Héctor Cruz-Ramírez

Effects of crystal length on the angular spectrum of spontaneous parametric downconversion photon pairs

We present a theoretical and experimental analysis of the joint effects of the transverse electric field distribution and of the nonlinear crystal characteristics on the properties of photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC). While it is known that for a sufficiently short crystal the pump electric field distribution fully determines the joint signal–idler properties, for longer crystals the nonlinear crystal properties also play an important role. In this paper we present experimental measurements of the angular spectrum (AS) and of the conditional angular spectrum (CAS) of photon pairs produced by SPDC, carried out through spatially resolved photon counting. In our experiment we control whether or not the source operates in the short-crystal regime through the degree of pump focusing, and explicitly show how the AS and CAS measurements differ in these two regimes. Our theory provides an understanding of the boundary between these two regimes and also predicts the corresponding differing behaviors.

Configurable spatiotemporal properties in a photon-pair source based on spontaneous four-wave mixing with multiple transverse modes

We present an experimental and theoretical study of photon pairs generated by spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM), based on birefringent phasematching, in a fiber that supports more than one transverse mode. We present SFWM spectra, obtained through single-channel and coincidence photon counting, which exhibit multiple peaks shown here to be the result of multiple SFWM processes associated with different combinations of transverse modes for the pump, signal, and idler waves.

Spontaneous Parametric Processes in Modern Optics

Spontaneous parametric processes have proved to be integral to the advancement of quantum information science. Their incredible versatility, in terms of the emission properties of entangled photons, allows for nearly unimaginable applications in the transmission and processing of quantum information.

Classical to quantum transfer of optical vortices

We show that an optical vortex beam, implemented classically, can be transferred to the transverse amplitude of a heralded single photon. For this purpose we have relied on the process of spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) for the generation of signal and idler photon pairs, using a pump in the form of a Bessel-Gauss (BG) beam with orbital angular momentum (specifically, with topological charge l = 1 and l = 2). We have designed our source so that it operates within the short SPDC crystal regime for which, the amplitude and phase of the pump may be transferred to a heralded single photon. In order to verify the vortex nature of our heralded single photon, we have shown that the conditional angular spectrum and the transverse intensity at the single-photon level match similar measurements carried out for the pump. In addition, we have shown that when our heralded single photon is diffracted through a triangular aperture, the far-field single-photon transverse intensity exhibits the expected triangular arrangement of intensity lobes associated with the presence of orbital angular momentum.

Fiber-based photon-pair source capable of hybrid entanglement in frequency and transverse mode, controllably scalable to higher dimensions.

We have designed and implemented a photon-pair source, based on the spontaneous four wave mixing (SFWM) process in a few-mode fiber, in a geometry which permits multiple, simultaneous SFWM processes, each associated with a distinct combination of transverse modes for the four participating waves. In our source: i) each process is group-velocity-matched so that it is, by design, nearly-factorable, and ii) the spectral separation between neighboring processes is greater than the marginal spectral width of each process. Consequently, there is a direct correspondence between the joint amplitude of each process and each of the Schmidt mode pairs of the overall two-photon state. Our approach permits hybrid entanglement in discrete frequency and in transverse mode, whereby control of the number of supported fiber transverse modes allows scalability to higher dimensions while spectral filtering may be used for straightforward Schmidt mode discrimination.

Joint spectral characterization of photon-pair sources

Abstract The ability to determine the joint spectral properties of photon pairs produced by the processes of spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) and spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) is crucial for guaranteeing the usability of heralded single photons and polarization-entangled pairs for multi-photon protocols. In this paper, we compare six different techniques that yield either a characterization of the joint spectral intensity or of the closely related purity of heralded single photons. These six techniques include: (i) scanning monochromator measurements, (ii) a variant of Fourier transform spectroscopy designed to extract the desired information exploiting a resource-optimized technique, (iii) dispersive fibre spectroscopy, (iv) stimulated-emission-based measurement, (v) measurement of the second-order correlation function for one of the two photons, and (vi) two-source Hong–Ou–Mandel interferometry. We discuss the relative performance of these techniques for the specific cases of a SPDC source designed to be factorable and SFWM sources of varying purity, and compare the techniques’ relative advantages and disadvantages.

Exploitation of transverse spatial modes in spontaneous four wave mixing photon-pair sources

We present a source for which multiple spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) processes are supported in a few mode birefringent fiber, each process associated with a particular combination of transverse modes for the four participating waves. Within the weakly guiding regime, for which the propagation modes may be well approximated by linearly polarized (LP) modes, the departure from circular symmetry due to the fiber birefringence translates into orbital angular momentum (OAM) and parity conservation rules, i.e. reflecting elements from both azimuthal and rectangular symmetries. In our source: i) each process is group-velocity-matched so that it is, by design, nearly-factorable, and ii) the spectral separation between neighboring processes is greater than the marginal spectral width of each process. Consequently, there is a direct correspondence between the joint amplitude of each process and each of the Schmidt mode pairs of the overall two-photon state. The present paper covers work presented in Refs.1 and.2

Transverse amplitude transfer experiments based on the process of spontaneous parametric downconversion

In this work we study, for the spontaneous parametric downconversion process, how the transverse amplitude of the pump may be transferred to one of the emitted photons in a given pair when heralded by the detection of the remaining photon. We present a theoretical description of this process along with a discussion of the short-crystal regime within which faithful transfer of the transverse amplitude occurs. We show experimental results for Gaussian and Bessel–Gauss pump beams. In both cases, we verify that the transverse amplitude mechanism occurs and for the former also shows the effects of a departure from the short crystal regime. For the latter we show that our heralded single photons exhibit a non-diffractive behavior, and for orders l = 1 and l = 2 we show that these heralded single photons are in fact vortices with orbital angular momentum transferred from the pump.

Generation of photon pairs, triplets, and non-diffracting single photons

We discuss the generation of non-classical light with optimized properties including photon pairs ranging from factorable to highly entangled, photon triplets and non-diffracting heralded single photons. We will focus mainly on the last of these topics.

Observation of non-diffracting behavior at the single-photon level

We demonstrate the generation of non-diffracting heralded single photons produced by SPDC when the crystal is pumped by a Bessel-Gauss beam. The non-diffracting photons are produced without the need for any post-generation projection