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arXiv:1108.5542 · New Journal of Physics

Engineering integrated pure narrow-band photon sources

Enrico Pomarico, Bruno Sanguinetti, Clara I. Osorio, Harald Herrmann, Rob Thew

Published Mar 6, 2012• 46 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Engineering and controlling well-defined states of light for quantum information applications is of increasing importance as the complexity of quantum systems grows. For example, in quantum networks, high multi-photon interference visibility requires properly devised pure photon sources. In this paper, we present a theoretical model for a spontaneous parametric down conversion source based on an integrated cavity-waveguide, where single narrow-band, possibly distinct, resonant modes for the idler and the signal fields can be generated. This mode selection takes advantage of the clustering effect, due to the intrinsic dispersion of the nonlinear material. We show that, by engineering the clustering effect in an integrated cavity-waveguide and by using a standard detector, one can efficiently generate heralded pure single photons even with a continuous-wave pumping mode. The photon source proposed in this paper is extremely flexible and could easily be adapted to a wide variety of wavelengths and applications, such as long-distance quantum communication.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/14/3/033008

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Engineering and controlling well-defined states of light for quantum information applications is of increasing importance as the complexity of quantum systems grows. For example, in quantum networks, high multi-photon interference visibility requires properly devised pure photon sources. In this paper, we present a theoretical model for a spontaneous parametric down conversion source based on an integrated cavity-waveguide, where single narrow-band, possibly distinct, resonant modes for the idler and the signal fields can be generated. This mode selection takes advantage of the clustering effect, due to the intrinsic dispersion of the nonlinear material. We show that, by engineering the clustering effect in an integrated cavity-waveguide and by using a standard detector, one can efficiently generate heralded pure single photons even with a continuous-wave pumping mode. The photon source proposed in this paper is extremely flexible and could easily be adapted to a wide variety of wavelengths and applications, such as long-distance quantum communication.
Cavity-enhanced spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) can be used to implement heralded single-photon sources with narrow bandwidth down to tens of megahertz, thus compatible with atom-based quantum memories. In this work, we propose and study the cavities that are either singly resonant at the frequency of only one of the generated photons or doubly resonant at the frequency of one generated photon and for the pump field. We derive analytical expressions for the generation rate and the spectral brightness as a function of the main structure parameters. Our analysis shows that by exploiting counterpropagating SPDC inside a cavity with properly designed distributed Bragg reflectors, pure narrow-band heralded single photons can be generated. In particular, when a pulsed pump illuminates a 1-mm-long singly resonant cavity, the bandwidth of the resonant and the nonresonant photons will be 120 MHz and 5.7 GHz, respectively, with heralded single-photon purity as high as 0.993. Due to its small absorption probability inside the cavity, the heralding efficiency can approach unity if the nonresonant partner is used as a heralded single photon. Finally, we also show that continuous-wave excitation of a 1-cm-long cavity resonant for the pump and copropagating fields can provide photon pairs in a narrow bandwidth of 10 MHz with spectral brightness as high as $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{6}$ $({\text{s}\phantom{\rule{4.pt}{0ex}}\text{mW}\phantom{\rule{4.pt}{0ex}}\text{MHz})}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. This source can efficiently couple with quantum memories and can find applications in quantum information processing and communication.
Over the past decade, much effort has been made in identifying and characterizing systems that can form a building block of quantum networks, among which semiconductor quantum dots (QD) and spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) source are two of the most promising candidates. The work presented in this thesis will be centered on investigating and engineering the mentioned systems for generating customizable single photons. A type-II SPDC source can generate a highly flexible pair of entangled photons that can be used to interface disparate quantum systems. In this thesis, we have successfully implemented a cavity-SPDC source that emits polarization correlated photons at 942 nm with a lifetime of 950-1050ps that mode matches closely with InAs/GaAs QD photons. The source emits 80 photon pairs per second per mW pump power within the 150MHz bandwidth. Though the detection of idler photons, the source is capable of emitting heralded photons with g2≤0.5 for up to 40 mW pump power. For a low pump power of ~5 mW, the heralded g2 is 0.06, indicating that the system is an excellent heralded single photon source. By directly exciting a single QD with cavity-SPDC photons, we have demonstrated a heralded-absorption of SPDC photons by QD, resulting in the coupling of the two systems. Due to the large pump bandwidth, the emitted source is highly multimode in nature, requiring us to post-filter the downconverted field, resulting in a lower photon pair emission rate. We propose placing an intra-cavity etalon to suppress the multi-mode emissions and increase the photon count rate. Understanding and experimentally implementing two-photon interference (HOM) measurements will be crucial for building a scalable quantum network. A detailed theoretical description of HOM measurements is given and is experimentally demonstrated using photons emitted by QD. Through HOM measurements we demonstrated that the QD sample in the study is capable of emitting indistinguishable photons, with the visibility exceeding 95%. As an alternative approach to modifying the spectral mode of single photons, we performed phase modulation of photons emitted by a QD to generate additional sidebands that are separated by several GHz. By performing HOM measurements, we have shown that the central component and the sidebands are in the superposition states and the spectrally modified photons have a well-preserved indistinguishability. Such spectrally engineered photons can be used for phase-encoded cryptography applications. These experimental results should lay the foundations towards building a scalable hybrid quantum network.
This thesis presents experimental progress towards highly efficient generation of cavity- enhanced, narrow-band multiphotons using spontaneous parametric downconversion. It also suggests theoretical proposals for new applications of multiphoton sources in quantum information technology. Photons prepared in Fock states, with a well-defined number of particles, are the essence of the quantum nature of light, and their unique nonclassical properties help us to develop quantum information technology. The generation of Fock states has been most commonly achieved by using spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) through the χ(2) nonlinearity in bulk crystals. During the SPDC process the nonlinear crystal emits photon-number correlated modes, and a photon-number- resolving measurement in one mode heralds the preparation of the other mode in a Fock state. The fidelity and the success rate of Fock state generation is limited by the multimode nature of SPDC emission. In this thesis, I will investigate the use of cavity-enhanced SPDC modes for higher fidelity photon pair generation, in which the well defined mode of the cavity is enhanced and results in the narrow-band source of the heralded single-photons with up to 80% heralding efficiency. The heralding efficiency is defined as the ratio between number of coincidences and single events on the heralding mode. The photon-number-resolving ability of high-quantum-efficiency transition edge sensors is used for the heralding and detection. We further discuss the feasibility of Fock state generation with higher photon numbers upon improving the data acquisition and analysis techniques. We also demonstrate and implement an interferometry scheme that exploit the phase of the photon and is capable of reading boundless bits of digital information using a single photon. This thesis also introduces new theoretical proposals for using Fock states to obtain quantum advantages for various quantum information applications, here to increase the efficiency in reading out information stored in a classical digital memory and to discriminate optical phases with lower error rates than is feasible with classical protocols.
Efficiently generating photon pairs with high heralding efficiency and high single photon purity that are bandwidth matched to quantum emitters, quantum memories, and other matter-based qubits is critical for quantum networking applications. However, nonlinear optics-based sources require substantial spectral engineering to overcome the orders of magnitude bandwidth mismatch between those sources and qubit systems. A popular solution is cavity-enhanced spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) where the cavity sets the photon bandwidth and simultaneously enhances the spectral brightness of the SPDC. Bulk, free-space configurations are generally required to achieve the MHz-scale bandwidths required to interface with most qubit systems. Replicating these in scalable integrated photonic architectures is an ongoing challenge due to the much higher propagation losses that limit the size and linewidth of chip-based resonators. We show here how an intra-cavity slow light medium, acting as an ultra-narrow filter, would enable narrowband photon pair generation in broadband cavities with high single photon purity and without compromising the heralding efficiency. We show that such metrics can be readily realized in erbium doped thin-film lithium niobate microrings using realistic design parameters.
The practical prospect of quantum communication and information processing relies on sophisticated single-photon pairs, which feature a controllable waveform, narrow spectrum, excellent purity, fiber compatibility, and miniaturized design. For practical realizations, stable, miniaturized, low-cost devices are required. Sources with one or some of the above characteristics have already been demonstrated, but it is quite challenging to obtain a source with all of the described characteristics simultaneously. Here we report on an integrated single-longitudinal-mode, non-degenerate, narrowband photon pair source that exhibits all the requirements needed for quantum applications. The device is composed of a periodically poled, Ti-indiffused, lithium niobate waveguide with high reflective dielectric mirror coatings deposited on the waveguide end-faces. Photon pairs with wavelengths around 890 and 1320 nm are generated via type II phase-matched parametric down-conversion (PDC). Clustering in this dispersive cavity restricts the whole conversion spectrum to one single-longitudinal mode in a single cluster, yielding a narrow bandwidth of only 60 MHz. The high conversion efficiency in the waveguide, together with the spectral clustering in the doubly resonant waveguide, leads to a high brightness of pairs/(s mW MHz). This source exhibits prominent single-longitudinal-mode purity and remarkable temporal shaping capability. In particular, due to temporal broadening, we can observe that the coherence time of the two-photon component of the PDC state is actually longer than that of the single-photon states. The miniaturized monolithic design enables this source to have various fiber communication applications.
Photonic quantum technologies require efficient sources of pure single photons. We present a heralded single-photon source based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a monolithic cavity optimized for high spectral and spatial purity. The source heralds single photons at a wavelength of 1540 nm and a spectral bandwidth of 168 MHz, with a maximum heralding efficiency of 70% including all transmission and detection losses, while keeping the multi-photon contamination below 3%. The cavity enhancement predominantly generates photons into the central cavity mode, with a theoretical upper bound on the spectral purity of 79.4% arising from nonzero overlap with adjacent cavity modes. Spectral isolation of the central cavity mode with an etalon yields an increased measured spectral purity of (96.2 ±\pm± 2.7)%.