Control of quantum coherence of photons exploiting quantum entanglement

Abstract: Accurately controlling the quantum coherence of photons is pivotal for their applications in quantum sensing and quantum imaging. Here, we propose the utilization of quantum entanglement and local phase manipulation techniques to control the higher-order quantum coherence of photons. By engineering the spatially varying phases in the transverse plane, we can precisely manipulate the spatial structure of the second-order coherence function of entangled photon pairs without changing the photon intensity distribution of each photon. Our approach can readily be extended to higher-order quantum coherence control. These results could potentially stimulate new experimental research and applications of optical quantum coherence.