Hybrid microfiber–lithium-niobate nanowaveguide structures as high-purity heralded single-photon sources

Philip Main, Peter J. Mosley, Wei Ding, Lijian Zhang, and Andrey V. Gorbach
Phys. Rev. A 94, 063844 – Published 19 December 2016

Abstract

We propose a compact, fiber-integrated architecture for photon-pair generation by parametric downconversion with unprecedented flexibility in the properties of the photons produced. Our approach is based on a thin-film lithium niobate nanowaveguide, evanescently coupled to a tapered silica microfiber. We demonstrate how controllable mode hybridization between the fiber and waveguide yields control over the joint spectrum of the photon pairs. We also investigate how independent engineering of the linear and nonlinear properties of the structure can be achieved through the addition of a tapered, proton-exchanged layer to the waveguide. This allows further refinement of the joint spectrum through custom profiling of the effective nonlinearity, drastically improving the purity of the heralded photons. We give details of a source design capable of generating heralded single photons in the telecom wavelength range with purity of at least 0.95, and we provide a feasible fabrication methodology.

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  • Received 25 July 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.94.063844

©2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalQuantum Information, Science & Technology

Authors & Affiliations

Philip Main1, Peter J. Mosley1, Wei Ding2,*, Lijian Zhang3,4, and Andrey V. Gorbach1,†

  • 1Centre for Photonics and Photonic Materials, Department of Physics, University of Bath, Bath BA27AY, United Kingdom
  • 2Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 3National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
  • 4Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China

  • *wding@iphy.ac.cn
  • A.Gorbach@bath.ac.uk

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Issue

Vol. 94, Iss. 6 — December 2016

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