Quantum scissors: Teleportation of single-mode optical states by means of a nonlocal single photon

We employ the quantum state of a single photon entangled with the vacuum (|1](A)|0]B-|0](A)|1](B)), generated by a photon incident upon a symmetric beam splitter, to teleport single-mode quantum states of light by means of the Bennett protocol. The teleportation of coherent states results in the truncation of their Fock expansion to the first two terms. We analyze the teleported ensembles by means of homodyne tomography and obtain. delities of up to 99 per cent for low-source state amplitudes. This work is an experimental realization of the quantum scissors device proposed by Pegg, Phillips and Barnett (Phys. Rev. Lett., 81 (1998) 1604).