An efficient, tunable, and robust source of narrow-band photon pairs at the $^{87}$Rb D1 line


Abstract in English

We present an efficient and robust source of photons at the $^{87}$Rb D1-line (795 nm) with a narrow bandwidth of $delta=226(1)$ MHz. The source is based on non-degenerate, cavity-enhanced spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a monolithic optical parametric oscillator far below threshold. The setup allows for efficient coupling to single mode fibers. A heralding efficiency of $eta_{mathrm{heralded}}=45(5)$ % is achieved, and the uncorrected number of detected photon pairs is $3.8 times 10^{3}/(textrm{s mW})$. For pair generation rates up to $5times 10^{5}/$s, the source emits heralded single photons with a normalized, heralded, second-order correlation function $g^{(2)}_{c}<0.01$. The source is intrinsically stable due to the monolithic configuration. Frequency drifts are on the order of $delta/20$ per hour without active feedback on the emission frequency. We achieved fine-tuning of the source frequency within a range of $ > 2$ GHz by applying mechanical strain.

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