We demonstrate continuous tuning of the squeezing-level generated in a double-ring optical parametric oscillator by externally controlling the coupling condition using electrically controlled integrated microheaters. We accomplish this by utilizing the avoided crossing exhibited by a pair of coupled silicon nitride microring resonators. We directly detect a change in the squeezing level from 0.5 dB in the undercoupled regime to 2 dB in the overcoupled regime, which corresponds to a change in the generated on-chip squeezing factor from 0.9 to 3.9 dB. Such wide tunability in the squeezing level can be harnessed for on-chip quantum-enhanced sensing protocols that require an optimal degree of squeezing.
We demonstrate continuous tuning of the squeezing-level generated in a double-ring optical parametric oscillator by externally controlling the coupling condition using electrically controlled integrated microheaters. We accomplish this by utilizing the avoided crossing exhibited by a pair of coupled silicon nitride microring resonators. We directly detect a change in the squeezing level from 0.5 dB in the undercoupled regime to 2 dB in the overcoupled regime, which corresponds to a change in the generated on-chip squeezing factor from 0.9 to 3.9 dB. Such wide tunability in the squeezing level can be harnessed for on-chip quantum-enhanced sensing protocols that require an optimal degree of squeezing.
Integrated nonlinear microring resonators are promising sources of bright twin-beams exhibiting intensity difference squeezing. To take advantage of the noise reduction of these quantum states, many applications require high squeezing levels. However, the attainable on-chip squeezing is constrained by the ratio of intrinsic to coupling loss, which is strongly related to design and fabrication limits. Here, we demonstrate a silicon nitride microring resonator engineered to enable a set of periodic strongly overcoupled resonances from which the estimated on-chip intensity difference squeezing is 11.8 dB, exceptionally high for an integrated device. Due to significant setup loss, we directly measure 1.4±0.2 dB of squeezing, corresponding to an on-chip level of 9.2±5.1 dB. In addition, the new, to the best of our knowledge, design inherently suppresses mode competition in the modes surrounding the twin-beams, enabling a constant high squeezing level up to moderate powers. These results represent a significant step toward the miniaturization of integrated devices whose performance benefits from surpassing the quantum noise limit using squeezed states, with particular relevance to sensing applications.
Integration of quantum optical technique on-chip is crucial for large scale applications of quantum technology, which were proven in a free space environment to be superior to the corresponding classical technology. Squeezed states of light can be used for enhancing the sensitivity of quantum sensors and for fault-tolerant quantum computing. Although chip-based squeezed light generation has advanced significantly, practical impact remains limited because coupling losses between the chip and off-chip detectors destroy delicate quantum correlations, restricting the amount of observed squeezing. Here, we overcome this limitation by implementing the idea of on-chip quantum measurement with the aid of a parametric amplifier and applying it to the squeezed state generated by a silicon nitride (SiN) microring resonator. In our scheme, two matched SiN micro-rings are sequentially constructed. The first ring generates a squeezed state, whereas the second ring acts as a high-gain parametric amplifier (PA) that measures the squeezed state before the light experiences significant off-chip loss. This architecture is inherently loss-tolerant: the amplifier elevates the quantum noise well above the vacuum level, making the measurement insensitive to downstream losses. We directly observe a quantum noise reduction of 4.6 dB from the first ring, despite a chip-to-fiber coupling loss exceeding 5 dB. This work also demonstrates the first monolithic SU(1,1) interferometer with an estimated 5 dB signal-to-noise enhancement compared to traditional linear interferometers, and thus establishes a practical pathway for chip-based quantum sensors.
Squeezed light, with its quantum noise reduction capabilities, has emerged as a powerful resource in quantum information processing and precision metrology. To reach noise reduction levels such that a quantum advantage is achieved, off-chip squeezers are typically used. The development of on-chip squeezed light sources, particularly in nanophotonic platforms, has been challenging. We report 3.7±0.2dB of directly detected nanophotonic quantum squeezing using foundry-fabricated silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) microrings with an inferred squeezing level of 10.2 dB on-chip. The squeezing level is robust across multiple devices and pump detunings, and is consistent with the overcoupling degree without noticeable degradation from excess classical noise. We also offer insights to mitigate thermally induced excess noise, which typically degrades squeezing, by using small-radius rings with a larger free spectral range (450 GHz) and consequently lower parametric oscillation thresholds. Our results demonstrate that Si 3 N 4 is a viable platform for strong quantum noise reduction in a CMOS-compatible, scalable architecture.
Squeezed light offers genuine quantum advantage in enhanced sensing and quantum computation; yet the level of squeezing or quantum noise reduction generated from nanophotonic chips has been limited. In addition to strong quantum noise reduction, key desiderata for such a nanophotonic squeezer include frequency agility or tunability over a broad frequency range, and simultaneous operation in many distinct, well-defined quantum modes (qumodes). Here we present a strongly overcoupled silicon nitride squeezer based on a below-threshold optical parametric amplifier (OPA) that produces directly detected squeezing of 5.6 dB ± 0.2 dB, surpassing previous demonstrations in both continuous-wave and pulsed regimes. We introduce a seed-assisted detection technique into such nanophotonic squeezers that reveals a quantum frequency comb (QFC) of 16 qumodes, with a separation of 11~THz between the furthest qumode pair, while maintaining a strong squeezing. Additionally, we report spectral tuning of a qumode comb pair over one free-spectral range of the OPA, thus bridging the spacing between the discrete modes of the QFC. Our results significantly advance both the generation and detection of nanophotonic squeezed light in a broadband and multimode platform, establishing a scalable, chip-integrated path for compact quantum sensors and continuous-variable quantum information processing systems.
Squeezed light constitutes a key resource for quantum optical technologies including quantum sensing, computing, communication and metrology. For many applications the generation of squeezed light typically requires at least two nonlinear optical stages involving careful phase and frequency matching to achieve the required mixing of squeezed and coherent light. In our work, we introduce an on-chip system that simplifies the generation of coherent-squeezed light, utilizing only a single squeezing stage. We achieve this by pumping a silicon nitride (Si3N4) microring resonator to produce single-mode squeezed light through four-wave mixing at the same frequency as the pump mode, leveraging the inherent χ(3)-nonlinearity of the Si3N4 resonator. Our on-chip system demonstrates a squeezing of -4.7 dB with a clear perspective towards -10 dB squeezing. We also provide a theoretical model that describes the straightforward yet robust generation of single-mode squeezing at the injection locking point of the ring resonator. In fact, we show that a design with a normal dispersion can be used for robust generation of bright squeezed light without the need for careful suppression of unwanted nonlinear processes. Overall, our findings highlight an approach which drastically simplifies the generation of coherent-squeezed light in photonic integrated circuits.
Squeezed light is an essential nonclassical resource for quantum sensing, continuous-variable quantum information processing, low-noise optical communication, and new photonic computing systems. However, to make practical use of it, we need compact, low-power squeezed-light sources that can fit on a chip. In this work, we introduce a theoretical model of a dual-pump microring optical parametric amplifier for squeezed-light integrated photonics. The model outlines cavity-enhanced Kerr four-wave mixing among two pump fields, a signal mode, and the conjugate idler sideband. We use a linearized quantum Langevin approach under the undepleted-pump assumption. We derive the frequency-domain inputoutput relation and assess the output quadrature noise based on several factors: external coupling rate, intrinsic loss, pump power, signal detuning, nonlinear coefficient, and dispersion. First, we analyze a dispersion-engineered silicon nitride microring that operates in the telecom band. It shows that moderate external coupling offers the best trade-off between intracavity field enhancement and squeezed-field extraction. With the right pump detuning, the simulated silicon nitride resonator achieves over 10 dB of quadrature noise reduction at milliwatt-level input pump powers. We also compare AlGaAs and InP microring platforms, demonstrating that the squeezing performance is influenced not only by the nonlinear coefficient but also by the combined effects of material nonlinearity, cavity quality factor, loss, coupling, dispersion, and detuning. This framework gives design guidelines for low-power, chip-scale squeezed-light sources aimed at future quantum and AI-oriented photonic integrated circuits.