Higher-order spontaneous parametric down-conversion with back-propagating idler using a submicron poled KTP waveguide

Abstract

Spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) using periodically poled nonlinear optical crystals under the quasiphase- matching condition has found wide use in quantum optics. High efficiencies and good coupling to single-mode fibers resulted from using channel waveguides in crystals. It is often desirable to have a very narrow bandwidth for the signal and idler photons, but under the typical operating conditions, phase matching dictates the bandwidth of the SPDC to be of the order of <1 nm. This occurs because the co-propagating signal and idler photons are entangled, and an increase of the signal wave-vector is compensated by a decrease of the idler wave-vector. One way to reduce the bandwidth is by forming either external or internal cavities. Additionally, bandwidth reduction is possible without cavities when the signal and idler are counter-propagating, and the changes in the wave-vector with frequency are additive. To accomplish this a domain inversion on the wavelength scale is required. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate SPDC in one-dimensional KTP-based waveguides with sub-micron poling for forward and backward interactions. Some of the spectral features of the generated light are accounted for by mode coupling theory in periodically poled waveguides but other features are as yet not explained.