Multi-band interference and imaging via joint-detection of two-photon beats from thermal radiation

Abstract

We present a theoretical discussion of multi-band two-photon interference via joint detection by “slow” detectors and extend it to a technique for multi-band ghost imaging. This technique exploits the advantage of two-photon optical beats over classical optical beats with multi-band thermal light, where the beat frequency can be resolved from intensity fluctuation correlation measurement with two relatively slow photodetectors. The underlying two-photon beats represent a two-photon interference phenomenon: a pair of randomly created and randomly paired photons interfering with the pair itself. A notable implication of the two-photon beats is that they can be turbulence-resistant, which makes our result not only of fundamental interest but also practically useful.