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Frontiers in Optics

Photon pairs in 3R-stacked MoS2

Maximilian A. Weissflog, Anna N. Fedotova, Yilin Tang, Benjamin Laudert, Fatemeh Alsadat Abtahi, Sai Shradha, Saniya Shinde, Sina Saravi, Isabelle Staude, Thomas Pertsch, Yuerui Lu, Frank Setzpfandt, Falk X. Eilenberger

Published Jan 1, 2023• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We demonstrate photon-pair generation through spontaneous parametric down-conversion in transition metal dichalcogenides, namely 3R-MoS2. By exciting 278nm thick 3R-MoS2 stacks at 788nm, we produce entangled photon-pairs in the telecom wavelength range.
DOI
10.1364/fio.2023.jtu5a.72

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Nanoscale quantum light sources are essential building blocks for integrated quantum photonic systems. Here, we report a wavelength-scale entangled-photon source based on van der Waals-engineered NbOBr2_22​, and benchmark its performance for telecom-wavelength quantum light generation. By exploiting the material's second-order nonlinearity, we generate quantum-correlated photon pairs via spontaneous parametric down-conversion. We then use a 90∘^{\circ}∘ twisted stacking to induce quantum interference in photon-pair generation, yielding polarization-entangled photons. This approach enables tunability of the quantum optical state via control of the excitation laser polarization. We experimentally obtain entanglement fidelities exceeding 95% for Bell states, along with a high coincidence-to-accidental ratio of $\sim$335, and a brightness approximately one order of magnitude higher than recently reported telecom sources based on transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) 2D materials. These results establish twisted van der Waals engineering as a powerful platform for highly tunable, high-brightness quantum light sources at telecom wavelengths.
Entangled photon-pair sources are at the core of quantum applications like quantum key distribution, sensing, and imaging. Operation in space-limited and adverse environments such as in satellite-based and mobile communication requires robust entanglement sources with minimal size and weight requirements. Here, we meet this challenge by realizing a cubic micrometer scale entangled photon-pair source in a 3R-stacked transition metal dichalcogenide crystal. Its crystal symmetry enables the generation of polarization-entangled Bell states without additional components and provides tunability by simple control of the pump polarization. Remarkably, generation rate and state tuning are decoupled, leading to equal generation efficiency and no loss of entanglement. Combining transition metal dichalcogenides with monolithic cavities and integrated photonic circuitry or using quasi-phasematching opens the gate towards ultrasmall and scalable quantum devices.