Xiuping Xie

Amplitude modulation and apodization of quasi-phase-matched interactions

We propose several techniques to modulate the local amplitude of quasi-phase-matched (QPM) interactions in periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides and demonstrate apodization by using each of these techniques. When the hard edges are removed in the spatial profile of the nonlinear coupling, the sidelobes of the frequency tuning curves are suppressed by 13 dB or more, compared with a uniform grating, consistent with theoretical predictions. The sidelobe-suppressed gratings are useful for frequency conversion devices in optical communication systems to minimize interchannel cross talk, while the amplitude modulation techniques in general have potential uses in applications that require altering the tuning curve shapes.

Distribution of Time-Energy Entanglement over 100 km fiber using superconducting single-photon detectors

In this letter, we report an experimental realization of distributing entangled photon pairs over 100 km of dispersion-shifted fiber. In the experiment, we used a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide to generate the time-energy entanglement and superconducting single-photon detectors to detect the photon pairs after 100 km. We also demonstrate that the distributed photon pairs can still be useful for quantum key distribution and other quantum communication tasks.

Correlated photon-pair generation in reverse-proton-exchange PPLN waveguides with integrated mode demultiplexer at 10 GHz clock

We report 10-ps correlated photon pair generation in periodically-poled reverse-proton-exchange lithium niobate waveguides with integrated mode demultiplexer at a wavelength of 1.5-mum and a clock of 10 GHz. Using superconducting single photon detectors, we observed a coincidence to accidental count ratio (CAR) as high as 4000. The developed photon-pair source may find broad application in quantum information systems as well as quantum entanglement experiments.

Mode multiplexing in optical frequency mixers

Asymmetric Y junctions allow the development of a new class of optical frequency mixers that utilize higher-order waveguide modes for signal processing. We measure high-contrast (>30 dB) mode sorting in asymmetric Y junctions by use of a novel technique: efficient TM00, TM10, and TM20 mode mixing in a periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide. We also demonstrate an odd-to-even mode wavelength converter capable of spectral inversion without offset or bidirectional wavelength conversion.

Picojoule threshold, picosecond optical parametric generation in reverse proton-exchanged lithium niobate waveguides

We have demonstrated picosecond optical parametric generation in reverse proton-exchanged waveguides in periodically poled lithium niobate with thresholds as low as 200 pJ. Near-transform-limited near-infrared pulses were obtained from cascaded optical parametric generation. For a 1.8-ps (FWHM) pump pulse at 769.6 nm, a saturated internal photon-conversion efficiency of 33% was obtained with 1 nJ of pump energy. The signal-wavelength tuning range was from 1.15 μm to 2.3 μm with a pump wavelength between 770 nm and 789.5 nm. Numerical simulations well predicted the mechanism for the transform-limited pulse generation. These results enable optical parametric generation devices with low threshold and good temporal properties with a simple single-pass setup.

Odd waveguide mode quasi-phase matching with angled and staggered gratings

Angled and staggered gratings are used for quasi-phase matching of antisymmetric TM(10) modes in periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides with high efficiency. Control of the symmetry of the nonlinear coefficient d adds a new degree of freedom in the choice of which waveguide modes will interact in a quasi-phase-matched device.

Generation of 10-GHz clock sequential time-bin entanglement

This letter reports telecom-band sequential time-bin entangled photon-pair generation at a repetition rate of 10 GHz in periodically poled reverse-proton-exchange lithium niobate waveguides based on mode demultiplexing. With up-conversion single-photon detectors, we observed an entangled-photon-pair flux of 313 Hz and a two-photon-interference-fringe visibility of 85.32% without subtraction of accidental noise contributions.

Accurate semi-empirical model for annealed proton exchanged waveguides in z-cut lithium niobate

This study develops an accurate method to estimate the proton dose after proton exchange (PE) by applying a soft anneal step, typically 10-30 hours at 210/spl deg/C, which solves the problems of instability and multi-phase composition of PE waveguides. The soft anneal process slows down with time and practically self-terminates once the refractive index step at 633 nm drops below 0.105, corresponding to a concentration x = 0.44 in the film H/sub x/Li/sub 1-x/NbO/sub 3/. Proton dose estimate after soft anneal can be done with 0.25 to 0.5% precision by prism coupling measurements allowing control of the waveguide nonlinear optical frequency converters (WNOFC) quasi-phase-matching (QPM) wavelength with 0.5-1 nm accuracy.

Two-spatial-mode parametric amplifier in lithium niobate waveguides with asymmetric Y junctions.

For optical parametric amplifiers in proton-exchange waveguide devices reported to date, both the signal and the idler photons are in the TM00 mode, causing difficulty in distinguishing signal from idler. We report a two-mode optical parametric amplifier. The key components, asymmetric Y junctions, successfully launch the pump wave in a pure TM10 mode and separate the signal and the idler in the TM10 and TM00 modes with a power ratio of as much as 27.5 dB. With high parametric gain, optical parametric generation with a threshold of 300 pJ/pulse was demonstrated for 1.8 ps long pump pulses near 780 nm. These periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides are efficient integrable photon sources.

Narrow-linewidth near-degenerate optical parametric generation achieved with quasi-group- velocity-matching in lithium niobate waveguides

We demonstrate narrow-linewidth near-degenerate optical parametric generation in reverse-proton-exchange lithium niobate waveguides with quasi-group-velocity-matching, which is realized by using wavelength-selective directional couplers and tight-radius bends. With appropriate designs for 1.6 ps long pump pulses at 785.1 nm we obtained near-degenerate signal (idler) pulses with a time-bandwidth product as low as 1.1, compared with 10.5 for conventional devices without quasi-group-velocity-matching. This improvement in the temporal property is a result of both a pulse compression effect and a filter effect coming from our scheme of quasi-group-velocity-matching.