Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Physical Review Applied

Highly efficient and pure few-photon source on chip

Zhaohui Ma, Jia‐Yang Chen, Malvika Garikapati, Zhan Li, Chao Tang, Yong Meng Sua, Yu‐Ping Huang

Published Oct 12, 2023• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report on multiphoton statistics of correlated twin beams produced in a periodic poled microring resonator on thin-film lithium niobate. Owing to high-cavity confinement and near-perfect quasi-phase-matching, the photon pairs are produced efficiently in single modes at rates reaching 27 MHz per $\text{\ensuremath{\mu}}\mathrm{W}$ pump power. By using a pump laser whose pulse-width impedance matches with the cavity, those photons are further created in single longitudinal modes with purity reaching 99%, without relying on later-on filtering. With a dual-channel photon-number-resolving detection system, we obtain directly the joint detection probabilities of multiphoton states up to three photons, with high coincidence to accidental contrast for each. Used as a single-photon source, it gives heralded ${g}_{H}^{(2)}(0)$ around 0.04 at a single-photon rate of 650 kHz on chip. The findings of our research highlight the potential of this nanophotonic platform as a promising platform for generating nonclassical, few-photon states with ideal indistinguishability, for fundamental quantum optics studies and information applications.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.20.044033

Related papers

A Highly Efficient and Pure Few-Photon Source on Chip

Zhaohui Ma, Jia‐Yang Chen, Malvika Garikapati +4 more

We report on multi-photon statistics of correlated twin beams produced in a periodic poled micro-ring resonator on thin-film lithium niobate. Owing to high cavity confinement and near perfect quasi-phase matching, the photons pairs are produced efficiently in single modes at rates reaching 27 MHz per $μ$W pump power. By using a pump laser whose pulse width impedance matches with the cavity, those photons are further created in single longitudinal modes with purity reaching 99\%, without relying on later-on filtering. With a dual-channel photon-number resolving detection system, we obtain directly the joint detection probabilities of multi-photon states up to three photons, with high coincidence to accidental contrast for each. Used as a single photon source, it gives heralded $g_H^{(2)}(0)$ around 0.04 at a single photon rate of 650 kHz on chip. The findings of our research highlight the potential of this nanophotonic platform as a promising platform for generating non-classical, few-photon states with ideal indistinguishability, for fundamental quantum optics studies and information applications.

arXiv:2309.15233•Sep 26, 2023•0 citations

Few Photon Generation on Chip

Zhaohui Ma, Jia‐Yang Chen, Malvika Garikapati +4 more

We report on multi-photon statistics of correlated twin beams produced in a periodic poled micro-ring resonator on thin-film lithium niobate. Brightness reaches 27 MHz/µW and single photons are heralded at g(2)(0) ~0.04 at 650 kHz rate on chip.

Frontiers in Optics•Jan 1, 2023•0 citations

Ultrabright Quantum Photon Sources on Chip

Zhaohui Ma, Jia‐Yang Chen, Zhan Li +4 more

Quantum photon sources of high rate, brightness, and purity are increasingly desirable as quantum information systems are quickly scaled up and applied to many fields. Using a periodically poled lithium niobate microresonator on chip, we demonstrate photon-pair generation at high rates of 8.5 and 36.3 MHz using only 3.4 and 13.4 μW pump power, respectively, marking orders of magnitude improvement over the state of the art, across all material platforms. These results constitute the first direct measurement of the device's giant single photon nonlinearity. The measured coincidence to accidental ratio is well above 100 at those high rates and reaches 14682±4427 at a lower pump power. The same chip enables heralded single-photon generation at tens of megahertz rates, each with low autocorrelation g_{H}^{(2)}(0)=0.008 and 0.097 for the microwatt pumps, which marks a new milestone. Such distinct performance, facilitated by the chip device's noiseless and giant optical nonlinearity, will contribute to the forthcoming pervasive adoption of quantum optical information technologies.

arXiv:2010.04242•Physical Review Letters•Dec 22, 2020•190 citations

Photon Conversion and Interaction in a Quasi-Phase-Matched Microresonator

Jia‐Yang Chen, Zhan Li, Zhaohui Ma +4 more

The conversion and interaction between quantum signals at the single-photon level are essential for scalable quantum photonic information technology. Using a fully optimized periodically poled lithium niobate microring, we demonstrate ultraefficient sum-frequency generation on a chip. The external quantum efficiency reaches $(65\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3)\mathrm{%}$ with only $(104\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}4)$-$\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{W}$ pump power. At peak conversion, $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}5}$-noise photon is created during the cavity lifetime, which meets the requirement of quantum applications using single-photon pulses. Using a pump and signal in single-photon coherent states, we directly measure the conversion probability produced by a single pump photon to be ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}5}$, which is a significant improvement from the state of the art, and the photon-photon coupling strength to be 9.1 MHz. Our results mark steady progress toward quantum nonlinear optics at the ultimate single-photon limit, with potential applications in highly integrated photonics and quantum optical computing.

Physical Review Applied•Dec 1, 2021•32 citations

80 Channel Photon Pair Source from a Thin-Film Lithium Niobate Racetrack Microresonator

Mihir Chaudhari, Ian Christen, Xinyi Ren +6 more

Nanophotonic platforms have multiple properties and features desirable for producing correlated photon pairs. In these platforms, spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) and spontaneous four-wave-mixing (SFWM) have been used to achieve photon pair production. By placing the nonlinear region in a resonant cavity, the source obtains an enhanced nonlinear interaction and naturally filters out photons by frequency according to the cavity linewidth. Among various platforms, X-cut thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) stands out for its strong second-order optical nonlinearity ($χ^{(2)}$) and access to a strong platform for modulating light. Although previously demonstrated, present sources are limited in their photon pair channel availability, limiting the potential of quantum applications in quantum information processing, communication, and sensing that can scale in robustness by having access to multiple photon pair channels. To this end, we demonstrate a photon pair source on X-cut TFLN with 80 measured photon pair channels spanning the C and L optical bands with a frequency spacing of 49.5 GHz between photons. We characterize the second-order correlation function and pair generation rate (PGR) of 80 channels, the highest number of channels demonstrated to date, and achieve a pair generation of 125.7 kHz / μW after accounting for the cavity's escape efficiency. We also demonstrate heralded single photon operation by calculating a heralded auto-correlation dip of 0.0544 $\pm$ 0.0054 with 2.2 mW of on-chip pump power. These findings demonstrate the promise of X-cut TFLN as a strong platform for quantum optical applications.

physics.opticsCross-listedarXiv:2607.16575•Jul 21, 2026•0 citations

Frequency Multiplexed Source of Pure Heralded Single Photons on Thin-film Lithium Niobate

Jiayu Yang, Donald Witt, Tong Ge +7 more

We demonstrate an integrated heralded single-photon source on thin-film lithium niobate combining custom poling, on-chip polarizing beam-splitter, and photonic wire bonding, achieving 96.9% purity, 1.90 MHz on-chip pair rate with g h (2) (0)=0.0726 at 6.5 µ W pump power, and g h (2) (0)=0.0006 with 0.0547 MHz pair rate at 0.2 µ W.

•Jan 1, 2026•0 citations
We report on multiphoton statistics of correlated twin beams produced in a periodic poled microring resonator on thin-film lithium niobate. Owing to high-cavity confinement and near-perfect quasi-phase-matching, the photon pairs are produced efficiently in single modes at rates reaching 27 MHz per \ensuremath\muW\text{\ensuremath{\mu}}\mathrm{W}\ensuremath\muW pump power. By using a pump laser whose pulse-width impedance matches with the cavity, those photons are further created in single longitudinal modes with purity reaching 99%, without relying on later-on filtering. With a dual-channel photon-number-resolving detection system, we obtain directly the joint detection probabilities of multiphoton states up to three photons, with high coincidence to accidental contrast for each. Used as a single-photon source, it gives heralded gH(2)(0){g}_{H}^{(2)}(0)gH(2)​(0) around 0.04 at a single-photon rate of 650 kHz on chip. The findings of our research highlight the potential of this nanophotonic platform as a promising platform for generating nonclassical, few-photon states with ideal indistinguishability, for fundamental quantum optics studies and information applications.
We report on multi-photon statistics of correlated twin beams produced in a periodic poled micro-ring resonator on thin-film lithium niobate. Owing to high cavity confinement and near perfect quasi-phase matching, the photons pairs are produced efficiently in single modes at rates reaching 27 MHz per μμμW pump power. By using a pump laser whose pulse width impedance matches with the cavity, those photons are further created in single longitudinal modes with purity reaching 99\%, without relying on later-on filtering. With a dual-channel photon-number resolving detection system, we obtain directly the joint detection probabilities of multi-photon states up to three photons, with high coincidence to accidental contrast for each. Used as a single photon source, it gives heralded gH(2)(0)g_H^{(2)}(0)gH(2)​(0) around 0.04 at a single photon rate of 650 kHz on chip. The findings of our research highlight the potential of this nanophotonic platform as a promising platform for generating non-classical, few-photon states with ideal indistinguishability, for fundamental quantum optics studies and information applications.
Quantum photon sources of high rate, brightness, and purity are increasingly desirable as quantum information systems are quickly scaled up and applied to many fields. Using a periodically poled lithium niobate microresonator on chip, we demonstrate photon-pair generation at high rates of 8.5 and 36.3 MHz using only 3.4 and 13.4 μW pump power, respectively, marking orders of magnitude improvement over the state of the art, across all material platforms. These results constitute the first direct measurement of the device's giant single photon nonlinearity. The measured coincidence to accidental ratio is well above 100 at those high rates and reaches 14682±4427 at a lower pump power. The same chip enables heralded single-photon generation at tens of megahertz rates, each with low autocorrelation g_{H}^{(2)}(0)=0.008 and 0.097 for the microwatt pumps, which marks a new milestone. Such distinct performance, facilitated by the chip device's noiseless and giant optical nonlinearity, will contribute to the forthcoming pervasive adoption of quantum optical information technologies.
The conversion and interaction between quantum signals at the single-photon level are essential for scalable quantum photonic information technology. Using a fully optimized periodically poled lithium niobate microring, we demonstrate ultraefficient sum-frequency generation on a chip. The external quantum efficiency reaches $(65\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3)\mathrm{%}$ with only $(104\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}4)$-$\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{W}$ pump power. At peak conversion, $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}5}$-noise photon is created during the cavity lifetime, which meets the requirement of quantum applications using single-photon pulses. Using a pump and signal in single-photon coherent states, we directly measure the conversion probability produced by a single pump photon to be ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}5}$, which is a significant improvement from the state of the art, and the photon-photon coupling strength to be 9.1 MHz. Our results mark steady progress toward quantum nonlinear optics at the ultimate single-photon limit, with potential applications in highly integrated photonics and quantum optical computing.
Nanophotonic platforms have multiple properties and features desirable for producing correlated photon pairs. In these platforms, spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) and spontaneous four-wave-mixing (SFWM) have been used to achieve photon pair production. By placing the nonlinear region in a resonant cavity, the source obtains an enhanced nonlinear interaction and naturally filters out photons by frequency according to the cavity linewidth. Among various platforms, X-cut thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) stands out for its strong second-order optical nonlinearity (χ(2)χ^{(2)}χ(2)) and access to a strong platform for modulating light. Although previously demonstrated, present sources are limited in their photon pair channel availability, limiting the potential of quantum applications in quantum information processing, communication, and sensing that can scale in robustness by having access to multiple photon pair channels. To this end, we demonstrate a photon pair source on X-cut TFLN with 80 measured photon pair channels spanning the C and L optical bands with a frequency spacing of 49.5 GHz between photons. We characterize the second-order correlation function and pair generation rate (PGR) of 80 channels, the highest number of channels demonstrated to date, and achieve a pair generation of 125.7 kHz / μW after accounting for the cavity's escape efficiency. We also demonstrate heralded single photon operation by calculating a heralded auto-correlation dip of 0.0544 ±\pm± 0.0054 with 2.2 mW of on-chip pump power. These findings demonstrate the promise of X-cut TFLN as a strong platform for quantum optical applications.