Under suitable conditions polystyrene microsphere colloids form photonic crystals capable of diffracting visible light, analogous to x-ray diffraction from atomic crystal planes. The lattice spacings of these crystals can be tailored to satisfy the Bragg condition along a certain direction for a particular desired wavelength. A modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer has been developed for accurat...

We show that the N -photon states produced by interference between laser light and downconverted light at the input of a two path interferometer can be characterized by a single tuning parameter that describes a transition from phase squeezing to nearly maximal path entanglement and back. The quantum states are visualized on a sphere using the analogy between N -photon interference and the spin...

Confined to a two-dimensional plane, electrons in a strong magnetic field travel along the edge in one-dimensional quantum Hall channels that are protected against backscattering. These channels can be used as solid-state analogs of monochromatic beams of light, providing a unique platform for studying electron interference. Electron interferometry is regarded as one of the most promising route...

In this paper, we study several designs for interferometric gravitational wave detectors, and the potential for enhancing their performance with a fast-light medium. First, we explore the effect of such a medium on designs similar to those already planned for Advanced LIGO. Then we review the zero-area Sagnac interferometer for GW detection, comparing its properties against the more conventiona...

The sensitivity and dynamic range of optical coherence tomography (OCT) are calculated for instruments utilizing two common interferometer configurations and detection schemes. Previous researchers recognized that the performance of dual-balanced OCT instruments is severely limited by beat noise, which is generated by incoherent light backscattered from the sample. However, beat noise has been ...

We present a new interferometer technique based on the interference of high-order harmonic generation radiation from translatable successive gas jets. The phase shifts in the apparatus are shown to originate from the Gouy phase shift of the driving laser. The technique can be used to deliver time delays between light pulses and we demonstrate the unprecedented capability of delivering pulses of...

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is expected to launch in the middle of the next decade. LISA will detect gravitational waves generated by sources ranging from galactic sources like neutron star and white dwarf binaries to mergers between super-massive black holes in the centers of colliding galaxies. LISA will consist of six freely-falling proof masses shielded by three identical ...

NASA Tech Briefs, November 2010 yield this behavior. Previous work on mean-square error characterization for ML estimators has predominantly focused on additive Gaussian noise. This work demonstrates that the discrete nature of the Poisson noise process leads to a distinctly different error behavior. This work was done by Baris I. Erkmen and Bruce E. Moision of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion...

NASA Tech Briefs, November 2010 yield this behavior. Previous work on mean-square error characterization for ML estimators has predominantly focused on additive Gaussian noise. This work demonstrates that the discrete nature of the Poisson noise process leads to a distinctly different error behavior. This work was done by Baris I. Erkmen and Bruce E. Moision of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion...

NASA Tech Briefs, November 2010 yield this behavior. Previous work on mean-square error characterization for ML estimators has predominantly focused on additive Gaussian noise. This work demonstrates that the discrete nature of the Poisson noise process leads to a distinctly different error behavior. This work was done by Baris I. Erkmen and Bruce E. Moision of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion...