Eric Y. Zhu

Measurement of χ (2) symmetry in a poled fiber

We measure the values of individual chi((2)) tensor components in a birefringent periodically poled silica fiber through spectrally separated type I and type II second-harmonic generation. We demonstrate that the chi((2)) tensor symmetry is consistent with that of chi((3)) in silica and thereby provide experimental evidence that this chi((2)) originates from a chi((3)) process.

Proposal for in-fiber generation of telecom-band polarization-entangled photon pairs using a periodically poled fiber

We treat spontaneous parametric downconversion in a periodically poled fiber, quasi-phase matched to allow for the generation of photon pairs at wavelengths within the low-loss telecommunications window. For an appropriate pump polarization, the unusual properties of such a fibers effective chi(2) result in a biphoton wave function that is symmetric upon simultaneous exchange of downconverted photon frequencies and polarizations and that is nonzero over a wide range of downconverted frequencies. This could lead to a significant technical simplification of sources of in-fiber telecom-band polarization-entangled photons.

Poled-fiber source of broadband polarization-entangled photon pairs

We demonstrate broadband polarization-entangled photon pair generation in a poled fiber phase matched for Type II downconversion in the 1.5 μm telecom band. Even with signal-idler separation greater than 100 nm, we observe fringe visibilities greater than 97% and tangle greater than 0.8. A Hong-Ou-Mandel interference experiment is also used to experimentally confirm the broadband nature of the entanglement.

Correlated photon pair generation in AlGaAs nanowaveguides via spontaneous four-wave mixing

We demonstrate a source of correlated photon pairs which will have applications in future integrated quantum photonic circuits. The source utilizes spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) in a dispersion-engineered nanowaveguide made of AlGaAs, which has merits of negligible two-photon absorption and low spontaneous Raman scattering (SpRS). We observe a coincidence-to-accidental (CAR) ratio up to 177, mainly limited by propagation losses. Experimental results agree well with theoretical predictions of the SFWM photon pair generation and the SpRS noise photon generation. We also study the effects from the SpRS, propagation losses, and waveguide lengths on the quality of our source.

High-visibility two-photon interference of frequency–time entangled photons generated in a quasi-phase-matched AlGaAs waveguide

We demonstrate experimentally the frequency-time entanglement of photon pairs produced in a CW-pumped quasi-phased-matched AlGaAs superlattice waveguide. A visibility of 96.0±0.7% without background subtraction has been achieved, which corresponds to the violation of the Bell inequality by 52 standard deviations.

Continuous-wave quasi-phase-matched waveguide correlated photon pair source on a III–V chip

We report on the demonstration of correlated photon pair generation in a quasi-phase-matched superlattice GaAs/AlGaAs waveguide using a continuous-wave pump. Our photon pair source has a low noise level and achieves a high coincidence-to-accidental ratio greater than 100, which is the highest value reported in III–V chips so far. This correlated photon pair source has the potential to be monolithically integrated with on-chip pump laser sources fabricated on the same superlattice wafer structure, enabling direct correlated/entangled photon pair production from a compact electrically powered chip.

Characterizing short dispersion-length fiber via dispersive virtual reference interferometry

The ability to characterize fibers with near-zero dispersion-length products is of considerable practical interest. We introduce dispersive virtual reference interferometry (DVRI) as a technique for the characterization of short length (<1m) fibers with near-zero disperison-length. DVRI has an accuracy equivalent to standard balanced spectral interferometry (on the order of 10(−3) ps and 10(−5) ps/nm for the group delay and dispersion-length measurements respectively) but does not require wide spectral bandwidths or multiple spectral scans. Following experimental validation, the DVRI technique is used to characterize a 23.3-cm erbium-doped gain fiber (dispersion-length product <0.002 ps/nm), using a tunable laser with a bandwidth of 145 nm. Furthermore, the dispersion in a 28.6-cm commercial dispersion shifted fiber is characterized across the zero-dispersion wavelength and the zero-disperison-wavelength and slope were determined to be 1566.7 nm and 8.57 × 10(−5) ps/(nm2∙m) with a precision of ± 0.2 nm and ± 0.06 × 10(−5) ps/(nm2∙m), respectively.

Compensation-free broadband entangled photon pair sources

Quantum sources that provide broadband biphotons entangled in both polarization and time-energy degrees of freedom are a rich quantum resource that finds many applications in quantum communication, sensing, and metrology. Creating such a source while maintaining high entanglement quality over a broad spectral range is a challenge, which conventionally requires various compensation steps to erase temporal, spectral, or spatial distinguishabilities. Here, we point out that in fact compensation is not always necessary. The key to generate broadband polarization-entangled biphotons via type-II spontaneous parametric downcoversion (SPDC) without compensation is to use nonlinear materials with sufficiently low group birefringence that the biphoton bandwidth becomes dispersion-limited. Most nonlinear crystals or waveguides cannot meet this condition, but it is easily met in fiber-based systems. We reveal the interplay of group birefringence and dispersion on SPDC bandwidth and polarization entanglement quality. We show that periodically poled silica fiber (PPSF) is an ideal medium to generate high-concurrence (>0.977) polarization-entangled photons over a broad spectral range (>77nm), directly and without compensation. This is the highest polarization-entanglement concurrence reported that is maintained over a broad spectral range from a compensation-free source.

Multi-party Agile QKD network with a fiber-based entangled source

A multi-party quantum key distribution scheme is experimentally demonstrated by utilizing a poled fiber-based broadband polarization-entangled source and dense wavelength-division multiplexing. Entangled photon pairs are delivered over 40-km of fiber, with secure key rates of more than 20 bits/s observed.

Poled Fiber-based Source of Polarization-Entangled Photon Pairs

We demonstrate broadband telecom-wavelength polarization-entangled photon pair generation in a periodically-poled silica fiber (PPSF). Two-photon interference visibility exceeds 90%, and Bells inequality is violated by 8 standard deviations.