Jesper Bjerge Christensen

Two-dimensional distributed-phase-reference protocol for quantum key distribution

Quantum key distribution (QKD) and quantum communication enable the secure exchange of information between remote parties. Currently, the distributed-phase-reference (DPR) protocols, which are based on weak coherent pulses, are among the most practical solutions for long-range QKD. During the last 10 years, long-distance fiber-based DPR systems have been successfully demonstrated, although fundamental obstacles such as intrinsic channel losses limit their performance. Here, we introduce the first two-dimensional DPR-QKD protocol in which information is encoded in the time and phase of weak coherent pulses. The ability of extracting two bits of information per detection event, enables a higher secret key rate in specific realistic network scenarios. Moreover, despite the use of more dimensions, the proposed protocol remains simple, practical, and fully integrable.

Effects of noninstantaneous nonlinear processes on photon-pair generation by spontaneous four-wave mixing

We present a general model, based on a Hamiltonian approach, for the joint quantum state of photon pairs generated through pulsed spontaneous four-wave mixing, including nonlinear phasemodulation and a finite material response time. For the case of a silica fiber, it is found that the pair-production rate depends weakly on the waveguide temperature, due to higher-order Raman scattering events, and more strongly on pump-pair frequency detuning. From the analytical model, a numerical scheme is derived, based on the well-known split-step method. This scheme allows computation of joint states where nontrivial effects are included, such as group-velocity dispersion and Raman scattering. In this work, the numerical model is used to study the impact of the noninstantaneous response on the pre-filtering purity of heralded single photons. We find that for pump pulses shorter than 1 ps, a significant detuning-dependent change in quantum-mechanical purity may be observed in silica. This shows that Raman scattering not only introduces noise, but can also drastically change the spectral correlations in photon pairs when pumped with short pulses.

Full-vectorial propagation model and modified effective mode area of four-wave mixing in straight waveguides

We derive from Maxwells equations full-vectorial nonlinear propagation equations of four-wave mixing valid in straight semiconductor-on-insulator waveguides. Special attention is given to the resulting effective mode area, which takes a convenient form known from studies in photonic crystal fibers, but has not been introduced in the context of integrated waveguides. We show that the difference between our full-vectorial effective mode area and the scalar equivalent often referred to in the literature may lead to mistakes when evaluating the nonlinear refractive index and optimizing designs of new waveguides. We verify the results of our derivation by comparing it to experimental measurements in a silicon-on-insulator waveguide, taking tolerances on fabrication parameters into account.

Generation of two-temporal-mode photon states by vector four-wave mixing

Photon pair states and multiple-photon squeezed states have many applications in quantum information science. In this paper, Green functions are derived for spontaneous four-wave mixing in the low- and high-gain regimes. Nondegenerate four-wave mixing in a strongly-birefringent medium generates signal and idler photons that are associated with only one pair of temporal (Schmidt) modes, for a wide range of pump powers and arbitrary pump shapes. The Schmidt coefficients (expected photon numbers) depend sensitively on the pump powers, and the Schmidt functions (shapes of the photon wavepackets) depend sensitively on the pump powers and shapes, which can be controlled.

High coincidence-to-accidental ratio continuous-wave photon-pair generation in a grating-coupled silicon strip waveguide

We demonstrate a very high coincidence-to-accidental ratio of 673 using continuous-wave photon-pair generation in a silicon strip waveguide through spontaneous four-wave mixing. This result is obtained by employing on-chip photonic-crystal-based grating couplers for both low-loss fiber-to-chip coupling and on-chip suppression of generated spontaneous Raman scattering noise. We measure a minimum heralded second-order correlation of , demonstrating that our source operates in the single-photon regime with low noise.

Spectrally pure heralded single photons by spontaneous four-wave mixing in a fiber: reducing impact of dispersion fluctuations

We model the spectral quantum-mechanical purity of heralded single photons from a photon-pair source based on nondegenerate spontaneous four-wave mixing taking the impact of distributed dispersion fluctuations into account. The considered photon-pair-generation scheme utilizes pump-pulse walk-off to produce pure heralded photons and phase matching is achieved through the dispersion properties of distinct spatial modes in a few-mode silica step-index fiber. We show that fiber-core-radius fluctuations in general severely impact the single-photon purity. Furthermore, by optimizing the fiber design we show that generation of single photons with very high spectral purity is feasible even in the presence of large core-radius fluctuations. At the same time, contamination from spontaneous Raman scattering is greatly mitigated by separating the single-photon frequency by more than 32 THz from the pump frequency.

Shape-preserving and unidirectional frequency conversion by four-wave mixing

In this work, we investigate the properties of four-wave mixing Bragg scattering driven by orthogonally polarized pumps in a birefringent waveguide. This configuration enables a large signal conversion bandwidth, and allows strongly unidirectional frequency conversion as undesired Bragg-scattering processes are suppressed by waveguide birefringence. Moreover, we show that this form of Bragg scattering preserves the (arbitrary) signal pulse shape, even when driven by pulsed pumps.

Experimentally Validated Dispersion Tailoring in a Silicon Strip Waveguide With Alumina Thin-Film Coating

We propose a silicon strip waveguide structure with alumina thin-film coating in-between the core and the cladding for group-velocity dispersion tailoring. By carefully designing the core dimension and the coating thickness, a spectrally-flattened near-zero anomalous group-velocity dispersion within the telecom spectral range is obtained, which is predicted to significantly broaden the bandwidth of four-wave mixing. We validate this by characterizing the wavelength conversion in a waveguide sample by atomic layer deposition technology, which to our best knowledge is the first experimental demonstration of the proposed structure. Due to the alumina thin-film coating, the wavelength conversion bandwidth reaches

Dispersion tailoring of a silicon strip waveguide employing Titania-Alumina thin-film coating

58\,\mathrm{nm}

Split-step scheme for photon-pair generation through spontaneous four-wave mixing

, an increase by a factor of 1.3 compared to the corresponding structure without coating. This method can also be applied to other material platforms and applications requiring accurate group-velocity dispersion control.