No Arabic abstract
Spectrally correlated photon pairs can be used to improve performance of long range fiber based quantum communication protocols. We present a source based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion producing polarization entangled photons without spectral filtering. In addition, the spectral correlation within the photon pair can be controlled by changing the pump pulse duration or coupled spatial modes characteristics. The spectral and polarization correlations were characterized. The generated photon pairs feature both positive spectral correlations, no correlations, or negative correlations and polarization entanglement with the fidelity as high as 0.97 (no background subtraction) with the expected Bell state.
Sources of photon pairs based on the spontaneous parametric down conversion process are commonly used for long distance quantum communication. The key feature for improving the range of transmission is engineering their spectral properties. Following two experimental papers [Opt. Lett., 38, 697 (2013)] and [Opt. Lett., 39, 1481 (2014)] we analytically and numerically analyze the characteristics of a source. It is based on a $beta$-barium borate (BBO) crystal cut for type II phase matching at the degenerated frequencies 755 nm $rightarrow$ 1550 nm + 1550 nm. Our analysis shows a way for full control of spectral correlation within a fiber-coupled photon pair simultaneously with optimal brightness.
We demonstrate pulsed polarization-entangled photons generated from a periodically poled $mathrm{KTiOPO_4}$ (PPKTP) crystal in a Sagnac interferometer configuration at telecom wavelength. Since the group-velocity-matching (GVM) condition is satisfied, the intrinsic spectral purity of the photons is much higher than in the previous scheme at around 800 nm wavelength. The combination of a Sagnac interferometer and the GVM-PPKTP crystal makes our entangled source compact, stable, highly entangled, spectrally pure and ultra-bright. The photons were detected by two superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) with detection efficiencies of 70% and 68% at dark counts of less than 1 kcps. We achieved fidelities of 0.981 $pm$ 0.0002 for $left| {psi ^ -} rightrangle$ and 0.980 $pm$ 0.001 for $left| {psi ^ +} rightrangle$ respectively. This GVM-PPKTP-Sagnac scheme is directly applicable to quantum communication experiments at telecom wavelength, especially in free space.
We report the realization of a fiber coupled polarization entangled photon-pair source at 1310 nm based on a birefringent titanium in-diffused waveguide integrated on periodically poled lithium niobate. By taking advantage of a dedicated and high-performance setup, we characterized the quantum properties of the pairs by measuring two-photon interference in both Hong-Ou-Mandel and standard Bell inequality configurations. We obtained, for the two sets of measurements, interference net visibilities reaching nearly 100%, which represent important and competitive results compared to similar waveguide-based configurations already reported. These results prove the relevance of our approach as an enabling technology for long-distance quantum communication.
The frequency correlation (or decorrelation) of photon pairs is of great importance in long-range quantum communications and photonic quantum computing. We experimentally characterize a spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) source, based on a Beta-Barium Borate (BBO) crystal cut for type-II phase matching at 1550 nm which emits photons with the positive or no spectral correlations. Our system employs a carefully designed detection method exploiting two InGaAs detectors.
Light shaping facilitates the preparation and detection of optical states and underlies many applications in communications, computing, and imaging. In this Letter, we generalize light shaping to the quantum domain. We show that patterns of phase modulation for classical laser light can also shape higher orders of spatial coherence, allowing deterministic tailoring of high-dimensional quantum entanglement. By modulating spatially entangled photon pairs, we create periodic, topological, and random patterns of quantum illumination, without effect on intensity. We then structure the quantum illumination to simultaneously compensate for entanglement that has been randomized by a scattering medium and to characterize the mediums properties via a quantum measurement of the optical memory effect. The results demonstrate fundamental aspects of spatial coherence and open the field of adaptive quantum optics.