Design and Construction of Homodyne Detectors for the Study of Quantum Optical States

Nowadays the fields of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information are experiencing a mayor development worldwide, in particular, in the experimental arena. The reason relies in the high perspectives of application of these fields in areas as computing, security, telecommunications and metrology, among others. A determinant fact for the experimental and technological development is the ability to design and construct electronic devices suitable for the study of light with quantum features, as well as the software which is necessary for the analysis and processing of experimental data. In this work we present a general overview of the theory, practical design and experimental tests of one of such devices called Homodyne Detector addressed to the study and engineering of quantum states of light.