Realizing a variable isotropic depolarizer

Opt Lett. 2012 Jul 1;37(13):2643-5. doi: 10.1364/OL.37.002643.

Abstract

We demonstrate an isotropic depolarizing channel with a controllable degree of depolarization. The depolarizer is composed of four birefringent crystals and half-wave plates. Quantum process tomography results of the depolarization effect on single photons agree well with the theoretical prediction. This depolarizer can be used to test quantum communication protocols with photons.