Hybrid waveguide scheme for silicon-based quantum photonic circuits with quantum light sources

Abstract

We propose a hybrid silicon waveguide scheme to avoid the impact of noise photons induced by pump lights in application scenarios of quantum photonic circuits with quantum light sources. The scheme is composed of strip waveguide and shallow-ridge waveguide structures. It utilizes the difference of biphoton spectra generated by spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) in these two waveguides. By proper pumping setting and signal/idler wavelength selection, the generation of desired photon pairs is confined in the strip waveguide. The impact of noise photons generated by SFWM in the shallow-ridge waveguide can be avoided. Hence, the shallow-ridge waveguide could be used to realize various linear operation devices for pump light and quantum state manipulations. The feasibility of this scheme is verified by theoretical analysis and a primary experiment. Two applications are proposed and analyzed, showing its great potential in silicon-based quantum photonic circuits.