Measurement and Shaping of Biphoton Spectral Wave Functions

In this work we present a simple method to reconstruct the complex spectral wave function of a biphoton, and hence gain complete information about the spectral and temporal properties of a photon pair. The technique, which relies on quantum interference, is applicable to biphoton states produced with a monochromatic pump when a shift of the pump frequency produces a shift in the relative frequencies contributing to the biphoton. We demonstrate an example of such a situation in type-II parametric down conversion allowing arbitrary paraxial spatial pump and detection modes. Moreover, our test cases demonstrate the possibility to shape the spectral wave function. This is achieved by choosing the spatial mode of the pump and of the detection modes, and takes advantage of spatiotemporal correlations.