Engineering superpositions of N00N states using an asymmetric non-linear Mach–Zehnder interferometer

Abstract

We revisit a method for mapping arbitrary single-mode pure states into superpositions of N00N states using an asymmetric non-linear Mach–Zehnder interferometer (ANLMZI). This method would allow one to tailor-make superpositions of N00N states where each axis of the two-mode joint-photon number distribution is weighted by the statistics of any single-mode pure state. The non-linearity of the ANLMZI comes in the form of a χ(3) self-Kerr interaction occurring on one of the intermediary modes of the interferometer. Motivated by the non-classical interference effects that occur at a beam splitter, we introduce inverse-engineering techniques aimed toward extrapolating optimal transformations for generating N00N state superpositions. These techniques are general enough so as to be employed to probe the means of generating states of any desired quantum properties.