Aluminum nitride waveguide beam splitters for integrated quantum photonic circuits

Abstract

We demonstrate integrated photonic circuits for quantum devices using sputtered polycrystalline aluminum nitride (AlN) on insulator. On-chip AlN waveguide directional couplers, which are one of the most important components in quantum photonics, are fabricated and show the output power splitting ratios from 50:50 to 99:1. Polarization beam splitters with an extinction ratio of more than 10 dB are also realized from the AlN directional couplers. Using the fabricated AlN waveguide beam splitters, we observe Hong–Ou–Mandel interference with a visibility of 91.7%±5.66%.