Hybrid Homodyne-like Detection Scheme with Photon-Number-Resolving Detectors

The measurement of quantum states of light is fundamental for the investigations of Quantum Optics and for the applications of Quantum Information. Here we present the implementation of a novel detection apparatus, that is a homodyne-like detection scheme based on photon-number-resolving detectors. Thanks to its hybrid nature, the apparatus is useful to investigate both the particle-like and wave-like properties of light. We tested the scheme in the measurement of the quadratures of different optical states, namely coherent states and mixtures of coherent states. In particular, we investigate the performance of our scheme compared to that of a standard homodyne detector.