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arXiv:quant-ph/0601133 · New Journal of Physics

Photon pair generation using four-wave mixing in a microstructured fibre: theory versus experiment

Olivier Alibart, Jérémie Fulconis, G. K. L. Wong, Stuart G. Murdoch, W. J. Wadsworth, John G. Rarity

Published May 15, 2006• 110 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We develop a theoretical analysis of four-wave mixing used to generate photon pairs useful for quantum information processing. The analysis applies to a single mode microstructured fibre pumped by an ultra-short coherent pulse in the normal dispersion region. Given the values of the optical propagation constant inside the fibre, we can estimate the created number of photon pairs per pulse, their central wavelength and their respective bandwidth. We use the experimental results from a picosecond source of correlated photon pairs using a micro-structured fibre to validate the model. The fibre is pumped in the normal dispersion regime at 708 nm and phase matching is satisfied for widely spaced parametric wavelengths of 586 and 894 nm. We measure the number of photons per pulse using a loss-independent coincidence scheme and compare the results with the theoretical expectation. We show a good agreement between the theoretical expectations and the experimental results for various fibre lengths and pump powers.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/8/5/067

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We develop a theoretical analysis of four-wave mixing used to generate photon pairs useful for quantum information processing. The analysis applies to a single mode microstructured fibre pumped by an ultra-short coherent pulse in the normal dispersion region. Given the values of the optical propagation constant inside the fibre, we can estimate the created number of photon pairs per pulse, their central wavelength and their respective bandwidth. We use the experimental results from a picosecond source of correlated photon pairs using a micro-structured fibre to validate the model. The fibre is pumped in the normal dispersion regime at 708 nm and phase matching is satisfied for widely spaced parametric wavelengths of 586 and 894 nm. We measure the number of photons per pulse using a loss-independent coincidence scheme and compare the results with the theoretical expectation. We show a good agreement between the theoretical expectations and the experimental results for various fibre lengths and pump powers.
We have developed a source of time-correlated photon pairs based on phase matched four-wave mixing in a photonic crystal fiber designed to have a zero dispersion wavelength, lambda0, close to 715nm. We generate parametric gain by pumping close to lambda0in the normal dispersion regime. By pumping with a pulsed titanium-sapphire (TI-SA) laser tuned to 708 nm we generate pair-photons at 583 nm and 900 nm visible to efficient silicon- based photon counting detectors. We can generate >100000 detected pairs per second (in a single spatial and temoral mode) with a few milli-watts of pump power. Using this source we have been able to show high visibility multi-photon interference, by mixing at a 50:50 beam-splitter, two heralded single photons generated in spatially separated micro-structured fibres. The source brightness meant we were able to measure high rates of four- photon generation and detection.
Summary form only given. Optical fibre (either classical or microstructured) is a favourable medium for realization of sources of entangled photons for quantum communications. Indeed the photon pairs are generated through spontaneous Four Wave Mixing (FWM) directly in the fibre core and can thus be connected easily and without loss to the optical telecommunication network.We have realized such a source and characterized its performance. Our measurements showed a photon pair generation rate lower than expected in theory. Further characterization showed, as can be seen in Fig. 1A, a widened pair spectrum and a diminution of the generation rate compared to the prediction of our model (Fig. 1B) [2]. Such features can be explained by taking in account the intrinsic inhomogeneity of the fibre, i.e. the core and cladding dimensions fluctuation along the fibre. Indeed, a small variation of the fibre diameter implies a slightly different dispersion, hence shifted photon pair frequencies. To depict these uniformities, we extended our model through a similar approach as in Ref. [3], considering the fibre as an assembly of homogeneous sections, each one with its own length and phase mismatch. Consequently, the joint spectral intensity of pairs describing their generation probability for a given couple of frequencies is more complex. In Fig. 1B, we show the result of our numerical simulation for a purely uniform fibre with parameters corresponding to our source [1,2], and in the case of a linear variation of the zero dispersion wavelength along the fibre. In this specific case, a new analytical solution that will be presented, can be derived from our model, and is also shown in Fig. 1B as a comparison.
We demonstrate a picosecond source of correlated photon pairs using a micro-structured fibre with zero dispersion around 715 nm wavelength. The fibre is pumped in the normal dispersion regime at ~708 nm and phase matching is satisfied for widely spaced parametric wavelengths. Here we generate up to 10;7 photon pairs per second in the fibre at wavelengths of 587 nm and 897 nm, while on collecting this light in single-mode-fibre-coupled Silicon avalanche diode photon counting detectors, we detect ~3.2x10;5 coincidences per second at pump power 0.5 mW.
The paper reviews a new source of time-correlated photon pairs based on phase matched four-wave mixing in an optical fiber. This source has the potential to replace sources based on a non-linear birefringent crystals and waveguides. It generates linear polarised photon pairs in a narrow bandwidth, single circular mode which can be efficiently coupled into single mode fibres. We generate the parametric gain by pumping with a laser wavelength slightly below the zero dispersion wavelength, in the normal dispersion regime.
Pure state single photons are at the heart of optical quantum technologies. We have previously reported the generation of photon pairs by four-wave mixing in a single-mode photonic crystal fibre (PCF) and the use of a new birefringent phase matching scheme which results in the generation of narrowband signal photons, around 0.2 nm in bandwidth, and a factorizable photon pair state with no requirement for spectral filtering, leading to increased count rates. Our source is bright, polarized, and tuneable by variable laser wavelength and fibre parameters. Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference is observed between photons from two of these sources, a requirement for optical quantum information tasks.