Open AccessSelf-healing of a heralded single-photon Airy beam
Author(s) -
Zhixiang Li,
Yaping Ruan,
Jie Tang,
Yuan Liu,
Jian-Ji Liu,
Jiangshan Tang,
Han Zhang,
Keyu Xia,
Yanqing Lu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.441697
Subject(s) - airy beam , optics , physics , beam (structure) , distortion (music) , photon , wave packet , spatial light modulator , quantum mechanics , optoelectronics , amplifier , cmos
Self-healing of an Airy beam during propagation is of fundamental interest and also promises important applications. Despite many studies of Airy beams in the quantum regime, it is unclear whether an Airy beam only including a single photon can heal after passing an obstacle because the photon may be blocked. Here we experimentally observe self-healing of a heralded single-photon Airy beam. Our observation implies that an Airy wave packet is robust against obstacle caused distortion and can restore even at the single-photon level.