Generation Of Correlated Photon Pairs Research Articles

Correlated photon pair generation in ultra-silicon-rich nitride waveguide

Correlated photon pair generation is demonstrated using ultra-silicon-rich nitride waveguides. Waveguides with a length of 10 mm, nonlinear parameter of 530 W−1/m and anomalous dispersion are used to achieve spontaneous four-wave mixing. A generated coincidence rate of 2.40×105 counts per second is achieved, and derived from a measured coincidence rate of ∼1 counts per second at the maximum coupled power of 5 mW, in line with the expected quadratic dependence of spontaneous four-wave mixing efficiency on power. Utilizing picosecond pulses as the pump, we achieve a measured coincidence rate of up to 1.8 counts per second, resulting in a generated coincidence rate of 2.20×10−2 counts per pulse at the maximum peak power of 8.33 W. 2.3 times larger coincidence-to-accidental ratio is also obtained using a pulsed pump compared to that achieved with a continuous-wave pump. Further enhancements via the use of ring resonators may be adopted.

High repetition rate correlated photon pair generation in integrated silicon nanowires.

Integrated single-photon sources are a key component for photonic quantum technology but are generally limited to low single-photon rates. For sources based on photon pair generation by four-wave mixing, increasing the repetition rate of pump laser pulses is a straightforward way to enhance the single-photon rate, but the benefits and practical limitations have not yet been demonstrated and analyzed in a CMOS-compatible platform. In this work, we demonstrate correlated photon pair generation in integrated silicon nanowires and systematically analyze the count rate and coincidence to accidental ratio as the pump rate is varied between 156.25MHz and 10GHz. We show that the highest useful pump rate is limited by the timing resolution of the single-photon detection system, and that in this regime, the nonlinear loss of the silicon nanowire does not have a significant effect on the single-photon generation.

Correlated photon pair generation in low-loss double-stripe silicon nitride waveguides

We demonstrate correlated photon pair generation via spontaneous four-wave mixing in a low-loss double-stripe silicon nitride waveguide with a coincidence-to-accidental ratio over 10. The coincidence-to-accidental ratio is limited by spontaneous Raman scattering, which can be mitigated by cooling in the future. This demonstration suggests that this waveguide structure is a potential platform to develop integrated quantum photonic chips for quantum information processing.

Correlated photon pair generation in AlGaAs nanowaveguides via spontaneous four-wave mixing.

We demonstrate a source of correlated photon pairs which will have applications in future integrated quantum photonic circuits. The source utilizes spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) in a dispersion-engineered nanowaveguide made of AlGaAs, which has merits of negligible two-photon absorption and low spontaneous Raman scattering (SpRS). We observe a coincidence-to-accidental (CAR) ratio up to 177, mainly limited by propagation losses. Experimental results agree well with theoretical predictions of the SFWM photon pair generation and the SpRS noise photon generation. We also study the effects from the SpRS, propagation losses, and waveguide lengths on the quality of our source.

The impact of nonlinear losses in the silicon micro-ring cavities on CW pumping correlated photon pair generation

In this paper, 1.5 μm correlated photon pairs are generated under continuous wave (CW) pumping in a silicon micro-ring cavity with a Q factor of 8.1 × 10(4). The ratio of coincidences to accidental coincidences (CAR) is up to 200 under a coincidence time bin width of 5 ns. The experiment result of single side photon count shows that the generation rate does not increase as the square of the pump level due to the nonlinear losses in the cavity which reduce the Q factor and impact the field enhancement effect in the cavity under high pump level. Theoretical analysis shows that the photon pair generation rate in the cavity is proportional to the seventh power of the Q factor, which agrees well with the experiment result. It provides a way to analyze the performance of CW pumping correlated photon pair generation in silicon micro-ring cavities under high pump levels.

Continuous-wave quasi-phase-matched waveguide correlated photon pair source on a III–V chip

We report on the demonstration of correlated photon pair generation in a quasi-phase-matched superlattice GaAs/AlGaAs waveguide using a continuous-wave pump. Our photon pair source has a low noise level and achieves a high coincidence-to-accidental ratio greater than 100, which is the highest value reported in III–V chips so far. This correlated photon pair source has the potential to be monolithically integrated with on-chip pump laser sources fabricated on the same superlattice wafer structure, enabling direct correlated/entangled photon pair production from a compact electrically powered chip.

End-Output Coupling Efficiency Measurement of Silicon Wire Waveguides Based on Correlated Photon Pair Generation

A method to measure the end-output coupling efficiencies between silicon wire waveguides (SWWs) and optical fibers is proposed and demonstrated. The end-output coupling efficiency is calculated through four measured counting rates based on the correlated photon pair generation in the SWW. It provides a way to investigate and optimize the coupling processes at the input and output end of the optical waveguides separately.

Slow light enhanced correlated photon pair generation in photonic-crystal coupled-resonator optical waveguides

We demonstrate the generation of quantum-correlated photon pairs from a Si photonic-crystal coupled-resonator optical waveguide. A slow-light supermode realized by the collective resonance of high-Q and small-mode-volume photonic-crystal cavities successfully enhanced the efficiency of the spontaneous four-wave mixing process. The generation rate of photon pairs was improved by two orders of magnitude compared with that of a photonic-crystal line defect waveguide without a slow-light effect.

Quantum-correlated photon pair generation in tellurite microstructured optical fibers

We theoretically investigated the generation of quantum-correlated photon pair through spontaneous four-wave mixing in tellurite microstructured optical fiber (MOF). We evaluated the performance of photon pair generation in tellurite fibers based on Raman gain coefficient spectra. It was shown that the TBSN16P6W tellurite fiber provided a low Raman noise on correlation photon generation over a wide pump-idler detuning range. We can choose proper tellurite composition to obtain a low Raman gain window over wide range for correlated photon pair generation. We also designed the tellurite MOF structure to obtain a small dispersion value with high nonlinear coefficient at telecommunication wavelengths, thus realize efficient quantum-correlated photon pair generation.

Near-zero anomalous dispersion Ge_115As_24Se_645 glass nanowires for correlated photon pair generation: design and analysis

We show that highly nonlinear chalcogenide glass nanowire waveguides with near-zero anomalous dispersion should be capable of generating correlated photon-pairs by spontaneous four-wave mixing at frequencies detuned by over 17 THz from the pump where Raman noise is absent. In this region we predict a photon pair correlation of >100, a figure of merit >10 and brightness of ~8×10(8) pairs/s over a bandwidth of >15 THz in nanowires with group velocity dispersion of <5 ps∙km(-1) nm(-1). We present designs for double-clad Ge(11.5)As(24)Se(64.5) glass nanowires with realistic tolerance to fabrication errors that achieve near-zero anomalous dispersion at a 1420 nm pump wavelength. This structure has a fabrication tolerance of 80-170 nm in the waveguide width and utilizes a SiO(2)/Al(2)O(3) layer deposited by atomic layer deposition to compensate the fabrication errors in the film thickness.

Slow-light enhanced correlated photon pair generation in a silicon photonic crystal waveguide

We report the generation of correlated photon pairs in the telecom C-band at room temperature from a dispersion-engineered silicon photonic crystal waveguide. The spontaneous four-wave mixing process producing the photon pairs is enhanced by slow-light propagation enabling an active device length of less than 100 μm. With a coincidence to accidental ratio of 12.8 at a pair generation rate of 0.006 per pulse, this ultracompact photon pair source paves the way toward scalable quantum information processing realized on-chip.

Correlated Photon Pair Generation in Silicon Wire Waveguides at 1.5 μm

Correlated photon pairs at 1.5μm are generated in a silicon wire waveguide (SWW) with a length of only 1.6mm. Experimental results show that the single-side count rates on both sides increase quadratically with pump light, indicating that photons are generated from the spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) processes. The quantum correlation property of the generated photons is demonstrated by the ratio between coincident and accidental coincident count rates. The highest ratio measured at room temperature is to be about 19, showing that generated photon pairs have strong quantum correlation property and low noise. What is more, the wavelength correlation property of the coincident count is also measured to demonstrate the correlated photon pair generation. The experimental results demonstrate that SWWs have great potential in on-chip integrated low-noise correlated photon pair sources at 1.5 μm.

Noise performance comparison of 15 μm correlated photon pair generation in different fibers

In this paper, the noise performances of 1.5 um correlated photon pair generations based on spontaneous four wave-mixing in three types of fibers, i.e., dispersion shifted fiber, highly nonlinear fiber, and highly nonlinear microstructure fiber are investigated experimentally. Result of the comparison shows that highly nonlinear microstructure fiber has the lowest Raman noise photon generation rate among the three types of fibers while correlated photon pair generation rate is the same. Theoretical analysis shows that the noise performance is determined by the nonlinear index and Raman response of the material in fiber core. The Raman response raises with increasing doping level, however, the nonlinear index is almost unchanged with it. As a result, highly nonlinear microstructure fiber with pure silica core has the best noise performance and has great potential in practical sources of correlated photon pairs and heralded single photons.

Impact of fiber birefringence on correlated photon pair generation in highly nonlinear microstructure fibers

In this paper, correlated photon pair generation in a piece of highly nonlinear microstructure fiber with birefringence is investigated experimentally under different pump polarization directions. In the experimental condition, correlated photon pairs are generated by two independent scalar scattering processes along the two fiber polarization axes. Under linearly polarized pump light with a polarization direction of 45° with respect to the fiber polarization axes, the polarization entangled characteristics of generated two-photon state is demonstrated. The two-photon interference fringes are measured with fringe visibilities of 96 ± 3% and 87 ± 4% under two non-orthogonal detecting polarization directions at signal side. The experimental results are discussed using the quantum theory of spontaneous parametric fluorescence in birefringent fibers, showing that the pump polarization dependence of correlated photon pair generation in the highly nonlinear microstructure fiber is due to its group birefringence. The experiment and theoretical analysis show that fiber birefringence has important impact on correlated photon pair generation, which provides a simple way to generate maximum polarization entanglement in fibers.

Frequency and Polarization Characteristics of Correlated Photon-Pair Generation Using a Silicon Wire Waveguide

We report the frequency and polarization characteristics of correlated photon pairs generated in a Si wire waveguide (SWW). We confirmed that the bandwidth for correlated photon-pair generation was at least >2.8 THz. Moreover, we carried out a classical four-wave mixing experiment using strong pump and idler lights to estimate the bandwidth for correlated photon-pair generation. The results indicated that it is possible to generate photon pairs over a bandwidth as large as ~12 THz. We also showed that the generation efficiencies of the signal and idler photons for the horizontal polarization mode were much higher than those for the vertical polarization mode. This is probably caused by the large efficiencies in the group indexes and the effective cross-sectional areas for the two polarization modes. Furthermore, the bandwidth for the correlated photon-pair generation in the vertical polarization mode was ~±1 THz, and this was much narrower than that for the horizontal polarization mode. The difference between the bandwidths of the two polarization modes indicates that the SWW dispersion for the vertical polarization mode is significantly larger than that for the horizontal polarization mode. We then confirmed that the noise photons generated by spontaneous Raman scattering in an SWW were suppressed to below the detection limit of our setup.

Correlated photon-pair generation in reverse-proton-exchange PPLN waveguides with integrated mode demultiplexer at 10 GHz clock

We report 10-ps correlated photon pair generation in periodically-poled reverse-proton-exchange lithium niobate waveguides with integrated mode demultiplexer at a wavelength of 1.5-mum and a clock of 10 GHz. Using superconducting single photon detectors, we observed a coincidence to accidental count ratio (CAR) as high as 4000. The developed photon-pair source may find broad application in quantum information systems as well as quantum entanglement experiments.