New method to generate photon pairs efficiently on a chip

Phys.org  October 16, 2024
Thin-film lithium niobate is a promising platform for on-chip photon-pair generation through spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC). However, device implementation faces practical challenges. Periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) suffers from poor fabrication reliability and device repeatability, while conventional modal phase matching (MPM) methods yield limited efficiencies. Researchers in Singapore introduced a layer-poled lithium niobate (LPLN) nanophotonic waveguide that significantly enhanced nonlinear interactions for MPM, and achieved normalized second-harmonic generation (SHG) conversion efficiency. Through a cascaded SHG and SPDC process, they demonstrated photon-pair generation with a normalized brightness in a 3.3 mm long LPLN waveguide. According to the researchers LPLN waveguides offered enhanced fabrication reliability and reduced sensitivity to geometric variations and temperature fluctuations compared to PPLN devices. They expect LPLN to become a promising solution for on-chip nonlinear wavelength conversion and non-classical light generation, with immediate applications in quantum communication, networking, and on-chip photonic quantum information processing… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE

Generation of entangled photon pairs from a layer-poled lithium niobate (LPLN) nanophotonic waveguide. Credit: Light: Science & Applications volume 13, Article number: 282, 3 October 2024 

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