Correlated twin-photon generation in a silicon nitride loaded thin film PPLN waveguide.

Photon-pair sources based on thin film lithium niobate on insulator technology have a great potential for integrated optical quantum information processing. We report on such a source of correlated twin-photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down conversion in a silicon nitride (SiN) rib loaded thin film periodically poled lithium niobate (LN) waveguide. The generated correlated photon pairs have a wavelength centred at 1560 nm compatible with present telecom infrastructure, a large bandwidth (21 THz) and a brightness of ∼2.5 × 105 pairs/s/mW/GHz. Using the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect, we have also shown heralded single photon emission, achieving an autocorrelation g H(2)(0)≃0.04.

Genuine Tripartite Non-Gaussian Entanglement.

Triple-photon states generated by three-mode spontaneous parametric down-conversion are the paradigm of unconditional non-Gaussian states, essential assets for quantum advantage. How to fully characterize their non-Gaussian entanglement remains however elusive. We propose here a set of sufficient and necessary conditions for separability of the broad family of spontaneously generated three-mode non-Gaussian states. We further derive state-of-the-art conditions for genuine tripartite non-Gaussian entanglement, the strongest class of entanglement. We apply our criteria to triple-photon states revealing that they are fully inseparable and genuinely entangled in moments of order 3n. Our results establish a systematic framework for characterizing the entanglement of triple-photon states and thus fostering their application in quantum information protocols.

Supermode-based second harmonic generation in a nonlinear interferometer.

We demonstrate supermode-based second harmonic generation in an integrated nonlinear interferometer made of linear and nonlinear directional couplers. We use a fully-fibered pump shaper to demonstrate second harmonic generation pumped by the symmetric or anti-symmetric fundamental spatial modes. The selection of the pumping mode and thus of a specific SHG spectral profile is achieved through the selection of the fundamental wavelength and via a robust phase setting scheme. We use two methods: either post-selecting or actively setting the pumping mode. Such modal phase matching paves the way for classical and quantum applications of coupled nonlinear photonic circuits, where multimode excitation, encoding and detection are a route for multiplexing and scaling up light-processing.

Hierarchy of Nonlinear Entanglement Dynamics for Continuous Variables.

The entanglement produced by a bilinear Hamiltonian in continuous variables has been thoroughly studied and widely used. In contrast, the physics of entanglement resulting from nonlinear interaction described by partially degenerate high-order Hamiltonians remains unclear. Here, we derive a hierarchy of sufficient and necessary conditions for the positive-partial-transposition separability of bipartite nonlinear quantum states. The proposed criteria detect the nonpositive-partial-transposition inseparability of higher-order moments of states, which provides a systematic framework for the characterization of this kind of entanglement. Through numerical simulation of cubic and quartic Hamiltonians, we demonstrate the existence and competition of a hierarchy of entanglement witnesses, revealing the mechanism underlying such entanglement. Our results may provide a new direction in continuous variable quantum information processing.

Anisotropy analysis of third-harmonic generation in a germanium-doped silica optical fiber.

We performed an intermodal third-harmonic generation around 516 nm in a germanium-doped silica optical fiber. The analysis of the complex polarization behavior that was observed allowed us to determine the orientation symmetry group of the fiber and the relative values of the independent coefficients of the third-order electric susceptibility tensor.

Energetic and spectral properties of triple photon downconversion in a phase-matched KTiOPO4 crystal.

We measured the spectrum and energy of infrared triple photons generated in a phase-matched KTiOPO4 crystal pumped by picosecond beams at 532 and 1662 nm. The experimental data are in good agreement with our model, taking into account the spectral linewidths of the incident beams as well as a parasitic Kerr effect.

Symmetry-based analytical solutions to the χ

In general, the ubiquitous χ^{(2)} nonlinear directional coupler, where nonlinearity and evanescent coupling are intertwined, is nonintegrable. We rigorously demonstrate that matching excitation to the even or odd fundamental supermodes yields dynamical analytical solutions for any phase matching in a symmetric coupler. We analyze second harmonic generation and optical parametric amplification regimes and study the influence of fundamental field parity and power on the operation of the device. These fundamental solutions are useful to develop applications in classical and quantum fields such as all-optical modulation of light and quantum-states engineering.