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arXiv:0711.3377 · New Journal of Physics

Storage and retrieval of nonclassical photon pairs and conditional single photons generated by the parametric down-conversion process

K. Akiba, K Kashiwagi, Manabu Arikawa, Mikio Kozuma

Published Jan 26, 2009• 42 citations

Abstract

Storage and retrieval of parametric down-conversion (PDC) photons are demonstrated with electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Extreme frequency filtering is performed for the THz order of broadband PDC light and the frequency bandwidth of the light is reduced to the MHz order. Storage and retrieval procedures are carried out for frequency-filtered PDC photons. Since the filtered bandwidth (full width at half-maximum (FWHM)=9 MHz) is within the EIT window (FWHM=12.6 MHz), the flux of the PDC light is successfully stored and retrieved. The nonclassicality of the retrieved light is confirmed by using the photon counting method, where the classical inequality that is only satisfied for classical light fields is introduced. Since PDC photons can be utilized for producing a single-photon state conditionally, storage and retrieval procedures are also performed for conditional single photons. The anticorrelation parameter used for checking the property of the single-photon state shows a value of less than 1, which means that the retrieved light is in a nonclassical region.

DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/11/1/013049

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Storage and retrieval of parametric down-conversion (PDC) photons are demonstrated with electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Extreme frequency filtering is performed for the THz order of broadband PDC light and the frequency bandwidth of the light is reduced to the MHz order. Storage and retrieval procedures are carried out for frequency-filtered PDC photons. Since the filtered bandwidth (full width at half-maximum (FWHM)=9 MHz) is within the EIT window (FWHM=12.6 MHz), the flux of the PDC light is successfully stored and retrieved. The nonclassicality of the retrieved light is confirmed by using the photon counting method, where the classical inequality that is only satisfied for classical light fields is introduced. Since PDC photons can be utilized for producing a single-photon state conditionally, storage and retrieval procedures are also performed for conditional single photons. The anticorrelation parameter used for checking the property of the single-photon state shows a value of less than 1, which means that the retrieved light is in a nonclassical region.

The broadband parametric fluorescence pulse (probe light) with center frequency resonant on the

^{87}\mathrm{Rb}

{D}_{1}

line was injected into a cold atomic ensemble with coherent light (control light). Due to the low gain in the parametric down conversion process, the probe light was in a highly bunched photon-pair state. By switching off the control light, the probe light within the electromagnetically induced transparency window was mapped on the atoms. When the control light was switched on, the probe light was retrieved and frequency-filtered storage was confirmed from the superbunching effect and an increase of the coherence time of the retrieved light.

We report the storage and retrieval of single photons, via a quantum memory, in the optical phonons of a room-temperature bulk diamond. The THz-bandwidth heralded photons are generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion and mapped to phonons via a Raman transition, stored for a variable delay, and released on demand. The second-order correlation of the memory output is g((2))(0)=0.65±0.07, demonstrating a preservation of nonclassical photon statistics throughout storage and retrieval. The memory is low noise, high speed and broadly tunable; it therefore promises to be a versatile light-matter interface for local quantum processing applications.

We investigate the storage of light in an atomic sample with a Lambda-type coupling scheme driven by optical fields at variable two-photon detuning. In the presence of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), light is stored and retrieved from the sample by dynamically varying the group velocity. It is found that for any two-photon detuning of the input light pulse within the EIT transparency window, the carrier frequency of the retrieved light pulse matches the two-photon resonance frequency with the atomic ground state transition and the control field. This effect which is not based on spectral filtering is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. It can be used for high-speed precision measurements of the two-photon resonance as employed, e.g., in optical magnetometry.

Broadband quantum light is a vital resource for quantum metrology and spectroscopy applications such as quantum optical coherence tomography or entangled two photon absorption. For entangled two photon absorption in particular, very high photon flux combined with high time-frequency entanglement is crucial for observing a signal. So far these conditions could be met by using high power lasers driving degenerate, type 0 bulk-crystal spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) sources. This naturally limits the available wavelength ranges and precludes deterministic splitting of the generated output photons. In this work we demonstrate an integrated two-colour SPDC source utilising a group-velocity matched lithium niobate waveguide, reaching both exceptional brightness 1.52⋅10 6 pairssmWGHz and large bandwidth (7.8 THz FWHM) while pumped with a few mW of continuous wave (CW) laser light. By converting a narrow band pump to broadband pulses the created photon pairs show correlation times of Δ τ ≈ 120 fs while maintaining the narrow bandwidth Δ ω p ≪ 1 MHz of the CW pump light, yielding strong time-frequency entanglement. Furthermore our process can be adapted to a wide range of central wavelengths.

Counter-propagating parametric conversion processes in non-linear bulk crystals have been shown to feature unique properties for efficient narrowband frequency conversion. In quantum optics, the generation of photon pairs with a counter-propagating parametric down-conversion process (PDC) in a waveguide, where signal and idler photons propagate in opposite directions, offers unique material-independent engineering capabilities. However, realizing counter-propagating PDC necessitates quasi-phase-matching (QPM) with extremely short poling periods. Here, we report on the generation of counter-propagating single-photon pairs in a self-made periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide with a poling period on the same order of magnitude as the generated wavelength. The single photons of the biphoton state bridge GHz and THz bandwidths with a separable joint temporal-spectral behavior. Furthermore, they allow the direct observation of the temporal envelope of heralded single photons with state-of-the art photon counters.