Micrometer-scale integrated silicon source of time-energy entangled photons

Grassani, D., Azzini, S., Liscidini, M., Galli, M., Strain, M. J., Sorel, M. , Sipe, J.E. and Bajoni, D. (2015) Micrometer-scale integrated silicon source of time-energy entangled photons. Optica, 2(2), pp. 88-94. (doi: 10.1364/OPTICA.2.000088)

Abstract

Entanglement is a fundamental resource in quantum information processing. Several studies have explored the integration of sources of entangled states on a silicon chip, but the devices demonstrated so far require millimeter lengths and pump powers of the order of hundreds of milliwatts to produce an appreciable photon flux, hindering their scalability and dense integration. Microring resonators have been shown to be efficient sources of photon pairs, but entangled state emission has never been proven in these devices. Here we report the first demonstration, to the best of our knowledge, of a microring resonator capable of emitting time-energy entangled photons. We use a Franson experiment to show a violation of Bell’s inequality by more than seven standard deviations with an internal pair generation exceeding 10⁷ Hz. The source is integrated on a silicon chip, operates at milliwatt and submilliwatt pump power, emits in the telecom band, and outputs into a photonic waveguide. These are all essential features of an entangled state emitter for a quantum photonic network.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sorel, Professor Marc and Strain, Dr Michael
• Authors: Grassani, D., Azzini, S., Liscidini, M., Galli, M., Strain, M. J., Sorel, M., Sipe, J.E., and Bajoni, D.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: Optica
• Publisher: Optical Society of America
• ISSN: 2334-2536
• ISSN (Online): 2334-2536
• Published Online: 26 January 2015
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2015 Optical Society of America
• First Published: First published in Optica 2(2): 88-94
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy