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Physical Review Applied

Parametric all-optical modulation on a chip

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

Published Jun 21, 2024• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The authors demonstrate all-optical modulation on a chip, which is important for scalable all-optical information processing and quantum computing, as it supports fan-out and cascaded operations. Using quantum Zeno blockade, logical operations are realized in an interaction-free manner, solely through parametric nonlinear optics. This scheme can thus be implemented at room temperature and on highly integrated chips, as opposed to approaches using single emitters, where cryogenic cooling is required.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.21.064049

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The authors demonstrate all-optical modulation on a chip, which is important for scalable all-optical information processing and quantum computing, as it supports fan-out and cascaded operations. Using quantum Zeno blockade, logical operations are realized in an interaction-free manner, solely through parametric nonlinear optics. This scheme can thus be implemented at room temperature and on highly integrated chips, as opposed to approaches using single emitters, where cryogenic cooling is required.
We demonstrate parametric all-optical modulation in a periodically-poled lithium niobate microring resonator on chip. It employs quantum Zeno blockade between two distinct waves, a signal and a pump, through their sum-frequency generation at a large per-photon efficiency of 8.2 MHz. With nanosecond pump pulses at 6 mW peak power, 85.7% modulation extinction is observed, marking over 30~times efficiency improvement across various previous implementations. With only 2 mW pump peak power, 43.0% modulation extinction is observed for a doubly-stronger signal at 4 mW. This demonstrates, for the first time, that optical transistors with cascadability and fan-out are possible with just parametric nonlinear optics. These results, together with inherent advantages in such photonic integrated circuits, open the door to scalable technology for all-optical and quantum information processing.
When overlapping in an optical medium with nonlinear susceptibility, light waves can interact with each other, changing their phases, wavelengths, shapes, and so on. Such nonlinear effects, discovered over a half century ago, have given rise to a breadth of important applications. Applying to quantum-mechanical signals, however, they face fundamental challenges arising from the multimode nature of the interacting electromagnetic fields, such as phase noises and Raman scattering. Quantum Zeno blockade allows strong interaction of light waves without them physically overlapping, thus providing a viable solution for those challenges, as indicated in recent bulk-optics experiments. Here, we report on the observation of quantum Zeno blockade on chip, where a light wave is modulated by another in a distinct "interaction-free" manner. For quantum applications, we also verify its operations on a single-photon level. Our results promise a scalable platform for overcoming several grand challenges faced by nonlinear optics and quantum information processing, enabling, e.g., manipulation and interaction of quantum signals without decoherence.
Photonic quantum technologies require the integration of high-quality quantum light sources with programmable photonic circuitry to enable on-chip quantum information processing. Semiconductor quantum dots have emerged as a leading platform for quantum light generation, yet their monolithic integration with cryogenic-compatible, programmable photonic circuitry remains challenging. Here we demonstrate a programmable quantum photonic platform that enables simultaneous control of highly coherent quantum dot-based single photon emitters and reconfigurable optical elements at cryogenic temperatures. System-level integration enables individual electrical and optical addressing of active components on a single chip, allowing their concurrent operation while preserving coherent non-classical light emission. We demonstrate multiple quantum-photonic functionalities, including pure single-photon generation, two-photon interference, and resonant transmission and reflection measurements of integrated emitters. These results mark a step from isolated quantum-optical devices towards programmable quantum-photonic hardware platforms capable of combining coherent quantum emitters with large-scale photonic functionality.
Overlapping in an optical medium with nonlinear susceptibilities, lightwaves can interact, changing each other's phase, wavelength, waveform shape, or other properties. Such nonlinear optical phenomena, discovered over a half-century ago, have led to a breadth of important applications. Applied to quantum-mechanical signals, however, these phenomena face fundamental challenges that arise from the multimodal nature of the interaction between the electromagnetic fields, such as phase noises and spontaneous Raman scattering. The quantum Zeno blockade allows strong interaction between lightwaves without physical overlap between them, thus offering a viable solution for the aforementioned challenges, as indicated in recent bulk-optics experiments. Here, we report on the observation of quantum Zeno blockade on chip, where a lightwave is modulated by another in a distinct "interaction-free" manner. For quantum applications, we also verify its operations on single-photon signals. Our results promise a scalable platform for overcoming several longstanding challenges in applied nonlinear and quantum optics, enabling manipulation and interaction of quantum signals without decoherence.
Quantum Zeno blockade allows all-optical switching in a counterintuitive “interaction-free” manner. Using a lithium-niobate microdisk cavity nanofabricated on chip, we have observed phase matched sum-frequency generation and interaction-free switching between optical pulses in two tightly confined whispering-gallery modes. We have also verified that our device is suitable for nonlinear operations in a single-photon regime. Our results point to a scalable, chip-integrated platform for nonlinear optics extendable to the quantum regime.