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arXiv:1302.2816

Characterization of a Quantum Light Source Based on Spontaneous Parametric Down-Conversion

T. J. Huisman, S.R. Huisman, Allard P. Mosk, Pepijn W. H. Pinkse

Published Feb 12, 2013• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We have built a quantum light source capable of producing different types of quantum states. The quantum light source is based on entangled state preparation in the process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The single-photon detection rate of eight-hundred thousand per second demonstrates that we have created a bright state-of-the-art quantum light source. As a part of the characterization we measured two-photon quantum interference in a Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1302.2816

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We have built a quantum light source capable of producing different types of quantum states. The quantum light source is based on entangled state preparation in the process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The single-photon detection rate of eight-hundred thousand per second demonstrates that we have created a bright state-of-the-art quantum light source. As a part of the characterization we measured two-photon quantum interference in a Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer.
The importance of photon pair generation can never be overemphasized. It has formed the basis of most fundamental quantum optical experiments like Bell-experiments, quantum teleportation and entanglement swapping. However for considerable number of years Quantum Mechanics in general has remained largely theoretical and within the four corners of laboratories. Quantum Key Distribution is one of the first quantum applications to break this barrier. It provides us with unconditionally secured communication by providing us with efficient alternative to classical cryptography. This study forms part of the effort in realizing efficient way of generating photon pairs through the Spontaneous Parametric Down-Conversion process using a nonlinear crystal cut for type-I phase matching. After generating the photon pairs, the paper examined how they can be detected efficiently. We measured the rate of single photon generation (up to 200 kHz) as well as the rate at which they are detected in coincidence (150 coincidences per second). We further investigated a quantum interference effect (the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect) which classical wave theory has failed to describe. This effect has numerous applications in scalable quantum networks and in linear quantum computing. Finally, a remarkable conversion efficiency of 2.2
In recent years, the process of absorbing two photons using a non-classical light sources has been studied thoroughly. In particular, it has been experimentally demonstrated that the absorption cross section of two entangled photons is much greater than the absorption cross section of two uncorrelated photons. In this dissertation a source of entangled photons produced through spontaneous parametric down conversion or SPDC was constructed and characterized. It was found that for a pump laser of 411.32 nm and a BBO crystal of 1 mm the produced photons followed the same optical path as the laser, it was also found that the joint spectrum is symmetric at the degenerate wavelength of 822 ± 0.5 nm. This work conclude by showing a first approximation to execute a measurement of the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect. The objective of the measurements of joint spectrum and the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect are to understand the correlation properties of the photon source, with this information a virtual state spectroscopy technique can be implemented on the experiment constructed
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Recently, different experimental methods to investigate the entangled two-photon absorption (ETPA) process in a variety of materials have been reported. The present work reports on a different approach on which the ETPA process is detected based on the changes induced on the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interferogram of two photons produced by a spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) Type-II process. Using an organic solution of the laser dye Rhodamine B as a model, it is demonstrated that ETPA at 800nm can be monitored by the changes in the temporal-width and visibility of the HOM interferogram produced by the photons at a beam splitter after interacting with the sample. Additionally, we present a detail model in which the sample is modeled as a filtering function which fullfills the energy conservation conditions required by ETPA, allowing to explain the experimental observations with excellent agreement. We believe that this work represents a new perspective to study the ETPA process, by using an ultra-sensitive quantum interference technique and a detailed mathematical model of the process.