We analyze theoretically spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a multimode nonlinear waveguide as a source of entangled pairs of spatial qubits, realized as superpositions of a photon in two orthogonal transverse modes of the waveguide. It is shown that, by exploiting intermodal dispersion, down-conversion into the relevant pairs of spatial modes can be selected by spectral filtering, which also provides means to fine tune the properties of the generated entangled state. We also discuss an inverting interferometer detecting the spatial parity of the input beam as a versatile tool to characterize properties of the generated state. A single-photon Wigner function obtained by a scan of the displaced parity can be used to identify the basis modes of a spatial qubit, whereas correlations between displaced parity measurements on two photons can directly verify quantum entanglement through a violation of Bell's inequalities.

• Received 20 January 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.95.032322