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Photon-pair generation based on superconductivity

Ikuo Suemune, Hirotaka Sasakura, Yasuhiro Asano, H. Kumano, Ryotaro Inoue, Kazunori Tanaka, Tatsushi Akazaki, Hideaki Takayanagi

Published Jan 1, 2012• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Superconductivity and optoelectronics have developed almost independently and had very rare interactions with each other in science and technologies. However recent interdisciplinary research opens up the potential for developing new optoelectronic devices. This review paper presents our recent theoretical and experimental demonstrations that superconductivity significantly modifies and accelerates photon generation processes. We have prepared superconducting light emitting diodes (LEDs) emitting at ∼1.6-µm optical-fiber communication band for the experimental demonstrations. This new-type LED operation is based on a unique physics related to Cooper-pair interband transition in a semiconductor, and further research leads to the solid-state simultaneously generated photon-pair sources for the potential application in quantum information and communication.

DOI
10.1587/elex.9.1184

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Summary form only given. Various applications in the rapidly growing field of quantum information science require reliable and effective quantum light sources. We observed superconducting proximity in semiconductor light-emitting diodes (Fig. 1). These hybrid structures were proposed by us as an efficient approach for generation of entangled photons, based on Cooper-pair luminescence in semiconductors, which does not require isolated emitters. Semiconductor quantum wells, remove the light-heavy-hole degeneracy, allowing efficient photon entanglement generation in simple electrically-driven structures, taking advantage of the superconducting macroscopic coherence [1]. Based on the developed theory we analyzed a new effect of enhanced light amplification in electrically-driven semiconductor-superconductor structures, including Cooper-pair based two-photon gain [2]. Moreover, we proposed a compact and highly-efficient scheme for a complete Bell-state analysis using two-photon absorption in a superconducting proximity region of a semiconductor avalanche photodiode. This Cooper-pair based two-photon absorption results in a strong detection preference of a specified entangled state.
Various applications in the rapidly growing field of quantum information science require reliable and effective quantum light sources. We proposed an efficient approach for generation of entangled photons, based on Cooper-pair luminescence in semiconductors, which does not require isolated emitters. Semiconductor quantum wells, remove the light-heavy-hole degeneracy, allowing efficient photon entanglement generation in simple electrically-driven structures, taking advantage of the superconducting macroscopic coherence [1]. We analyzed a new effect of enhanced light amplification in electrically-driven semiconductor-superconductor structures, including Cooper-pair based two-photon gain [2]. We also proposed a compact and highly-efficient scheme for a complete Bell-state analysis using two-photon absorption in a superconducting proximity region of a semiconductor avalanche photodiode [3]. This Cooper-pair based two-photon absorption results in a strong detection preference of a specified entangled state.
Superconductor-semiconductor hybrid devices are an evolving field, combining the technologically mature semiconductors with the unique properties of superconductors, utilized in quantum computing, information and communications. Radiative recombination of Cooper pairs in superconducting light-emitting diodes (SLED) results in superconductor-enhanced light emission. The theory behind this effect is based on a two-photon interaction with Cooper pairs, predicted to enable polarization-entangled photon pairs [1], two-photon amplification in waveguides [2] and Bell-state analyzers [3].
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We study a new effect of Cooper-pair-based two-photon gain in semiconductor-superconductor structures, showing broadband enhancement of ultrafast two-photon amplification. We further show that with the superconducting enhancement, at moderately high seed intensities, the two-photon gain contribution approaches that of the one-photon gain. A full quantum-optical model of singly- and fully-stimulated two-photon emission is developed. Our results provide new insights on nonlinear light–matter interaction in the superconducting state, including the possibility of coherent control in two-photon semiconductor-superconductor devices. The theoretically-demonstrated effects can have important implications in optoelectronics and in coherent-control applications.