Using a compact optically-pumped silicon nanophotonic chip consisting of coupled silicon microrings, we generate photon pairs in multiple pairs of wavelengths around 1.55 mu m. The wavelengths are tunable over several nanometers, demonstrating the ca
pability to generate wavelength division multiplexed photon pairs at freely-chosen telecommunications-band wavelengths.
Integrated optical devices may replace bulk crystal or fiber based assemblies with a more compact and controllable photon pair and heralded single photon source and generate quantum light at telecommunications wavelengths. Here, we propose that a per
iodic waveguide consisting of a sequence of optical resonators may outperform conventional waveguides or single resonators and generate more than 1 Giga-pairs per second from a sub-millimeter-long room-temperature silicon device, pumped with only about 10 milliwatts of optical power. Furthermore, the spectral properties of such devices provide novel opportunities of wavelength-division multiplexed chip-scale quantum light sources.
We demonstrate heralded single photon generation in a CMOS-compatible silicon nanophotonic device. The strong modal confinement and slow group velocity provided by a coupled resonator optical waveguide (CROW) produced a large four-wave-mixing nonline
arity coefficient gamma_eff ~4100 W^-1 m^-1 at telecommunications wavelengths. Spontaneous four-wave-mixing using a degenerate pump beam at 1549.6 nm created photon pairs at 1529.5 nm and 1570.5 nm with a coincidence-to-accidental ratio exceeding 20. A photon correlation measurement of the signal (1529.5 nm) photons heralded by the detection of the idler (1570.5 nm) photons showed antibunching with g^(2)(0) = 0.19 pm 0.03. The demonstration of a single photon source within a silicon platform holds promise for future integrated quantum photonic circuits.
