This thesis describes various methods for producing photon pairs from waveguides. It covers relevant topics such as waveguide coupling and phase matching, along with the relevant measurement techniques used to infer photon pair production. A new proposal to solve the phase matching problem is described along with two conceptual methods for generating entangled photon pairs. Photon pairs are also experimentally demonstrated from a third novel structure called a Bragg Reflection Waveguide (BRW). The new proposal to solve the phase matching problem is called Directional Quasi-Phase Matching (DQPM). It is a technique that exploits the directional dependence of the non-linear susceptiblity ($\chi^{(2)}$) tensor. It is aimed at those materials that do not allow birefringent phase-matching or periodic poling. In particular, it focuses on waveguides in which the interplay between the propagation direction, electric field polarizations and the nonlinearity can change the strength and sign of the nonlinear interaction periodically to achieve quasi-phasematching. One of the new conceptual methods for generating entangled photon pairs involves a new technique that sandwiches two waveguides from two differently oriented but similar crystals together. The idea stems from the design of a Michelson interferometer which interferes the paths over which two unique photon pair processes can occur, thereby creating entanglement in any pair of photons created in the interferometer. By forcing or sandwiching the two waveguides together, the physical space that exists in the standard Micheleson type interferometer is made non-existent, and the interferometer is effectively squashed. The result is that the two unique photon pair processes actually occupy the same physical path. This benefits the stability of the interferometer in addition to miniaturizing it. The technical challenges involved in sandwiching the two waveguides are briefly discussed. The main result of this thesis is the observation of photon pairs from the BRW. By analyzing the time correlation between two single photon detection events, spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) of a picosecond pulsed ti:sapph laser is demonstrated. The process is mediated by a ridge BRW. The results show evidence for type-0, type-I and type-II phase matching of pump light at 783nm, 786nm and 789nm to down converted light that is strongly degenerate at 1566nm, 1572nm, and 1578nm respectively. The inferred efficiency of the BRW was 9.8$\cdot$10$^{-9}$ photon pairs per pump photon. This contrasts with the predicted type-0 efficiency of 2.65$\cdot$10$^{-11}$. This data is presented for the first time in such waveguides, and represents significant advances towards the integration of sources of quantum information into the existing telecommunications infrastructure.

This thesis describes various methods for producing photon pairs from waveguides. It covers relevant topics such as waveguide coupling and phase matching, along with the relevant measurement techniques used to infer photon pair production. A new proposal to solve the phase matching problem is described along with two conceptual methods for generating entangled photon pairs. Photon pairs are also experimentally demonstrated from a third novel structure called a Bragg Reflection Waveguide (BRW). The new proposal to solve the phase matching problem is called Directional Quasi-Phase Matching (DQPM). It is a technique that exploits the directional dependence of the non-linear susceptiblity ($\chi^{(2)}$) tensor. It is aimed at those materials that do not allow birefringent phase-matching or periodic poling. In particular, it focuses on waveguides in which the interplay between the propagation direction, electric field polarizations and the nonlinearity can change the strength and sign of the nonlinear interaction periodically to achieve quasi-phasematching. One of the new conceptual methods for generating entangled photon pairs involves a new technique that sandwiches two waveguides from two differently oriented but similar crystals together. The idea stems from the design of a Michelson interferometer which interferes the paths over which two unique photon pair processes can occur, thereby creating entanglement in any pair of photons created in the interferometer. By forcing or sandwiching the two waveguides together, the physical space that exists in the standard Micheleson type interferometer is made non-existent, and the interferometer is effectively squashed. The result is that the two unique photon pair processes actually occupy the same physical path. This benefits the stability of the interferometer in addition to miniaturizing it. The technical challenges involved in sandwiching the two waveguides are briefly discussed. The main result of this thesis is the observation of photon pairs from the BRW. By analyzing the time correlation between two single photon detection events, spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) of a picosecond pulsed ti:sapph laser is demonstrated. The process is mediated by a ridge BRW. The results show evidence for type-0, type-I and type-II phase matching of pump light at 783nm, 786nm and 789nm to down converted light that is strongly degenerate at 1566nm, 1572nm, and 1578nm respectively. The inferred efficiency of the BRW was 9.8$\cdot$10$^{-9}$ photon pairs per pump photon. This contrasts with the predicted type-0 efficiency of 2.65$\cdot$10$^{-11}$. This data is presented for the first time in such waveguides, and represents significant advances towards the integration of sources of quantum information into the existing telecommunications infrastructure.

付記する学位プログラム名: 京都大学卓越大学院プログラム「先端光・電子デバイス創成学」 / 京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第24621号 / 工博第5127号 / 新制||工||1980(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科電子工学専攻 / (主査)教授 竹内 繁樹, 教授 川上 養一, 教授 木本 恒暢 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DGAM

Spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) – incoherent light scattering – is one of the main entangled photons source applied in quantum optics experiments. The tradition to pump SPDC by laser radiation was established from the very first SPDC experiments in 1968. The aim of this thesis was experimentally to investigate the ability to generate an SPDC pumping by both temporal and spatially incoherent radiation - a high-power blue LED. Weak SPDC signals were registered with high sensitivity CCD cameras, photons coincidences were detected with photon counters. The theoretical simulations were performed in parallel with experiments. Therefore, mathematical simulation code was written in order to estimate the SPDC power distribution and simulate photon coincidence experiment changing the properties of pump beam and detection system. Experimental results reveal that incoherent light sources can be good alternative for the laser systems in order to generate average quality biphoton fields especially in those experiments in which low biphoton field coherency would be advantage. The main advantages of the incoherent sources over laser systems are low cost, simple production technology and the huge commercial variety of different wavelength sources. / Parametrinė fluorescencija (PF) – nekoherentinė šviesos sklaida – yra vienas pagrindinių susietųjų fotonų šaltinių taikomų kvantinės optikos eksperimentuose. Nuo pat pirmųjų PF eksperimentinių tyrimų 1968 metais įsigalėjo tradicija šį reiškinį žadinti išimtinai lazerine spinduliuote. Šios disertacijos tikslas – eksperimentiškai ištirti galimybę generuoti PF tiek laikiškai, tiek ir erdviškai nekoherentine spinduliuote – didelės galios šviesos diodu. Atliekant tyrimus didelio jautrio CCD kamera buvo registruojami silpni PF signalai, pavienių fotonų skaitliukais buvo registruojami fotonų sutapimai,. Lygiagrečiai eksperimentiniams tyrimams buvo atliekami teoriniai skaičiavimai. Šiuo tikslu buvo parašytas matematinio modeliavimo programinis kodas, skirtas įvertinti PF erdvinį galios pasiskirstymą bei modeliuoti fotonų sutapimų eksperimentą, keičiant kaupinimo pluošto ir detekcijos sistemos savybes. Šio darbo rezultatai atskleidžia, kad nekoherentiniai šaltiniai gali būti puiki alternatyva lazerinėms sistemoms siekiant žadinti vidutinės kokybės dvyninius laukus, ypatingai tokiose tyrimų srityse, kuriose mažas dvyninio lauko koherentiškumas būtų didžiulis privalumas. Pagrindiniai nekoherentinių šaltinių pranašumai prieš lazerines sistemas: maža kaina, paprasta gamybos technologija ir didžiulė komercinė skirtingo bangos ilgio šaltinių įvairovė.

Parametrinė fluorescencija (PF) – nekoherentinė šviesos sklaida – yra vienas pagrindinių susietųjų fotonų šaltinių taikomų kvantinės optikos eksperimentuose. Nuo pat pirmųjų PF eksperimentinių tyrimų 1968 metais įsigalėjo tradicija šį reiškinį žadinti išimtinai lazerine spinduliuote. Šios disertacijos tikslas – eksperimentiškai ištirti galimybę generuoti PF tiek laikiškai, tiek ir erdviškai nekoherentine spinduliuote – didelės galios šviesos diodu. Atliekant tyrimus didelio jautrio CCD kamera buvo registruojami silpni PF signalai, pavienių fotonų skaitliukais buvo registruojami fotonų sutapimai,. Lygiagrečiai eksperimentiniams tyrimams buvo atliekami teoriniai skaičiavimai. Šiuo tikslu buvo parašytas matematinio modeliavimo programinis kodas, skirtas įvertinti PF erdvinį galios pasiskirstymą bei modeliuoti fotonų sutapimų eksperimentą, keičiant kaupinimo pluošto ir detekcijos sistemos savybes. Šio darbo rezultatai atskleidžia, kad nekoherentiniai šaltiniai gali būti puiki alternatyva lazerinėms sistemoms siekiant žadinti vidutinės kokybės dvyninius laukus, ypatingai tokiose tyrimų srityse, kuriose mažas dvyninio lauko koherentiškumas būtų didžiulis privalumas. Pagrindiniai nekoherentinių šaltinių pranašumai prieš lazerines sistemas: maža kaina, paprasta gamybos technologija ir didžiulė komercinė skirtingo bangos ilgio šaltinių įvairovė. / Spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) – incoherent light scattering – is one of the main entangled photons source applied in quantum optics experiments. The tradition to pump SPDC by laser radiation was established from the very first SPDC experiments in 1968. The aim of this thesis was experimentally to investigate the ability to generate an SPDC pumping by both temporal and spatially incoherent radiation - a high-power blue LED. Weak SPDC signals were registered with high sensitivity CCD cameras, photons coincidences were detected with photon counters. The theoretical simulations were performed in parallel with experiments. Therefore, mathematical simulation code was written in order to estimate the SPDC power distribution and simulate photon coincidence experiment changing the properties of pump beam and detection system. Experimental results reveal that incoherent light sources can be good alternative for the laser systems in order to generate average quality biphoton fields especially in those experiments in which low biphoton field coherency would be advantage. The main advantages of the incoherent sources over laser systems are low cost, simple production technology and the huge commercial variety of different wavelength sources.

No description available.

Spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) is used to generate quantum entangled photons through a non-linear crystal. The entanglement of photons is demonstrated by observing the effects of indistinguishability on photons, first through time and energy, then by polarization. The Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect was also demonstrated. A theoretical derivation of the effect of a non 50/50 beam splitter (BS) is also investigated. The energy of the photons was changed by varying the temperature of the crystal whilst the time difference was changed by varying the relative position of two mirrors. Results showed a clear effect from indistinguishability on both energy and time.

No description available.

Die verlässliche Erzeugung einzelner Photonen mit wohldefinierten Eigenschaften in allen Freiheitsgraden ist entscheidend für die Entwicklung photonischer Quantentechnologien. Derzeit basieren die wichtigsten Einzelphotonenquellen auf dem Prozess der spontanen parameterischen Fluoreszenz (SPF), bei dem ein Pumpphoton in einem nichtlinearen Medium spontan in ein Paar aus Signal und Idlerphotonen zerfällt. Resonator-überhöhte SPF, also das Plazieren des nichtlinearen Mediums in einem optischen Resonator, ist ein weit verbreitetes Verfahren, um Einzelphotonenquellen mit erhöhter Helligkeit und angepassten spektralen Eigenschaften zu konstruieren. Das Anpassen der spektralen Eigenschaften durch gezielte Auswahl der Resonatoreigenschaften ist besonders für hybride Quantentechnologienvon Bedeutung, welche darauf abzielen, unterschiedliche Quntensysteme so zu kombinieren, dass sich deren Vorteile ergänzen. Diese Arbeit stellt eine umfassende theoretische und experimentelle Analyse der dreifach resonanten SPF vor. Das aus der Literatur bekannte theoretische Modell wird diesbezüglich verbessert, dass der Einfluss sämtlicher Eigenschaften des Resonators auf die wichtigen experimentellen Größen (z.B. die Erzeugungsrate) gezielt ausgewertet werden kann. Dieses verbesserte und hoch genaue Modell stellt eine wichtige Grundlage für die Entwicklung und Optimierung neuartiger Photonenpaarquellen dar. Im experimentellen Teil dieser Arbeit wird der Aufbau und die Charakterisierung einer dreifach resonanten Photonenpaarquellen präsentiert. Die neu entwickelte digitale Regelelektronik sowie ein hochstabiler, schmalbandiger Monochromator welcher auf monolitischen, polarisationsunabhängigen Fabry-Pérot Resonatoren basiert, werden vorgestellt. Indem diese temperaturstabilisierten Resonatoren als Spetrumanalysator verwendet werden, wird zum ersten Mal die Frequenzkammstruktur des Spektrums der erzeugten Signal- und Idlerphotonen nachgewiesen. Des Weiteren wird der Einfluss der Pumpresonanz auf die Korrelationsfunktion und die Zweiphotoneninterferenz von Signal- und Idlerphotonen simuliert und vermessen. Abschließend werden Experimente aus dem Bereich der hybriden Quantennetzwerke präsentiert, in welchen Quantenfrequenzkonversion verwendet wird um die erzeugten Signalphotonen in das Telekommunikationsband zu transferieren. Dabei wird nachgewiesen, dass das temporale Wellenpaket durch die Konversion nicht beeinflusst wird und aufgezeigt, wie Quantennetzwerke von kommerziellen Telekommunikationstechnologien profitieren können. / The consistent generation of single photons with well-defined properties in all degrees of freedom is crucial for the development of photonic quantum technologies. Today, the most prominent sources of single photons are based on the process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) where a pump photon spontaneously decays into a pair of signal and idler photons inside a nonlinear medium. Cavity-enhanced SPDC, i.e., placing the nonlinear medium inside an optical cavity, is widely used to build photon-pair sources with increased brightness and tailored spectral properties. This spectral tailoring by selective adjustment of the cavity parameters is of particular importance for hybrid quantum technologies which seek to combine dissimilar quantum systems in a way that their advantages complement each other. This thesis provides a comprehensive theoretical and experimental analysis of triply-resonant cavity-enhanced SPDC. We improve the theoretical model found in the literature such that the influence of all resonator properties on the important experimental parameters (e.g., the generation rate) can be analyzed in detail. This convenient and highly accurate model of cavity-enhanced SPDC represents an important basis for the design and optimization of novel photonpair sources. The experimental part of this thesis presents the setup and characterization of a triply-resonant photon-pair source. We describe the digital control system used to operate this source over days without manual intervention, and we present a highly stable, narrow-linewidth monochromator based on cascaded, polarization-independent monolithic Fabry-Pérot cavities. Utilizing these temperature-stabilized cavities as a spectrum analyzer, we verify, for the first time, the frequency comb spectral structure of photons generated by cavity-enhanced SPDC. We further simulate and measure the impact of the pump resonance on the temporal wave-packets and the two-photon interference of signal and idler photons. Finally, we present a series of experiments in the context of hybrid quantum networks where we employ quantum frequency conversion (QFC) to transfer the generated signal photons into the telecommunication band. We verify the preservation of the temporal wave-packet upon QFC and highlight how quantum networks can benefit from advanced commercial telecommunication technologies.