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New Journal of Physics

Minimizing the frequency correlation of photon pairs in photonic crystal fibers

Liang Cui, Xiaoying Li, Ningbo Zhao

Published Dec 4, 2012• 33 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Based on the dispersion property of a given photonic crystal fiber (PCF), we study how to directly generate photon pairs with minimized frequency correlation via pulse-pumped spontaneous four-wave mixing. After illustrating why the intensity correlation function g (2) of individual signal (idler) photons can be used to reliably characterize the frequency correlation of photon pairs, we numerically investigate the dependence of g (2) under various kinds of experimental conditions. The results show that to minimize the frequency correlation, the experimental parameters should be properly optimized by balancing the influences of the high-order dispersion and the intrinsic sinc oscillation of phase matching function, apart from the satisfaction of the specified phase matching condition and the usage of transform-limited pump pulses. To verify the calculated results, we conduct two series of experiments by regulating the pump to respectively satisfy the asymmetric and symmetric group velocity matching conditions in our 0.6 m-long PCF. In both cases, the measured values of g (2) are less than the calculated results due to the inhomogeneity of the PCF; however, the experimental results qualitatively agree with the numerical simulations. Our investigation is very useful in fiber-based quantum state engineering.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/14/12/123001

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We present a comprehensive numerical investigation of entangled photon pair generation via spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) in hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HC-PCFs). By analyzing various fiber geometries, dispersion profiles, and anti-resonant characteristics, we identify optimal configurations that enhance photon-pair generation efficiency. Our study highlights the crucial roles of group velocity dispersion engineering, pump parameters, and phase-matching conditions in shaping the joint spectral amplitude (JSA) of the emitted photons. Utilizing gas-filled or evacuated HC-PCFs significantly reduces Raman noise by minimizing field overlap with the glass, while maintaining strong nonlinear interactions. The results reveal practical regimes for improving spectral purity and heralding efficiency. These findings provide practical design guidelines for scalable, low-noise quantum light sources suitable for quantum communication technologies.
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