 (2008).
a polarizing beamsplitter. A Mach-Zehnder inter- originate from the coherent (classical) light 3. E. Schrödinger, Naturwissenschaften 23, 807 (1935).
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herently phase-stable, collinear design so that the sity. This eliminates the need for bright SPDC 5. H. S. Eisenberg, G. Khoury, G. A. Durkin, C. Simon,
NOON state mode subscripts c, d may now be re- sources, providing experimental simplification. D. Bouwmeester, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 193901 (2004).
placed by X, Y (T45° polarizations). After appli- Finally, the scheme involves no state projection 6. C. C. Gerry, P. L. Knight, Introductory Quantum Optics
(Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 2005).
cation of the MZ phase shift ϕ, the state |N, 0〉X,Y + or post-selection, implying that all the N-photon 7. A. N. Boto et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2733 (2000).
|0, N 〉X,Y evolves to |N, 0〉X,Y + exp(iNϕ)|0, N 〉X,Y. events contribute to the measurable N-photon 8. J. A. Jones et al., Science 324, 1166 (2009).

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This gives rise to interference oscillations N times interferences. 9. Y.-A. Chen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 043601
as fast as those of a single photon with the same The N-fold coincidence plots of Fig. 1D (2010).
10. K. T. McCusker, P. G. Kwiat, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 163602
frequency (2). exhibit N zero points, as expected from per-
(2009).
In the experimental results (Fig. 3), two- to fect maximally path-entangled states, albeit 11. K. T. Kapale, J. P. Dowling, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 053602
five-photon coincidence rates were measured with somewhat modulated peak heights. In (2007).
as a function of the MZ phase. We denote the fact, it has been shown (24) that as a result of 12. H. Cable, J. P. Dowling, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 163604
number of photon “clicks” in detectors D1 and the high fidelity, we can expect a phase sensitiv- (2007).
13. G. J. Pryde, A. G. White, Phys. Rev. A 68, 052315
D2 as N1 and N2, respectively. The N1, N2 co- ity that is only slightly lower than the Heisenberg (2003).
incidence rate is expected to demonstrate a de limit for a given N-photon component. Thus, 14. J. Fiurášek, Phys. Rev. A 65, 053818 (2002).
Broglie wavelength (6) of l/N, where N = N1 + the small deviation from an ideal NOON state 15. H. F. Hofmann, Phys. Rev. A 70, 023812 (2004).
N2 is the total number of photons. The red curves is not a major limiting factor and is more than 16. M. D’Angelo, M. V. Chekhova, Y. Shih, Phys. Rev. Lett.
87, 013602 (2001).
are produced by an analytical model of the ex- compensated for by the intrinsic 100% effici- 17. M. W. Mitchell, J. S. Lundeen, A. M. Steinberg,
periment, accounting for the overall transmis- ency. Furthermore, although the state at hand Nature 429, 161 (2004).
sion and the positive operator-value measures of is optimized for a given N = N0, there is a 18. H. Kim, H. S. Park, S.-K. Choi, Opt. Express 17, 19720
the detectors (26). The two- and three-photon range of N values surrounding N0 that also (2009).
19. P. Walther et al., Nature 429, 158 (2004).
results were measured simultaneously with g2 = have considerable NOON fidelity (Fig. 1, A 20. B. H. Liu et al., Phys. Rev. A 77, 023815 (2008).
g3 = 1 (the subscript of g denotes the value of N and C). Thus, the generated state is actually a 21. K. J. Resch et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 223601
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of ultraviolet power to pump the SPDC. The photon numbers, each of which contributes to 22. R. Okamoto et al., N. J. Phys. 10, 073033 (2008).
23. T. Nagata, R. Okamoto, J. L. O’Brien, K. Sasaki,
results in Fig. 3, C and D, show a visibility of the enhanced phase sensitivity. As a result,
S. Takeuchi, Science 316, 726 (2007).
86 T 0.6% for 2, 1 photons and 80 T 1.9% for the current method could allow exceeding of 24. H. F. Hofmann, T. Ono, Phys. Rev. A 76, 031806
3, 0 photons. The four-photon
pffiffiffi measurements the standard quantum limit while accounting (2007).
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violet pump power. They exhibit similar visibil- (25). (2008).
26. See supporting material on Science Online.
ities for the 3, 1 and the 2, 2 options: 74 T 3% and It is interesting that a setup similar to the one 27. I. Afek, O. Ambar, Y. Silberberg, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104,
73 T 2.4%, respectively (Fig. 3, E and F). Finally, in Fig. 2A, but with much stronger light fields, is 123602 (2010).
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2% for 3, 2 photons and was taken using 215 reduction via homodyne detection (6). Homo- (2008).
29. P. J. Mosley, J. S. Lundeen, B. J. Smith, I. A. Walmsley,
mW of ultraviolet
pffiffiffiffiffi pump power and setting dyne detection is a highly developed technique N. J. Phys. 10, 093011 (2008).
g5 ¼ 9=ð 10 þ 1Þ ≈ 2:16 (Fig. 3G), implying based on the measurement of the continuous- 30. A. Valencia, A. Ceré, X. Shi, G. Molina-Terriza,
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SPDC. All the above visibilities manifest the and coherent light interference into the weak (2008).
high NOON-state overlap of the generated local oscillator regime is extremely fruitful. The 33. We thank B. Dayan for helpful discussions.
states. These visibilities significantly exceed states emerging from this interference, for a given Supported by an Ilan Ramon Fellowship (I.A.) and
the super-resolution bound for classical states, N, are almost perfect NOON states. This implies the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research
and Development.
which we have recently derived (27). In a fundamental connection between quantum
particular, the classical bound for the five- noise reduction (with continuous variables) and
photon measurement is 16.67%, which is surpassed creation of NOON states (in photon number– Supporting Online Material
www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/328/5980/879/DC1
here by more than 12 standard deviations. The resolving experiments). SOM Text
visibility of the experimental plots is determined The key to extending this work to even Fig. S1
by the overall setup transmission, which we higher NOON states is in improving the overall References
denote as h. For h < 1, high-order events con- transmission. This highlights the need for high- 10 February 2010; accepted 13 April 2010
tribute a background to the N-fold coincidence purity SPDC sources that can be spectrally mode- 10.1126/science.1188172

www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 328 14 MAY 2010 881

High-NOON States by Mixing Quantum and Classical Light
Itai Afek, Oron Ambar and Yaron Silberberg

Science 328 (5980), 879-881.

DOI: 10.1126/science.1188172

All and Nothing

Entanglement, where a system can be in a superposition of a number of distinct states simultaneously, is a
principle at the foundation of quantum mechanics (recall Schrödinger's cat, which is both dead and alive). It can also be
used in many applications−−imaging, communication, patterning, and metrology−−with the effect being amplified by
entangling larger systems. However, the systematic generation of ''large'' entangled systems is challenging. Afek et al.

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(p. 879; see the Perspective by Wildfeuer) present a technique for generating many-photon entanglement in so-called
NOON states, where there are two possible paths and N photons in one path and 0 in the other −−the system being a
superposition of ''all and nothing'' states. Mixing of entangled pairs with classical light at a beam splitter formed up to five
photon-entangled states. The technique should be generally applicable to generate higher-order entangled states.

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