Generation of a Two-Photon Singlet Beam

Abstract

Controlling the pump beam transverse profile in multimode Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, we generate a "localized" two-photon singlet state, in which both photons propagate in the same beam. This type of multiphoton singlet beam may be useful in quantum communication to avoid decoherence. We show that although the photons are part of the same beam, they are never in the same plane-wave mode, which is characterized by spatial antibunching behavior in the plane normal to the propagation direction.