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Laser Physics

Single photon level spectrum measurement at fiber communication band using frequency up-conversion technology

Li Ma, Oliver Slattery, Xiao Hong Tang

Published May 27, 2010• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have developed a polarization independent (PI) spectrometer based on frequency up-conversion technology for single photon level spectrum measurement at the fiber communication band. To overcome the polarization dependence of the frequency up-conversion process, we use two periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguides with a polarizing beam splitter. We experimentally study the sensitivity and resolution of the PI up-conversion spectrometer. We demonstrate the spectrometer by way of a spectrum measurement of a single photon level signal in the communication band.

DOI
10.1134/s1054660x10130141

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We have developed a polarization independent (PI) spectrometer based on frequency up-conversion technology for single photon level spectrum measurement at the fiber communication band. To overcome the polarization dependence of the frequency up-conversion process, we use two periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguides with a polarizing beam splitter. We experimentally study the sensitivity and resolution of the PI up-conversion spectrometer. We demonstrate the spectrometer by way of a spectrum measurement of a single photon level signal in the communication band.
We developed a spectrometer for signals at single photon levels in the near infrared (NIR) region based on a tunable up-conversion detector. This detector uses a 5-cm periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide to convert NIR photons to a shorter wavelength that are then detected by a silicon avalanche photodiode. The sensitivity of this spectrometer is -126 dBm, which is three orders-of-magnitude higher than any commercial optical spectrum analyzer in this wavelength range. Additionally, we use two PPLN waveguides to implement a polarization-independent up-conversion spectrometer, and use it to study a fiber-based quantum communication system.
Quantum information systems are commonly operated in conventional communication bands (1310 and 1550 nm) over an optical fiber to take advantage of low transmission loss. However, the detection and spectral measurement of single photons in these communication bands are limited due to high noise and low sensitivity of single photon detectors in the wavelength ranges. To demonstrate high efficiency detection and high sensitivity spectral measurement, we have implemented a single photon detector and a spectrometer based on frequency up-conversion technology. This detector and spectrometer uses a 5-cm periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide and a tunable pump laser around 1550 nm, to convert signal photons around 1310 to 710 nm. The converted photons are then detected by a silicon-based avalanche photodiode (APD). The overall detection efficiency of the single photon detector is as high as 32%, which is three times higher than commercial InGaAs APDs. The sensitivity of the spectrometer is measured to be −126 dBm, which is at least three orders-of-magnitude better than any commercial optical spectrum analyzer in this wavelength range.
We have developed an up-conversion spectrometer for signals at single photon levels near the infrared region based on a tunable up-conversion detector that uses a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide as the conversion medium. We also experimentally studied its characteristics including sensitivity, dark count rate, spectral scan speed, signal transfer function of the waveguide, and polarization sensitivity. The overall single photon detection efficiency of the up-conversion spectrometer is about 32%. With its ultra high sensitivity the spectrometer can measure spectra for signals at a level as low as -126 dBm. We have demonstrated the spectrometers high sensitivity by measuring the spectrum of a greatly attenuated multimode emission from a laser diode at the 1310 nm band.
We report a 1.5- mum band polarization independent single photon detector based on frequency up-conversion in periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguides. To overcome the polarization dependence of the PPLN waveguides, we employed a polarization diversity configuration composed of two up-conversion detectors connected with a polarization beam splitter. We experimentally confirmed polarization independent single photon counting using our detector. We undertook a proof-of-principle differential phase shift quantum key distribution experiment using the detector, and confirmed that the sifted key rate and error rate remained stable when the polarization state was changed during single photon transmission.
We propose a polarization-independent up-conversion protocol for single-photon detection at telecom band with a single thin-film periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide. By choosing the proper waveguide parameters, the waveguide dispersion can compensate the crystal birefringence so that quasi-phase-matching conditions for transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes can be simultaneously fulfilled with single poling period. With this scheme, randomly-polarized single photons at 1550 nm can be up-converted with a normalized conversion efficiency of 163.8%/W cm2.