Thesis defense of Yannik Brune

The goal of this work is to examine the coherence of classical light fields in order to assess their usefulness for quantum-informational tasks and to draw conclusions about the properties of the light source. To this end, we use and extend several optical homodyne tomography techniques employing four-port, eight-port, and sixteen-port detection schemes. To understand the role of coherence of a light field in solving a quantum informational task such as coherent qubit control, we begin by analyzing the qubit excitation process from a resource-theoretical perspective. By simulating the light-matter interactions, we demonstrate how the quantum coherence of the driving light field emerges as a key ingredient for coherent qubit control. At the same time, we show how the presence of thermal noise or dephasing significantly degrades the achievable quantum coherence of the light field. After studying the coherence properties of conventional lasers, we turn to non-conventional coherent light sources and investigate the emission of a non-resonantly excited exciton-polariton condensate. By employing long-lived polaritons and minimizing interactions with the reservoir, we optimize the condensation process and achieve a pronounced buildup of quantum superpositions in the condensate immediately above the condensation threshold. Finally, we shift our focus entirely to the matter system itself and use the coherence of the emitted light field to investigate its dynamics. For this purpose, we introduce a sixteen-port detection scheme that enables non-stationary and conditional analyses tailored to the requirements of semiconductor spectroscopy. Benchmarking the setup with a thermal light field, then demonstrate how we can resolve the stochastic fluctuations of the thermal state on the femtosecond level. Overall, our results establish connections between quantum optics, quantum information science, and semiconductor physics, providing insights relevant for quantum technologies and future hybrid quantum devices.