{"id":17686,"date":"2024-04-15T18:41:28","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T18:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/liquidinstruments.com\/?p=17686"},"modified":"2025-08-29T04:41:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T04:41:03","slug":"hanbury-brown-twiss-photon-counting-time-frequency-analyzer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/liquidinstruments.com\/white-papers\/hanbury-brown-twiss-photon-counting-time-frequency-analyzer\/","title":{"rendered":"Using a Time & Frequency Analyzer for Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiments","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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This white paper provides a guide on configuring the Moku Time & Frequency Analyzer<\/a> for Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiments, enabling real-time photon counting<\/a> and analysis.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

\n Photon counting guide<\/span><\/a>\n Time & Frequency Analyzer configuration guide<\/span><\/a>\n \n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>[vc_column_text css=””]The Moku Time & Frequency Analyzer<\/a> (TFA) measures intervals between configurable start and stop events with sub-ps precision. While using the TFA, you can compute lossless histograms of interval duration in real time, allowing you to view photon counting<\/a> experiment progress live rather than computing graphs exclusively in post-processing. By populating real-time histograms, you can observe photon bunching or antibunching behavior, investigate the second order correlation function, and analyze coherence properties of the photon source. One such application of this feature, Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiments, is an ideal use case of real-time histogram generation.<\/p>\n

Hanbury Brown and Twiss (HBT) experiment background<\/h2>\n

In a Hanbury Brown and Twiss (HBT<\/a>) experiment, scientists place two detectors at different locations to observe two split photon beams from a distant source. One beam travels a different path length relative to the other, resulting in a temporal offset between the arrival of photons at the two detectors. The experimenters measure the intensity of light arriving at each detector as a function of time. They then analyze the correlations between the intensities recorded by the two detectors. The HBT interferometer helps to verify the quantum nature of light with applications in astronomy, quantum information processing, and quantum communication.[1]<\/sub><\/p>\n

If the light behaves classically, the intensities detected by the two detectors should be uncorrelated. However, in quantum mechanics, photons can exhibit either bunching or anti-bunching behavior. Bunching refers to the tendency of photons to arrive together, while anti-bunching refers to the tendency for photons to avoid arriving together. If the detected photons exhibit bunching, it suggests that they are correlated, meaning they are more likely to arrive at the detectors simultaneously. Conversely, if they exhibit anti-bunching as seen in the histogram in Figure 1, it implies that they are anti-correlated, meaning they are less likely to arrive simultaneously. By observing photon arrival times using histograms, researchers can determine important spatial and temporal correlations between photons detected by different detectors.<\/p>\n

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Figure 1: Histogram of time delays between consecutive photon pairs exhibiting antibunching behavior<\/p>\n

By using the Moku Time & Frequency Analyzer to perform photon counting for HBT experiments, researchers can utilize FPGA-based, reconfigurable hardware. This form factor lends to zero dead-time measurements, an intuitive user interface with real-time, lossless histograms, and embedded data logging to perform further analysis after you have gathered the necessary data.<\/p>\n

Using the Moku Time & Frequency Analyzer for Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiments<\/h2>\n

Materials and hardware configuration<\/h3>\n