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Laser Physics

Efficient generation of polarization-entangled photons in a nonlinear crystal

Franco N. C. Wong, Jeffrey H. Shapiro, Taehyun Kim

Published Oct 30, 2006• 85 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We review the use of bidirectional pumping and collinear propagation in type-II phase-matched periodically poled KTiOPO 4 to achieve efficient generation of polarization-entangled photons via spontaneous parametric downconversion. The advantages of this approach are fully exploited in our optimized polarization Sagnac interferometric source. Its measured flux of 4700 polarization-entangled photon pairs/s per milliwatt of pump power in a 1-nm bandwidth exhibited 99% quantum-interference visibility. We also present a plane-wave Gaussian state theory for continuous-wave spontaneous parametric downconversion. This formulation affords the complete description of multiple-pair emissions that is needed for quantum communication analyses while reducing to the usual biphoton-state description at low generation rates.

DOI
10.1134/s1054660x06110053

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We review the use of bidirectional pumping and collinear propagation in type-II phase-matched periodically poled KTiOPO 4 to achieve efficient generation of polarization-entangled photons via spontaneous parametric downconversion. The advantages of this approach are fully exploited in our optimized polarization Sagnac interferometric source. Its measured flux of 4700 polarization-entangled photon pairs/s per milliwatt of pump power in a 1-nm bandwidth exhibited 99% quantum-interference visibility. We also present a plane-wave Gaussian state theory for continuous-wave spontaneous parametric downconversion. This formulation affords the complete description of multiple-pair emissions that is needed for quantum communication analyses while reducing to the usual biphoton-state description at low generation rates.
We demonstrate a simple, robust, and ultrabright parametric down-conversion source of polarization-entangled photons based on a polarization Sagnac interferometer. Bidirectional pumping in type-II phase-matched periodically poled KTiOPO4\mathrm{K}\mathrm{Ti}\mathrm{O}\mathrm{P}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}KTiOPO4​ yields a measured flux of 5000 polarization-entangled pairs/s/mW of pump power in a $1\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{nm}$ bandwidth at 96.8% quantum-interference visibility. The common-path arrangement of the Sagnac interferometer eliminates the need for phase stabilization for the biphoton output state.
Ultrabright sources of entangled photon pairs with high heralding efficiency are an important step in the pursuit of high-bit-rate entanglement-base quantum key distribution, as well as an enabling tool for loss-sensitive quantum optics experiments. Here, we present a robust single-mode fiber-coupled source of polarization-entangled photons around 810 nm with both high brightness and heralding efficiency. Our approach is based on quasi-phase-matched spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) from periodically poled KTiOPO4 in a Sagnac loop configuration. We demonstrate a high degree of two-photon polarization entanglement for single-frequency-pumped type-0 and type-II SPDC, and conduct a conclusive comparison in terms of efficiency and spectral characteristics. In light of applications outside a laboratory environment, we evaluate the feasibility of pumping nonlinear crystals with free-running laser diodes.
We demonstrate pulsed operation of a bidirectionally pumped polarization Sagnac interferometric down-conversion source and its generation of narrow-band, high-visibility polarization-entangled photons. Driven by a narrow-band, mode-locked pump at 390.35 nm, the phase-stable Sagnac source with a type-II phase-matched periodically poled KTiOPO4{\text{KTiOPO}}_{4}KTiOPO4​ crystal is capable of producing 0.01 entangled pair per pulse in a 0.15-nm bandwidth centered at 780.7 nm with 1 mW of average pump power at a repetition rate of 31.1 MHz. We have achieved a mean photon-pair generation rate of as high as 0.7 pair per pulse, at which multipair events dominate and significantly reduce the two-photon quantum-interference visibility. For low generation probability $\ensuremath{\alpha}$, the reduced visibility $V=1\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\alpha}$ is independent of the throughput efficiency and of the polarization analysis basis, which can be utilized to yield an accurate estimate of the generation rate $\ensuremath{\alpha}$. At low $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ we have characterized the source entanglement quality in three different ways: average quantum-interference visibility of 99%, the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt SSS parameter of $2.739\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.119$, and quantum state tomography with 98.85% singlet-state fidelity. The narrow-band pulsed Sagnac source of entangled photons is suitable for use in quantum information processing applications such as free-space quantum key distribution.
A periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal has been used as an efficient source of non-collinearly generated polarization-entangled photon pairs at 810 and 1550 nm. The PPLN crystal was endowed with a specially designed poling pattern and the entangled photons were generated via the nonlinear optical process of spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC). A novel design based on overlapping two concurrent type-I quasi-phase-matching structures in a single PPLN crystals produced correlated pairs of alternatively polarized photons in largely separated spectral regions. The phase of the resulting two-photon state is directly linked to parameters of the nonlinear grating. Continuous tunability of the generated Bell state, from Phi(+) to Phi(-), has been demonstrated by translating a slightly wedged crystal perpendicular to the pump beam.
We present a simple but highly efficient source of polarization-entangled photons based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) in bulk periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate crystals (PPKTP) pumped by a 405 nm laser diode. Utilizing one of the highest available nonlinear coefficients in a non-degenerate, collinear type-0 phase-matching configuration, we generate polarization entanglement via the crossed-crystal scheme and detect 0.64 million photon pair events/s/mW, while maintaining an overlap fidelity with the ideal Bell state of 0.98 at a pump power of 0.025 mW.
We present a simple but highly efficient source of polarization-entangled photons based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) in bulk periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate crystals (PPKTP) pumped by a 405 nm laser diode. Utilizing one of the highest available nonlinear coefficients in a non-degenerate, collinear type-0 phase-matching configuration, we generate polarization entanglement via the crossed-crystal scheme and detect 0.64 million photon pair events/s/mW, while maintaining an overlap fidelity with the ideal Bell state of 0.98 at a pump power of 0.025 mW.