Researchers from various institutions, including EPFL, Politecnico di Milano, and IBM Research Europe, have made a significant advancement in the generation of high-purity frequency-degenerate photon pairs. This breakthrough could have practical applications in the energy sector, particularly in enhancing the precision of quantum metrology and secure communication systems.
The team, led by Olivia Hefti and Marco Clementi, proposed a novel dual-pump scheme that leverages cascaded sum-frequency generation (SFG) and spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) within a single waveguide. This method effectively suppresses parasitic photon pair generation from single-pump processes, which are common in traditional approaches and degrade the signal-to-noise ratio. The researchers experimentally validated this concept using a layer-poled thin film lithium niobate waveguide, achieving a brightness of 100,000 hertz per nanometer per milliwatt and a 40 dB suppression of unwanted single-pump processes.
The significance of this research lies in its potential to simplify the design of photonic integrated devices compared to microresonator-based methods. By enabling both pumping and collection of photon pairs entirely in the telecom band, this approach could lead to more efficient and scalable quantum information processing and metrology systems. In the energy sector, these advancements could translate into more precise and secure monitoring and control systems for power grids, as well as enhanced communication protocols for energy management systems.
The research was published in the journal Optica, a prestigious publication in the field of optics and photonics. The findings represent a step forward in the development of practical quantum technologies, with potential benefits extending to the energy industry. As the field of quantum technology continues to evolve, such innovations will be crucial in driving the next generation of energy solutions.
This article is based on research available at arXiv.