In this Letter, telecom-band degenerate-frequency photon pairs are generated in a specific mode of a silicon microring cavity by the nondegenerate spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) process, under two continuous-wave pumps at resonance wavelength of two different cavity modes. The ratio of coincidence to accidental coincidence is up to 100 under a time bin width of 5 ns, showing their characteristics of quantum correlation. Their quantum interference in balanced and unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers is investigated theoretically and experimentally, and the results show potential in quantum metrology and quantum information.
In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a scheme to generate discrete frequency entangled photon pairs based on a silicon micro-ring resonator. The resonator is placed in a Sagnac fiber loop. Stimulated by two pump lights at two different resonance wavelengths of the resonator, photon pairs at another two resonance wavelengths are generated along two opposite directions in the fiber loop, by the nondegenerate spontaneous four wave mixing in the resonator. Their states are superposed and interfered at the output ports of the fiber loop to generate frequency entangled photon pairs. On the other hand, since the pump lights come from two continuous wave lasers, energy-time entanglement is an intrinsic property of the generated photon pairs. The entanglements on frequency and energy-time are demonstrated experimentally by the experiments of spatial quantum beating and Franson-type interference, respectively, showing that the silicon micro-ring resonators are ideal candidates to realize complex photonic quantum state generation.
The high Kerr coefficient of amorphous silicon makes it a promising material for generating photons on chip via spontaneous four wave mixing (SFWM), for applications in quantum photonics. Previous work shows high photon generation rates in a-Si waveguides, [1], and here we expand this study to investigate micro-ring resonator photon sources, which have a small footprint and can produce photons with high spectral purity, ideal for quantum interference. We compare SFWM generation rates in an a-Si micro-ring resonator to a straight waveguide, in both continuous wave and pulsed pump regimes.
Photon sources are fundamental components for any quantum photonic technology. The ability to generate high count-rate and low-noise correlated photon pairs via spontaneous parametric down-conversion using bulk crystals has been the cornerstone of modern quantum optics. However, future practical quantum technologies will require a scalable integration approach, and waveguide-based photon sources with high-count rate and low-noise characteristics will be an essential part of chip-based quantum technologies. Here, we demonstrate photon pair generation through spontaneous four-wave mixing in a silicon micro-ring resonator, reporting separately a maximum coincidence-to-accidental (CAR) ratio of 602 ± 37 (for a generation rate of 827kHz), and a maximum photon pair generation rate of 123 MHz ± 11 kHz (with a CAR value of 37). To overcome free-carrier related performance degradations we have investigated reverse biased p-i-n structures, demonstrating an improvement in the pair generation rate by a factor of up to 2 with negligible impact on CAR.
An integrated source of time-energy entangled photons is demonstrated through resonantly enhanced spontaneous four-wave mixing in a silicon micro-ring resonator. A Franson type set-up is employed to show the quantum interference between photon pairs with a visibility exceeding 90% and a violation of the Bell's inequality by more than 10 standard deviations. The high spectral brightness and the extremely small footprint of our source make it suitable for the development of quantum information protocols integrated on chip.
Photonic chips with silicon nitride (
Si3N4) microring resonators are well established as heralded single-photon sources, but their operation as frequency-degenerate twin-photon sources has not previously been demonstrated. Here, we realise a twin-photon source at telecommunication wavelengths in a
Si3N4 ring microresonator via an inverse four-wave mixing (FWM) process, in which two photons from spectrally distinct pumps are converted into a pair of identical twin photons. The measurements show a maximum coincidence-to-accidental ratio (CAR) of
5.4±0.6. In addition, the microresonator functions as a heralded single-photon source through pump-degenerate spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM), exhibiting a spectral purity of
P=0.67±0.05 and a heralded anti-bunching of
gh(2)(0)=0.0042±0.0015. Together, these results demonstrate both photon-generation schemes on a single integrated
Si3N4 platform, highlighting its potential for scalable, tailored quantum light generation.