Photon-pair generation in lossy coupled-resonator optical waveguides via spontaneous four-wave mixing

Abstract

We theoretically model pair generation and evolution via the nonlinear process of spontaneous four-wave mixing in a coupled-resonator optical waveguide in a photonic crystal slab. Using the adjoint master equation for a system of lossy coupled cavities, we calculate a symmetrized second-order coherence function to determine pair detection probability. We find that the scattering loss can have as large an effect on pair generation as waveguide dispersion. In particular, the wave-vector dependence of the loss can shift the frequency of the maximum detection probability and therefore cannot, in general, be ignored or treated via a simple overall loss factor.