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The European Physical Journal Special Topics

Spectral characterization of SPDC-based single-photon sources for quantum key distribution

Sabine Euler, Erik Fitzke, Oleg Nikiforov, Daniel Hofmann, Till Dolejsky, Thomas Walther

Published Apr 26, 2021• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract In our laboratory, we employ two biphoton sources for quantum key distribution. The first is based on cw parametric down-conversion of photons at 404 nm in PPKTP waveguide chips, while the second is based on the pulsed parametric down-conversion of 775 nm photons in PPLN waveguides. The spectral characterization is important for the determination of certain side-channel attacks. A Hong-Ou-Mandel experiment employing the first photon source revealed a complex structure of the common Hong-Ou-Mandel dip. By measuring the spectra of the single photons at 808 nm, we were able to associate these structures to the superposition of different transverse modes of the pump photons in our waveguide chips. The pulsed source was characterized by means of single-photon spectra measured by a sensitive spectrum analyzer as well as dispersion-based measurements. Finally, we also describe Hong-Ou-Mandel experiments using the photons from the second source.

DOI
10.1140/epjs/s11734-021-00081-5

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Abstract In our laboratory, we employ two biphoton sources for quantum key distribution. The first is based on cw parametric down-conversion of photons at 404 nm in PPKTP waveguide chips, while the second is based on the pulsed parametric down-conversion of 775 nm photons in PPLN waveguides. The spectral characterization is important for the determination of certain side-channel attacks. A Hong-Ou-Mandel experiment employing the first photon source revealed a complex structure of the common Hong-Ou-Mandel dip. By measuring the spectra of the single photons at 808 nm, we were able to associate these structures to the superposition of different transverse modes of the pump photons in our waveguide chips. The pulsed source was characterized by means of single-photon spectra measured by a sensitive spectrum analyzer as well as dispersion-based measurements. Finally, we also describe Hong-Ou-Mandel experiments using the photons from the second source.
Abstract Frequency entangled biphoton sources have played an important role in quantum information. There are two key characteristics which determine the extent of their applications: the spectral indistinguishability and the degree of frequency entanglement. Previously, the spectral indistinguishability of the biphoton state is measured by the Hong–Ou–Mandel (HOM) interference visibility, whereas the degree of frequency entanglement is normally characterized with independent spectral measurements. However, these two quantum features have not been successfully measured with a single experimental setup. In this paper, we deduce the temporal distribution of a short-pulse pumped type-II spontaneous parametric down converted (SPDC) biphoton source and its relevant temporal entanglement parameter R t for operationally quantifying the degree of frequency entanglement. Furthermore, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate, due to the inherent group delay, the difference between the signal and idler photons at the exit of the type-II nonlinear crystal, resulting in a HOM-shape dip at both sides of the center fringed envelope of the MZ interferometric coincidence diagram. By measuring the HOM-shape dip depth, the separation between the two sideband dips as well as the MZ fringed envelope width, both the spectral indistinguishability and the temporal entanglement parameter can thus be simultaneously quantified. This implementation provides us a unified and convenient method to characterize the frequency entanglement of the short-pulse pumped biphotons.
In recent years, the process of absorbing two photons using a non-classical light sources has been studied thoroughly. In particular, it has been experimentally demonstrated that the absorption cross section of two entangled photons is much greater than the absorption cross section of two uncorrelated photons. In this dissertation a source of entangled photons produced through spontaneous parametric down conversion or SPDC was constructed and characterized. It was found that for a pump laser of 411.32 nm and a BBO crystal of 1 mm the produced photons followed the same optical path as the laser, it was also found that the joint spectrum is symmetric at the degenerate wavelength of 822 ± 0.5 nm. This work conclude by showing a first approximation to execute a measurement of the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect. The objective of the measurements of joint spectrum and the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect are to understand the correlation properties of the photon source, with this information a virtual state spectroscopy technique can be implemented on the experiment constructed
The frequency entangled biphoton source generated via spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) process has found important applications in the fields of quantum clock synchronization, quantum communication, quantum information processing, etc. As quantum technologies evolve, quantitative characterization of the frequency entanglement becomes necessary and has been implemented by measuring the spectral properties of the biphoton state. However, due to the high dark rate and low quantum efficiency of the InGaAs single-photon detectors, direct measurement of the spectral properties of the biphoton state at optical communication wavelength is hard to implement. In this paper, we report the measurement of the spectral properties of a biphoton state at optical communication wavelength which is generated from periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate (PPKTP) pumped by an ultra-short pulsed optical source at 787 nm. Based on the coincidence measurement setup together with two infrared spectrometers, the spectra of the signal and idler photons are obtained with their center wavelengths being 1574.4 nm and 1574.9 nm, while their 3-dB bandwidths being 35.3 nm and 37.6 nm respectively. The joint spectrum of the photon pair is observed as well and shows a coincident-frequency entanglement and a joint spectrum bandwidth of 3 nm. According to the ratio of the single-photon spectral bandwidth to the joint spectral bandwidth of the photon pairs, the degree of frequency entanglement is quantified to be 12, denoting a relatively high quality of the entanglement.
The ability to determine the joint spectral properties of photon pairs produced by the processes of spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) and spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) is crucial for guaranteeing the usability of heralded single photons and polarization-entangled pairs for multi-photon protocols. In this paper, we compare six different techniques that yield either a characterization of the joint spectral intensity or of the closely related purity of heralded single photons. These six techniques include: (i) scanning monochromator measurements, (ii) a variant of Fourier transform spectroscopy designed to extract the desired information exploiting a resource-optimized technique, (iii) dispersive fibre spectroscopy, (iv) stimulated-emission-based measurement, (v) measurement of the second-order correlation function g(2) for one of the two photons, and (vi) two-source Hong–Ou–Mandel interferometry. We discuss the relative performance of these techniques for the specific cases of a SPDC source designed to be factorable and SFWM sources of varying purity, and compare the techniques’ relative advantages and disadvantages.
We propose a point to point quantum channel based on a two-color Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion (SPDC), that may be applied for a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system to gain better security. We use one arm of the SPDC (770 nm - optimal for Si detection) and a Si counter at Alice's side to count the exact number of photons in each pulse. Whenever the arm contains exactly one photon, the correlated photon (1550nm - optimal for fiber transmission) in the other arm is sent via a fiber to Bob. In the experiment we used an Ar^{+} laser of 514.5nm wavelength and a BBO crystal to produce type-I photon pairs. We measured the spectrum of the SPDC and resolved specifically the 770 nm wavelength. The rate of correlated pairs (at 890-1050 nm) from our SPDC source was compared to a non-correlated source. We further developed an InGaAs single photon detector based on Geiger mode APD and achieved 10% quantum efficiency and 5 * 10^{-3} dark counts per 20nsec pulse at a temperature of -35 degrees Celsius.