Quantum Frequency Down-Conversion of Ca+–resonant Polarization–Entangled Photons to the Telecom O-Band

Abstract

In a typical quantum repeater scenario, remote quantum memories have to be interconnected by flying qubits transmitted in quantum channels. e.g. single photons in photonic fiber links. To establish long-distance communication, photons in the low-loss telecom wavlength regime are desirable. However, the majority of the candidates for quantum memories such as trapped atoms or ions, rare earth ensembles, color centers in diamond, atomic ensembles etc. possess optical transitions merely in the visible or near-infrared spectral regime below 1000 nm. One possible solution is the transduction of these wavelengths to the telecom region via quantum frequency conversion (QFC) based on three-wave-mixing processes in a nonlinear χ(2)-medium. Technical achievements in recent years enabled high conversion efficiencies and low conversion-induced noise contributions resulting in signal-to-background ratios high enough to demonstrate the preservation of several classical and quantum properties of the photons, e.g. first- and second-order coherence [1], time-bin entanglement [2], polarization entanglement [3] or indistinguishability [4]. QFC thus provides a powerful toolbox to interface quantum systems to the telecom bands and beyond that yet to interconnect dissimilar quantum systems.