Sep 6 2019
A group of Chinese researchers from Nanjing University has achieved a controllable quantum superposition of the two complementary states of light—as a particle and as a wave.
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The study by the team headed by Professor Ma Xiaosong clearly showed that light not just occurs in the particle or wave states but also in a quantum superposition of the two.
The study outcomes have been reported in the most recent issue of the Nature Photonics journal and help enhance the experimental potentials of quantum optics and probably of future quantum technologies, said the researchers.
The experiment is the first quantum delayed-choice under stringent Einstein locality conditions, which necessitated equipment situated in two separate labs located 141 m apart to be connected.
“By carefully arranging the location and timing of the experimental setup, we achieved the required relativistic separations between relevant events,” stated Wang Kai, a PhD student in Ma’s team and the study first author.
Ma reported that the experiment revealed that it is possible to tune the characteristics of this quantum wave-particle superposition, thereby paving the way for new experimental capability in quantum technologies.