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arXiv:2506.15810 · Quantum Science and Technology

Strategies for generating separable photon triplets in waveguides and ring resonators

Gisell Lorena Osorio, Milica Banić, Nicolás Quesada

Published Sep 16, 2025• 2 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract Photon triplet sources exhibit non-Gaussian features, a key property for applications in quantum computing and quantum information. However, spectral correlations can limit the performance and detection efficiency of these systems. Motivated by this observation, we present a theoretical analysis of the spectral properties of photon triplets generated through spontaneous third-order parametric down-conversion in photonic devices, and discuss strategies to quantify and minimize such correlations. We propose two approaches: dispersion engineering in waveguides and pump engineering in resonators. We apply these strategies in two realistic source designs, namely a high-index-contrast optical fiber and a silicon nitride microring resonator. Finally, we discuss detection strategies for probing non-Gaussian features of the triplet state. We find that it is feasible to achieve few-mode generation of photon triplets using state-of-the-art experimental systems, a crucial step toward practical applications of photon triplet sources in quantum technologies.

DOI
10.1088/2058-9565/ae0759

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•Oct 5, 2017•1 citation
Abstract Photon triplet sources exhibit non-Gaussian features, a key property for applications in quantum computing and quantum information. However, spectral correlations can limit the performance and detection efficiency of these systems. Motivated by this observation, we present a theoretical analysis of the spectral properties of photon triplets generated through spontaneous third-order parametric down-conversion in photonic devices, and discuss strategies to quantify and minimize such correlations. We propose two approaches: dispersion engineering in waveguides and pump engineering in resonators. We apply these strategies in two realistic source designs, namely a high-index-contrast optical fiber and a silicon nitride microring resonator. Finally, we discuss detection strategies for probing non-Gaussian features of the triplet state. We find that it is feasible to achieve few-mode generation of photon triplets using state-of-the-art experimental systems, a crucial step toward practical applications of photon triplet sources in quantum technologies.
Quantum light sources are the core resources for photonics-based quantum information processing. We investigate the spectral engineering of photon triplets generated by third-order spontaneous parametric down-conversion in micro/nanofiber. The phase mismatching at one–third pump frequency gives rise to non-degenerate photon triplets, the joint spectral intensity of which has an elliptical locus with a fixed eccentricity of 6 / 3 . Therefore, we propose a frequency-division scheme to separate non-degenerate photon triplets into three channels with high heralding efficiency for the first time. Choosing an appropriate pump wavelength can compensate for the fabrication errors of micro/nanofiber and also generate narrowband, non-degenerate photon triplet sources with a high signal-to-noise ratio. Furthermore, the long-period micro/nanofiber grating introduces a new controllable degree of freedom to tailor phase matching, resulting from the periodic oscillation of dispersion. In this scheme, the wavelength of photon triplets can be flexibly tuned using quasi-phase matching. We study the generation of photon triplets from this novel perspective of spectrum engineering, and we believe that this work will accelerate the practical implementation of photon triplets in quantum information processing.
We propose cascaded spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) in microring resonators as a scalable and efficient approach for directly generating non-Gaussian states of light. Focusing on the well-understood "low-gain" regime, we demonstrate that triplet generation through cascaded SFWM can be achieved with high efficiency and favorable spectral characteristics using realistic microring sources in AlGaAs. The ability to achieve the generation of light in a single set of supermodes -- and the predicted accessibility of the "high-gain" regime at realistic pump powers -- makes this source a promising candidate as a direct and deterministic source of non-Gaussian light for photonic quantum information processing.
In this thesis we study the generation of non-classical states of light using nonlinear integrated photonics. We focus first on third-order parametric down-conversion (TOPDC), a process in which pump photons can be down-converted into photon triplets, and which could serve as a source of non-Gaussian states and tripartite discrete-variable entanglement. We investigate the possibility of implementing TOPDC in conventional integrated structures. By comparing the estimated triplet generation rates in a waveguide and a microring resonator, we establish that non-resonant structures appear to be a more promising platform for a near-term demonstration of TOPDC, due to the high generation bandwidth enhancing the rate of triplet generation. We estimate generation rates of ~10 triplets per second for a 1-cm-long waveguide driven by a 100 mW CW pump, a rate that is comparable to or higher than those quoted for other proposals. We then estimate the non-Gaussianity that might be expected in a supermode of the field generated by our sample structures. The predicted non-Gaussianity is negligible in both structures, for different reasons: The generation rate in the ring is too low, while the field generated by the waveguide is highly multimode. We conclude that although a simple SiN waveguide may be a suitable source for a first demonstration of optical TOPDC, the design will need to be improved significantly for observations of non-Gaussianity or tripartite entanglement in the generated light. Indeed, state generation protocols based on conventional spontaneous four-wave mixing sources and postselection appear to be more promising in the near term. We adopt this approach to design integrated sources of postselected multipartite states in a frequency bin encoding scheme. We introduce sources of W states and GHZ states, with kHz generation rates expected for picojoule pump pulses. This platform appears to be promising for the generation of more arbitrary states, including high-dimensional ones consisting of entangled qudits. We review a graph-based strategy that may be useful for designing other devices, and for understanding the limitations of this platform.
Third-order parametric downconversion (TOPDC) describes a class of nonlinear interactions in which a pump photon is converted into a photon triplet. This process can occur spontaneously or it can be stimulated by seeding fields. Here we show that stimulated TOPDC (StTOPDC) can be exploited for the generation of quantum correlated photon pairs. We model StTOPDC in a microring resonator, predicting observable pair generation rates in a microring engineered for third-harmonic generation, and we examine the peculiar features of this approach when compared with second-order spontaneous parametric downconversion and spontaneous four-wave mixing. We conclude that if the experimental difficulties associated with implementing StTOPDC can be overcome, it may soon be possible to demonstrate this process in resonant integrated devices.
Abstract The theory of third-order spontaneous parametric down-conversion (TOSPDC) in a ring waveguide microcavity is developed. Analytical expressions for the rate of photon triplet emission are presented for both the monochromatic-pump and pulsed-pump regimes. In the latter case, rising exponential pulses are considered as optimal ones for the cavity excitation. It is demonstrated by numerical simulations that a silicon-nitride based ring microcavity can be a promising system for developing narrowband sources of photon triplets based on TOSPDC.
Ring resonators are used as photon pair sources by taking advantage of the materials second or third order non- linearities through the processes of spontaneous parametric downconversion and spontaneous four wave mixing respectively. Two materials of interest for these applications are silicon for the infrared and aluminum nitride for the ultraviolet through the infrared. When fabricated into ring type sources they are capable of producing pairs of indistinguishable photons but typically suffer from an effective 50% loss. By slightly decoupling the input waveguide from the ring, the drop port coincidence ratio can be significantly increased with the trade-off being that the pump is less efficiently coupled into the ring. Ring resonators with this design have been demonstrated having coincidence ratios of 96% but requiring a factor of ~10 increase in the pump power. Through the modification of the coupling design that relies on additional spectral dependence, it is possible to achieve similar coincidence ratios without the increased pumping requirement. This can be achieved by coupling the input waveguide to the ring multiple times, thus creating a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. This coupler design can be used on both sides of the ring resonator so that resonances supported by one of the couplers are suppressed by the other. This is the ideal configuration for a photon-pair source as it can only support the pump photons at the input side while only allowing the generated photons to leave through the output side. Recently, this device has been realized with preliminary results exhibiting the desired spectral dependence and with a coincidence ratio as high as ~ 97% while allowing the pump to be nearly critically coupled to the ring. The demonstrated near unity coincidence ratio infers a near maximal heralding efficiency from the fabricated device. This device has the potential to greatly improve the scalability and performance of quantum computing and communication systems.