Optical nonlinearity plays a pivotal role in quantum information processing using photons, from heralded single-photon sources to long-sought quantum repeaters. Despite the availability of strong light-atom interaction, an all-optical nonlinearity is
highly desired for more scalable quantum protocols. Here, we realize quantum nanophotonic integrated circuits in thin-film InGaP with a record-high second-order optical nonlinearity of $1.5%$---the ratio of the single-photon trimodal coupling strength ($g/2pi=11.2$ MHz) and cavity-photon loss rate. We demonstrate photon-pair generation via degenerate spontaneous parametric down conversion in the InGaP photonic circuit with an ultrahigh rate exceeding 27.5 MHz per 1 $mu$W pump power and large coincidence-to-accidental ratio up to $1.4times 10^4$. Our work shows InGaP as a potentially transcending platform for quantum nonlinear optics and quantum information applications.
Graph states are a unique resource for quantum information processing, such as measurement-based quantum computation. Here, we theoretically investigate using continuous-variable graph states for single-parameter quantum metrology, including both pha
se and displacement sensing. We identified the optimal graph states for the two sensing modalities and showed that Heisenberg scaling of the accuracy for both phase and displacement sensing can be achieved with local homodyne measurements.
Phonon trapping has an immense impact in many areas of science and technology, from the antennas of interferometric gravitational wave detectors to chip-scale quantum micro- and nano-mechanical oscillators. It usually relies on the mechanical suspens
ion--an approach, while isolating selected vibrational modes, leads to serious drawbacks for interrogation of the trapped phonons, including limited heat capacity and excess noises via measurements. To circumvent these constraints, we realize a new paradigm of phonon trapping using mechanical bound states in the continuum (BICs) with topological features and conducted an in-depth characterization of the mechanical losses both at room and cryogenic temperatures. Our findings of mechanical BICs combining the microwave frequency and macroscopic size unveil a unique platform for realizing mechanical oscillators in both classical and quantum regimes. The paradigm of mechanical BICs might lead to unprecedented sensing modalities for applications such as rare-event searches and the exploration of the foundations of quantum mechanics in unreached parameter spaces.
Integrated nonlinear photonic circuits received rapid development in recent years, providing all-optical functionalities enabled by cavity-enhanced photon-photon interaction for classical and quantum applications. A high-efficiency fiber-to-chip inte
rface is key to the use of these integrated photonic circuits for quantum information tasks, as photon loss is a major source that weakens quantum protocols. Here, overcoming material and fabrication limitation of thin-film aluminum nitride by adopting a stepwise waveguiding scheme, we demonstrate low-loss adiabatic fiber-optic couplers in aluminum nitride films with a substantial thickness (600 nm) for optimized nonlinear photon interaction. For telecom (1550 nm) and near-visible (780 nm) transverse magnetic-polarized light, the measured insertion loss of the fiber-optic coupler is -0.97 dB and -2.6 dB, respectively. Our results will facilitate the use of aluminum nitride integrated photonic circuits as efficient quantum resources for generation of entangled photons and squeezed light on microchips.
Effective magnetic fields have enabled unprecedented manipulation of neutral particles including photons. In most studied cases, the effective gauge fields are defined through the phase of mode coupling between spatially discrete elements, such as op
tical resonators and waveguides in the case for photons. Here, in the paradigm of Bloch-wave modulated photonic crystals, we show creation of effective magnetic fields for photons in conventional dielectric continua for the first time, via Floquet band engineering. By controlling the phase and wavevector of Bloch waves, we demonstrated anomalous quantum Hall effect for light with distinct topological band features due to delocalized wave interference. Based on a cavity-free architecture, in which Bloch-wave modulations can be enhanced using guided-resonances in photonic crystals, the study here opens the door to the realization of effective magnetic fields at large scales for optical beam steering and topological light-matter phases with broken time-reversal symmetry.
Bound states in the continuum (BICs), an emerging type of long-lived resonances different from the cavity-based ones, have been explored in several classical systems, including photonic crystals and surface acoustic waves. Here, we reveal symmetry-pr
otected mechanical BICs in the structure of slab-on-substrate optomechanical crystals. Using a group theory approach, we identified all the mechanical BICs at the $Gamma$ point in optomechanical crystals with $C_{4v}$ and $C_{6v}$ symmetries as examples, and analyzed their coupling with the co-localized optical BICs and guided resonances due to both moving boundary and photo-elastic effects. We verified the theoretical analysis with numerical simulations of specific optomechanical crystals which support substantial optomechanical interactions between the mechanical BICs and optical resonances. Due to the unique features of high-$Q$, large-size mechanical BICs and substrate-enabled thermal dissipation, this architecture of slab-on-substrate optomechanical crystals might be useful for exploring macroscopic quantum mechanical physics and enabling new applications such as high-throughput sensing and free-space beam steering.
Based on the recently proposed concept of effective gauge potential and magnetic field for photons, we numerically demonstrate a photonic de Haas-van Alphen effect. We show that in a dynamically modulated photonic resonator lattice exhibiting an effe
ct magnetic field, the trajectories of the light beam at a given frequency have the same shape as the constant energy contour for the photonic band structure of the lattice in the absence of the effective magnetic field.
We show that the effective gauge field for photons provides a versatile platform for controlling the flow of light. As an example we consider a photonic resonator lattice where the coupling strength between nearest neighbor resonators are harmonicall
y modulated. By choosing different spatial distributions of the modulation phases, and hence imposing different inhomogeneous effective magnetic field configurations, we numerically demonstrate a wide variety of propagation effects including negative refraction, one-way mirror, and on and off-axis focusing. Since the effective gauge field is imposed dynamically after a structure is constructed, our work points to the importance of the temporal degree of freedom for controlling the spatial flow of light.
