Direct generation of three-photon polarization entanglement

A three-photon entangled Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger state is directly produced by cascading two entangled down-conversion processes. Experimentally, 11.1 triplets per minute are detected on average. The three-photon entangled state is used for state tomography and as a test of local realism by violating the Mermin and Svetlichny inequalities.